Neo Founder Says Next-Gen Internet Will Break Up Tech Giants’ Data Silos

Most of today’s internet landscape is controlled by a countable few tech oligarchs such as Facebook, Tencent and Alibaba, according to Hongfei Da, the founder of blockchain platform Neo.

During the Unitize blockchain conference, Hongfei said that these companies have divided the internet into several fragments by creating their own data silos.

He raised concerns about how such companies intentionally use these data silos to impede competition while also abusing user privacy for both commercial and political purposes.

According to Hongfei, laying a new foundation for internet infrastructure that is more user-centric and decentralized is the best way forward for curbing these issues.

Five attributes of the next-gen internet

Explaining the important characteristics of the new internet infrastructure, Hongfei said that it should be modular so that “everyone can build a part of it and then every part can be integrated together to create a bigger application.”

In addition, he said it should be opt-in and promote interoperability. These features would allow people to freely choose the applications they want to use and the rules they want to obey when doing business. 

He emphasized that interoperability is a crucial aspect of the next generation internet that will help internet applications communicate with each other.

Hongfei further said that, in order for free innovation to happen on the new internet, it must remain permissionless and adaptable.

In conclusion, the Neo founder said such an internet will create business opportunities for innovators to build better infrastructure for privacy and governance and create applications for enterprise adoption.