Towards A More Distributed, Trusted and Resilient Data World

This work is part of a project funding by the EU within the GLASS (SinGLe Sign-on eGovernAnce paradigm based on a distributed file exchange network for Security, transparency, cost effectiveness and truSt) project [here][7].

Introduction

The Internet was created as a distributed network, and the Web came along and centralised it. While the Internet supported multiple routes to any destination, the Web created centralised sources of information. But it’s not just these centralise sources of information that may cause problems for our future, the cash-rich tech companies have been acquiring innovative companies in order to give them a “full-hand”. For example, Facebook now owns Instagram and WhatsApp, Google has YouTube, and Microsoft has LinkedIn and GitHub. This week it was announced that Microsoft may acquire Discord.

In the Cloud, too, Amazon and Microsoft dominate and have so much power over the industry (and the world). This centralising of information could thus be a great worry for the future, especially as just a few companies will have so much power over the flow of information, and switch off those they deem as not fit for their platform. Along with this, they may work with governments and suppress the flow of information. In the worst case, we end up with a Big Brother…