Professional careers: the future of work and the internet will go through Web3. You can find out more in our special interview !

In 2023, we will publish a series of special articles, with contributions from professionals in different areas. We aim to inform and inspire as you consider your academic and professional future and reflect on the careers in great demand over the coming years. In this series, we will especially focus on sectors where the United Kingdom excels at the global stage.

We will start by talking about an area which is growing fast and is cross-sectional, i.e. it is in several sectors and not just in technology: innovation. The development of new products and services, the technological discoveries and our adaptation to them has become part of our lives.

The recent period of social isolation, besides contributing to the acceleration of processes and the adoption of technologies, has made us reflect on how these technologies are bringing about a continuous renewal in our way of living and interacting with the surrounding world.

To understand more about how innovation is changing the world and the UK's contribution in this process, we asked Maurício Magaldi, Global Director of Crypto Strategy at 11FS, a London-based company, and creator of the BlockDrops Podcast, to tell us more about the arrival of Web3. Many regard Web3 as the "great internet revolution" and not the distant future any more, but something for the near future! Below, our conversation with the expert on the subject:

1. What is the importance of studying innovation and Web3?

It's vitally important that we work to shape the future we'd like to live in. Studying innovation helps exactly in this: it equips us to understand how the world is shaping in front of us, and to be constantly updated and able to influence the design of this future.

2. What is Web3?

Web3 is the new internet, which I usually call "the internet of property". It is a set of technological (blockchains, tokens, smart contracts & wallets) and conceptual (decentralization, programmability, comparability, ownership) primitives that redefine the relationships with digital objects, native or not. Within Web3, we can develop new business models that include incentive alignment, to reposition the balance of power between participants in the same industry.

Take the example of social networks. In the so-called Web2, social networks capture and have ownership over the data of all platform participants. If we lose access to them, the platforms still keep our data. The service is free; the product is you.

In Web3, the platforms ask for permission to access your data, and you have ownership over your posts, followers, photos, etc. Once you revoke that access, the data remains your property, and you decide what you do with it. You pay to use the entire Web3 infrastructure, but you own everything you use.

3. How is the UK placed in the Innovation and Web3 scenario?

There is a co-ordinated public sector effort to create a regulatory framework that enables the country to become one of the world's leading centres for Web3. These involve laws, regulations, regimes and registrations that are gradually being tested by bodies such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Bank of England (BoE), Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), HM Treasury, House of Lords (HoL), and the House of Commons (HoC), among others.

In the private sector, there is a fair amount of investment among venture capital funds for various stages of maturity, even with the recent "crypto winter" and rising cost of living.

In combining the efforts of these two sectors, just as it did with fintechs in the 2010s, the UK has great potential to achieve this ambition.

4. Why is it worth studying in the UK?

While the economic landscape is not the best it has been in the last 10-15 years, the quality of education, the wealth of talent and the ability to form relevant networks are all factors that keep England as one of the world's leading centres for professional development.

5. What will Web3 change in people's lives?

Web3 is already giving new meaning to the issues of data privacy, digital asset ownership, and the democratisation of access to financial products and services. It is already possible to send dollars or pounds to emerging countries at a fraction of the traditional cost when using Web3 infrastructure, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

6. Is Web3 Something That Will Be Used In All Sectors Or Is It Just For A Niche?

Because it is a new internet, and a very financialized one at that, we expect that, to some extent, all sectors of the economy will benefit from its primitives to transform how business relationships work.

Did you like the topic? Find out a little more about Maurício and his work through the links below. Stay tuned to his podcasts in English and Portuguese.

Mauricio Magaldi has a Bachelor's degree in Production Engineering from UFSCar and an MBA from FIA. He has over 20 years of experience in the financial market, with stints at Santander, Citi and HSBC. He was a pioneer in the industry, leading the blockchain consulting practice at IBM Latin America. He mentors blockchain startups since 2017 and is a founding member, lyricist and drummer of the band VersOver. Since 2019, he produces and presents the BlockDrops Podcast, the first podcast in Portuguese about Blockchain for business, and is currently the Global Director of Crypto Strategy at UK consultancy 11:FS, where he also presents the Blockchain Insider podcast.

Listen to Maurício:

Blockchain Insider (English) https://bi.11fs.com/

BlockDrops Podcast (Portuguese) https://anchor.fm/blockdropspodcast

Follow Maurício:

LinkedIN: Linkedin.com/in/magaldi

 Contact us at UK Student Solutions today to find out how to study these new technologies in the UK!