Infopresse Web 3.0 Day 2011 in quotes

Today I attended the  Infopresse Web 3.0 Day  (where I met my friendly clients from  Santinel ), where four conferences were presented on this subject, as imprecise as it is fashionable, that is Web 3.0. So here are the highlights of that day in the form of more memorable quotes that I commented on.

CONFERENCE BY KARL DUBOST (OPERA, FORMER W3C): SEMANTICS: THE FUTURE OF THE WEB?

“Semantics: the future of the Web?”  : the title of the conference deserves to be commented on, because the question mark quickly seemed to be superfluous there. For the former W3C who made the presentation, it was clear that semantics is the key element of the Web of tomorrow. And on this point, I can only agree.

"The fact that links can break is an essential feature of the Web"    : for the presenter, it is useless, even redundant, to maintain a database that lists all the links (although in my opinion that is exactly what Google is trying to do that), and this freedom to add and remove content is necessary to open up the whole system.

"Technology is useless without problem to solve"  (commenting on the research that led to the creation of the Web by Berners-Lee): the Web is used to link concepts, contents between them, its origin comes from the need to consolidate different sources of digital information. Jean-Sébastien had also explained to us in 2009 that a good Web strategy should provide for planning before technological choices.

“Children know how to make the Semantic Web”  : despite the terminology that seems very abstract, the Semantic Web is based on the ability to link adjacent concepts together, like a child who associates animals with their environment.

"The URL address is the identifier, not the content"  : the content can change on the same address, and it is essential to move its content well by performing the right 301 redirects to save the referencing if addresses were to change.

“Learn to Build Ruins”  : Build content that will age beautifully. Too many agencies destroy too much content by redesigning, a term the speaker hates.

“The fact that people didn't grant write access is just an artifact of Web history”    : the Web is inherently social and the possibility of a collaborative content approach has always existed. The fact that the so-called web 1.0 sites were not opened was due to the reluctance of the organizations publishing the sites.

“The terms Web 2.0, Web 3.0 are just marketing terms”  : the Web progresses organically, and many of the elements of each of the phases exist in the preceding and following phases.

"eG8: civil society does not get involved" , but tries to appeal to the authorities: it is deplorable that the largest stakeholder of the Internet, the general public, is passive and, at the slightest concern, asks governments to legislate about the Internet, which, for the presenter, undermines the openness of the network. I tend to agree very much on this point. Especially when governments give in to pressure from industrial lobbies rather than defend the interests of the majority (recent developments on throttling in Canada, Hadopi in France).  

“There has never been anything as anti-social as social media: we put users in silos: Facebook, Twitter, etc.”  : while email is open, like the Web by nature, social networks have developed into private preserves.

“There is better to do than trap people” : Web marketing can take very insidious forms, and advertisers seek control and targeting; yet some of the most effective approaches rely on openness and sharing values ​​between advertiser and audience, by making data accessible, you create the market: the BestBuy example is striking. We also create social ties and a capital of sympathy by releasing the data: if the STM were to release its data, the whole community would be likely to develop useful applications, and the burden of this development would not fall solely on the STM. Infopresse even produces a lot of data (unfortunately badly structured) in its nominations of the week: this data could be interesting for all kinds of people, even outside the industry (ex.: sociologists studying a job market). From the moment you release your data, the uses are multiple (eg industry vs. sociologists).

LECTURE BY RALPH VAN COILLIE (TRANSCONTINENTAL):

“How can I do 1-to-1 marketing, while having a very broad product offering?”  : this quote sums up well the great challenge posed by the enormous mass of data made available by the Web today.

“Consolidated Convergence”  : A Megatrend is the intersection of two sub-trends: Technology Convergence (devices are becoming more diverse but all end up using the web) and Data Consolidation (the public is looking for a way to consolidate their currently scattered personal data among many service providers): eventually, one can imagine that a single versatile mobile device could manage all of an individual's data.

"It's not because you are an expert in your field that it exempts you from being challenged "   : the presenter gives the example of Epocrates, an application on the dosages that 45% of American doctors have, but which is also accessible to the public, which could cause the public to challenge medical prescriptions. This observation is correct and will certainly disturb, but the presenter did not have time to deepen. In my opinion, the accessibility to infinite information humbles even the greatest specialists and forces all players to collaborate in solving a problem.

NORMAND MIRON + JEANLOUIS GUSIEW (OGILVY): THE EVOLUTION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 3.0

"Connected to the world, it's connected to my world"    (Gusiew): access to planetary information widens the possibilities of consumption, but also generates an obligation of relevance on the part of advertisers.

“For the first time the consumer is using the same tools as the advertiser”  (Miron): both have the same ammunition. This sentence is important in that it can remind advertisers who are concerned about social media that the balance of power has traditionally been unbalanced and tends towards balance. In my opinion, social media is not an anomaly in the consumer-advertiser relationship, but rather a key element that brings the balance of power back to a healthy level.

“Planning the Spontaneous”  (inspired by TrendWatch): Actions posted on social media may seem spontaneous, but they often have a clear origin, for example, establishing social status. Advertisers need to understand consumers' agenda to deliver what they want to post on social media.

FRÉDÉRIC CAVAZZA: WHAT WILL TOMORROW'S WEB LOOK LIKE?

“Web 3.0 doesn't exist, just like Web 2.0”  : he challenges what Dubost said!

“The European Union has brought Microsoft to its knees, the day they take an interest in Facebook, they will bend them in half”  : he seemed to welcome this issue rather indifferently. He also repeated several times that the French state had officially accepted a “certified” digital identity service (MyID.is). These remarks reflect, in my opinion, an important difference in mentality between utilitarianism in North America and the sometimes abusive legislation in Europe with regard to online freedom and privacy on the Web in general.  

“In this very sequenced vision of the Web, there is no replacement (…) it's really accumulation”  : it is important to keep in mind that the principles of Web 1.0 still hold.

"The heart of the debate is not who will swallow the 1% commission on payments, but how loyalty programs can be integrated into the electronic wallet"  : that says it all.

“In terms of social media, there will be no turning back”  : social media is rooted in the daily habits of Internet users, and usage is gaining in maturity.

“I accumulate as much data as I can, do with it what you want”  : we see the emergence of a data sharing model where the purpose of the sharing is not known at the time of dissemination (share for sharing): you (the online community) have the tools to use it, we'll see what comes out of it. He cites the example of Trulia (real estate site) which uses crime data to give neighborhood safety scores: this is a very sensational selling point for the site, bordering on anti-competitive.