The Age of Decentralization talks about various decentralization technologies including Web3, decentralized identity, and decentralized storage, and how they can be incorporated in traditional tech architectures to improve technical and business performance.
In this book, the authors take us on a journey through the tech landscape, exploring how decentralized technologies, including Web3, are on the verge of becoming mainstream and offer a practical roadmap for understanding and embracing this shift. Web2 brought us "the great centralization" by centralizing not only data but also business processes, blurring the industry boundaries. So, payment platforms started offering e-commerce services and ride-hailing services started delivering food. Scale became the most effective moat. But, at the same time, these huge platforms became a magnet for security threats and started violating user privacy rights and consumer rights. The authors argue that the technological, regulatory, and social landscape is ready for the next evolution of technology systems as decentralization technologies get incorporated into traditional architectures.
This book serves as a guide for readers to understand the fundamentals of Web3 along with other decentralized technologies and creates a framework for incorporating them into traditional architectures. At the same time, the authors explore the organization level as well as the macro implications of decentralized technologies.
Chapter 1: Introduction. Chapter 2: Why is decentralization the need of the hour? Chapter 3: Decentralization without blockchains. Chapter 4: Primer on Web3 and Distributed Systems. Chapter 5: Decentralized Identity Systems. Chapter 6: Decentralized Storage. Chapter 7: Decentralized Data Science. Chapter 8: Decentralization in Web3. Chapter 9: Decentralization with Token or without Tokens. Chapter 10: Web3 Architectures. Chapter 11: Decentralization of Traditional Architectures with Decentralization Layers. Chapter 12: Regulatory Considerations for Decentralization Layers. Chapter 13: Public vs Private Blockchains for Decentralization Layers. Chapter 14: Economics of Decentralization Layers. Chapter 15: Industry Case Studies. Chapter 16: Epilogue - Decentralization as a separate industry
