Local and international news publishers and technologists are being invited to take part in an “exciting project” to assess the role of Web3 in their future.

WAN-Ifra has called for expressions of interest as part of its Global Alliance for Media Innovation, partnering on a pilot to assess how Web3 can be used to help build ongoing trust and develop new sources of revenue for news publishers and content producers.

The pilot, to start in September, will test practical applications of decentralised technologies for the publishing industry, and is being produced by David Tomchak, visiting policy fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford.

Tomchak (pictured) – who described it as a “very exciting project” on Twitter, said considerations will range from what a newsstand for metaverses might look like, to whether decentralised finance has a role in the future.

“The overall aim is to develop a blueprint for how Web3 technologies could be used to help sustain the diverse, trusted, vibrant publishing ecosystem audiences demand and which underpin open and liberal societies,” he said.

WAN-Ifra members interested in participating in the project are invited to contact Global Alliance for Media Innovation project director Stephen Fozard, at stephen.fozard@wan-ifra.org.

Web2 has become closely associated with centralised social networks and centralised database providers. “Will the promise of decentralised applications implied in Web3 do a better job than the current set of principles of Web2? Will it improve the technologies and behaviours we’ve come to know as Web2? Will it result in a meaningful shift in power back to individuals and communities? Ultimately, will it improve the user experience and the web for all? These are some of the key questions that this pilot aims to help put into perspective,” he says.

Among other important trends in the industry, Web3 will be one of the many topics on the World News Media Congress programme to be held in Zaragoza from September 28-30.

Fozard says it’s not easy to evaluate how big an innovation Web3 could be, and under what conditions it will keep its promises. “But these crucial questions cannot be overlooked by the international news publishing community, and it is critical that we understand, today, the implications of Web3 for publishers in the future“.

Tomchak is an award-winning journalist, editor and technology leader, who was previously head of digital and innovation with the New Statesman.

His CV also lists three years at the Evening Standard as digital editor-in-chief, and time at the BBC and as head of digital and deputy director in the office of the British prime minister.