Over the past few years, the Web has evolved from a storehouse of data to a ‘global repository of knowledge’ for individuals, organizations, governments, and every social community for that matter. It has become a pervasive support system for people in their daily routine. How many of us can live without email today? Or Blogs? Or Community Forums?

A fundamental transition that characterizes web today is from a uni-directional information flow, where the publishers of content controlled the web (as in the traditional world), to a more federated structure where user-generated content gives a platform its value. The ‘power’ has moved from the publishers to the users.

There is a growing need to utilize this ubiquity of the web to allow us to do things that we never even thought were possible, and perhaps most importantly, add value to our everyday tasks, add value to life.

This blog is simply a collection of my thoughts on what is emerging as a completely new model of organizing information and building knowledge, shaping the way businesses use technology. Some call it the New Web, others prefer the more techie term Web 2.0, others just refer to the underlying principles of innovation and the very human nature of enterprise. Whatever the nomenclature we use, the fact remains that this new model for the web’s evolution has vital bearing on our future as individuals, as businesses. And even though we can never be prescient enough to look too far ahead and make the mistake of ‘predicting’ what’s coming on the web, better understanding of the trends and issues can help us take better decisions and adapt to a new world.

True to the basic character of blogs, this blog isn’t a textbook, neither does it pretend to be a one-stop guide to the new web. This is simply a collection of thoughts, ideas and some insights into what’s going to be a significant shift in the way we look at the web, the ideas that are shaping our world, and how we can be a part of this change rather than just standing around as bystanders. I named it the iDialect for two reasons - one, it sounds good :), and second, it represents my belief that the semantics of the web are changing and it will take a new way of thinking to make the best of the opportunity that the ‘New Web’ provides.

I look forward to hearing from you, and work with you in building a better web.

Regards,

Harjeet S. Gulati
President
Netsoft | Global Services