In brief
- The Dfinity Foundation has unveiled a governance system for its upcoming decentralized internet protocol.
- The governance network, dubbed Network Nervous System (NNS), will power the protocol and allow users to vote on its future.
- Known as the Internet Computer, Dfinity aims to demonopolize the internet from the hands of big tech.
The Dfinity Foundation, a blockchain-based cloud computing firm striving to establish a decentralized internet, today revealed the Network Nervous System (NNS)—the brain that it hopes will power the decentralized web.
Backed by venture capital monoliths, including Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital, Dfinity aims to launch the so-called "Internet Computer"—the alias for its decentralized web—later this year. The shipping of the NNS, otherwise known as the Sodium Network, stands the final milestone toward this launch goal.
"The NNS now means the Internet Computer is feature complete," said Dominic Williams, Founder and Chief Scientist of the DFINITY Foundation. "It represents a seminal moment in the history of the internet. For the first time, internet services will be governed in a completely independent, decentralized manner."
At its core, the NNS is a governance system that regulates Dfinity's litany of data centers, providing everything the network needs to build an open internet, including a decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, along with a host of decentralized apps (Dapps) and pan-industry enterprise systems—all of which, Dfinity says, will be highly scalable.
Dfinity’s ‘Internet Computer’ is almost ready to tackle corporate social media
Dfinity, a blockchain startup that aims to “open up” the Internet via decentralized technologies, has presented a live demo of the “bronze” (supposedly akin to beta) version of its cloud computer at the World Economic Forum 2020 in Davos. The test application, dubbed “LinkedUp,” was used to demonstrate what major social networks (an obvious nod toward Microsoft’s LinkedIn) could become if they were open-source platforms not owned by any mega-corporation. As Decrypt explained recently, Dfinity is...
The NNS governance system will run on a native token, dubbed ICP. These tokens fuel Dfinity's decentralized web, akin to how ETH provides gas for the Ethereum network. ICP can also be used to participate in governance, allowing holders to vote on the proposals that will shape the future of the Internet Computer.
What are Decentralized Apps (Dapps)?
It’s time to cut out the middleman. Why pay for a company to provide a ride-sharing service when you could use an app that connects drivers directly with riders and doesn’t take a cut? That's the promise being offered by dapps, or decentralized apps. Read on for an overview of what they are, how they work, some of the opportunities they present, and and the challenges these new types of applications face. What is a dapp (decentralized application)? Dapps are decentralized apps. They are like no...
Williams explained that Dfinity devised the Internet Computer as a means of breaking the web monopoly of big tech and their centralized servers. "The NNS is the catalyst for the open internet we were promised in the 1990s, and it ensures that the future of the internet remains open and free," he said.
Instead of central servers, the Internet Computer would see the creation of a host of independent and distributed data centers, enabling software to be run by anyone, anywhere in the world. But can it move successfully from concept to reality?
