Why we’re here
A future worth looking forward to…
[This article was originally published in the Sylo Newsroom, read it here.]
The last few decades of development on the internet have yielded us amazing capabilities but we are now at a tipping point; people are beginning to question the way in which these capabilities are being delivered, and for good reason.
The Sylo objective is to usher in a Web3.0 that realigns the internet to engage both the developers building this future and the users who drive the requirements of the web’s infrastructure.
A decentralised and value re-aligned Web3.0 requires a unique approach to achieve mass adoption. Sylo is delivering this through the creation and deployment of leading-edge decentralised development tools and adoptable consumer application experiences with a ‘human-first’ mentality.
So far, these are the Sylo Protocol and Network, the Sylo Smart Wallet and the Sylo Experience framework.
These development mechanisms respect the core tenants of what we need ingrained into the future of web infrastructure, enabling creators to build software in a way that’s been re-aligned with ethics.
Our goal is to enable an internet of values; of equity, efficiency, transparency, authenticity and freedom of access.
With the Sylo Protocol for decentralised communication and a rapidly growing, global application, the Sylo Smart Wallet demonstrating its capabilities, our team have set the stage for a real decentralised future.
We are now looking for the next wave of developers, contributors, partners, evangelists, and users to help us build this future, a future that realigns technology and puts individuals back in the driver’s seat.
THE BACKSTORY
At each iteration of the internet, a number of key companies have created enormous wealth and driven out-sized investor returns. On the back of Arpanet developing into Web 1.0, search engines, such as Google, and ISP’s such as AOL, were able to generate phenomenal growth and revenue.
Then with the evolution of Web 2.0 and the ‘Cloud’ server platforms like AWS, content sites like YouTube, trading platforms like Amazon, and social media companies like Facebook, became the new wealth engines.
Now Web 3.0 can result in the distribution of value, as opposed to its concentration. Users can own the networks they use, influence can have balance, and opportunity can be equal to all players.
This shift can lead to new forms of wealth, driven in abundance by many, as opposed to limited and intentionally funnelled to a few. A redistribution is therefore on the horizon, anchored in values of transparency, access, equity, and efficiency; an evolution, unequivocally enshrined in code.
Web 3.0 can fix the problems associated with Web 2.0 platforms and then use them as foundations on which to build. This expansion will see a re-alignment of technology that recognises the global user community as human beings behind the screens, whilst still creating the successes and optimum user experiences that 21st century platforms have enjoyed.
THE STATUS QUO
We are entering an era of persistent online presence, where we are constantly connected; a time when everything is widely accessible, forever. This is a step away from the room for ‘trial and error’ that humanity has formerly had. Throughout history humans have learnt, grown and progressed through the advent of making mistakes. Having the ability to openly and safely communicate in confidence with those who are trusted has been part of that. It has allowed the consideration, adjustment and development of our ideas, thoughts and opinions prior to sharing them in a public forum.
However, in today’s world we are rapidly moving towards an environment where the distinction between private and public communications is blurred. This is a place where it will no longer be possible to have private exchanges ‘in confidence’, without these later being widely accessible, persisting into perpetuity. This future has only one outcome; a society of self-censorship, where every communication must be assumed to be forever accessible, not just by those with whom we are communicating, but by everyone else as well.
Human to human interaction has already rapidly evolved since its introduction to the online landscape and it continues to transform. Many relationships are now forming and being exclusively conducted via digital mediums. As we become ever more globally connected, this will increase to the point that digital communications outnumber offline communications entirely.
Following an unchecked trajectory, this has the potential to fundamentally change the way in which humans interact and progress as a society into the future. It promises us a toxic cultural shift that only grows in its demands for judgement, shame, perfection, and disconnection from human reality.
In 2020, we are at a crossroads. One road leads to exacerbation of the status quo — further centralisation, surveillance, censorship, and the concentration of power and benefit — the other leads to a decentralised future with a human-centric approach. The latter is a future where technology and its platforms have begun re-orienting towards enabling societies to learn, make mistakes, grow, progress, and evolve.
OUR DEPLOYMENT STRATEGY
In order to successfully deploy Web 3.0 platforms and gain real adoption, a new generation of Apps and dApps (decentralised applications) have a fundamental requirement of usability, a benchmark that sits at the user experience (UX) expectation that the incumbent, mass-adopted Web 2.0 platforms have delivered. For all the potential benefits of Web 3.0 platforms, compromising on user experience will not fly — it is not viable on mass to require users to sacrifice experience so as to acquire these new benefits.
The benefits of Web 3.0 need to be provided along with an experience on-par with, if not better than, that delivered by mainstream Web 2.0 platform experiences.
After over half a decade of research and development, the Sylo team have introduced this benchmark through the delivery of a state of the art communications protocol, enabling developers to build values-aligned solutions without making compromises. This benchmark has further been demonstrated through delivery of the Sylo Smart Wallet messenger application, which has been deployed on the Sylo Protocol infrastructure [for information on Sylo Protocol refer to our technical whitepaper available here).
The Sylo Smart Wallet was created to provide users a tangible Web3.0 experience, elevated in every way from the status quo. For users, this is a place that puts them at the centre of their world, so that they can easily transact with digital assets, safely communicate, control their data, and seamlessly navigate between different pieces of functionality with one identity. For enterprise, this is an environment where they can operate a more ethical business and get more value for campaigns from the same effort.
The Sylo Smart Wallet was released to global app stores in Q4 2019 and has rapidly gained adoption by hundreds of thousands of users around the world. This demonstrates the ability for a Web3.0 infrastructure based platform to not only scale, but achieve user buy-in against mainstream platforms and services at an experience level.
The Sylo Smart Wallet is the initial driving force growing the Sylo Network. By leading the deployment of the Sylo Network via means of a consumer-friendly application, we have aimed to significantly lower the barriers to the adoption of decentralisation. This is a unique advantage, as mainstream users are now able to join and contribute to the Sylo Network without extensive technical or industry knowledge — it’s a way to truly bring Web 3.0 to the masses.
With the stage set, we are now looking for the next wave of developers, contributors, partners, evangelists, and users to help us bring this future to fruition. It is a shared future that realigns technology by putting values at the centre of the future web’s infrastructure.
It is a future worth looking forward to; irrevocably enshrined in code.
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Discover the details of our premier tech release that will bring our decentralised vision to life — the Oya launch.
Start building the decentralised future now in the Sylo Developer Portal.
Experience the Sylo Smart Wallet now by downloading from the Google Play or Apple App stores.
