Weaving an even better web

Nothing stands still forever, and that’s especially true in the technology sector. We should of course be grateful for the industry’s constant state of flux. Its innovation and creativity has resulted in many of the products, apps and services that we use and take for granted today. They deliver a wealth of benefits ranging from increased connectivity to productivity, convenience, or access to multiple platforms rich with content that either entertains or educates us. One of such emerging technology trend is Web3.

Web3 – a turning point for the internet

The emergence of Web3 promises to up the ante even further. We have already seen a wide range of exciting applications for Web3 technologies, including the metaverse, GameFi, SocialFi, retail loyalty programs and so on. For example, the metaverse shopping experience enables brands to create a more immersive, engaging and interactive experience with their customers, which can be more conducive to securing sales and building long-term brand loyalty. We are seeing pioneering brands in the fashion and luxury space already exploring new initiatives to host AR fashion shows as a way of giving priority access to their products.

The luxury shopping platform, Tmall Luxury Pavilion, for example, has been pushing the envelope in enabling 3D shopping, AR and VR product try-ons and even constructing digital avatars and collectibles. The ability to recreate not just realistic but enhanced experiences for customers to interact with brands and products presents limitless opportunities to redefine sales, marketing, and customer experiences. We have also observed more and more exciting applications in retail, FinTech, media and gaming industries around the world.

To make these exciting projects in metaverse possible, resilient and powerful cloud computing is necessary. Global leading IaaS and PaaS cloud providers should provide robust, secure and high-performance technology platforms and intelligence products for Web3 developers worldwide to build their own exciting applications.

The metaverse’s building blocks

In terms of how web3 technologies are reshaping traditional business models and creating new opportunities for innovation and collaboration, we can point to Cloudverse. This launch-pad for businesses to rapidly deploy metaverses on the Avalanche public blockchain based on Alibaba Cloud went live in May. Cloudverse is a one-stop, end-to-end solution for businesses to seamlessly customise, launch, and maintain their own metaverse space, creating new dimensions for engaging customers. All of Cloudverse’s web3 elements – such as digital land, wearables, and other digital assets – are built on Avalanche, a leading public blockchain.

Creating a sustainable web ecosystem

Of course, there are the potential challenges or barriers to businesses adopting web3 technologies, but they can be addressed to certain degrees. For most businesses staring down the barrel of such complex next-generation technology, adoption can be daunting. This is because it requires specialised knowledge, skills and training in areas related to blockchain development, digital assets, design of tokennomics, protocols and corporate governance.

Therefore, ease-of-use products and solutions are imperative for business to quickly build and deploy. Alibaba Cloud’s Blockchain Node Service (BNS) empowers web3 developers with Alibaba Cloud’s scalable, efficient and secure infrastructure for a more user-friendly experience. BNS actively monitors the node infrastructure health status and automatically switches in case of an outage. Developers are free to concentrate on business logic development and thus speed up the pace of the business roll-out process. Of course, security and compliance are equally significant facets of Web3. This translates to a continual effort to identify how Alibaba Cloud can work with these businesses on the ground, while creating a strong infrastructure and sustainable web3 ecosystem that promises security and privacy, meets industry standard regulations while enhancing accessibility and inclusivity.

The spirit of innovation is unabated in the technology sector. While many are reflecting on the transformative benefits that Web3 can deliver, we shall also zoom in the underlying technologies behind and see how best we can realise the maximum values for players in this space.