Web 2.0…that’s so last year

Let the version numbers role. In case you missed it, people are putting version numbers to the internet as it’s some sort of application. I suppose that’s what technology folks do to differentiate concepts. Unless you’ve been living under a rock or still styling your member’s only jacket there is a concept out there called Web 2.0 which in my opinion in one word means, community. Everyone’s doing it from pharma companies (as long as you can get past adverse event reporting) to FOX to your grandma who posts a blog based on her travels and cookie recipes. That said - Enter Web 3.0.

Some smart folks over at Yahoo seem to have a formula down for what Web 3.0 looks like. It goes something like this
Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS).
3C = Content, Commerce, Community 4th C = Context P = Personalization VS = Vertical Search

I happen to agree with the later and believe context will drive the next version of business services, marketing programs and public websites. It’s now main stream to have a MySpace or Facebook account. Google is working hard on customizing searches via Local Search, digitizing hoards of books, and providing you different avenues to shop, but not many systems are effectively providing artificial intelligence a.k.a 4th C; Context. The Semantic web as many refer to Web 3.0, is a place where machines can read Web pages much as we humans read them and deliver information through handhelds and browsers that you actually want.

Below is a reinvention of what Sramana Mitra has already intelligently portrayed on a personal shopper sample. I’ve taken the idea and put a spin on the article, as it relates to Web 3.0 and the pharmaceutical/biotech industries.
Imagine….
- I am a respected oncology sales rep (a rep of the future) located on the east coast who works for a major biotech organization. (Context)
- I want my personal online toolkit to provide the ability to purchase reprints, download vis-aids and access an ordering system for samples. (Commerce)
- I also want to be able to have medical conversations with physicians through an interactive online tool based on therapy and disease state. (Content)
- I want to collaborate with my west coast colleagues through my wireless device as I’m in-between visits to see how they handle certain questions from oncologists. (Community)
- Once I learn of an approach from a colleague, I want to prep for my next visit by searching online publication bases by author, subject and MeSH heading to familiarize myself on small cell lung cancers. (Personalization, Vertical Search)
Now, imagine the same for a pharmaceutical sales rep who relies simply on doctor visits. and he doesn’t have a clue on how to perform even the simplest search online. Before Web 3.0, he/she could get all vis aids and searches through a department at his company.
With Web 3.0, the internet will be his new department providing lean process and cost savings to the company and hopefully impacting the cost of drugs that consumers see likewise adding value to the physician so he/she can make informed clinical decisions.
As well depicted Sramana Mitra’s formula, I think 1 critical thing is missing. Give me an “I” for Interoperability (or Integration) That said, I’d suggest appending the model as
Interopability = Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS).
3C = Content, Commerce, Community 4th C = Context P = Personalization VS = Vertical Search I = Interoperability

Content, Commerce, Community, Context, Personalization and Vertical Search are all governed by Interoperability of systems. There is no 1 mega system or service that handles all the endless possibilities. From my perspective Web 3.0 comes down to 1 word…Interoperability, the infrastructure that allows systems and applications to be artificially intelligent.