Future of Web Apps – Dick Hardt

Dick Hardt opened the session with a discussion of Identity 2.0. The discussion was only 15 minutes. I think he could have used at least 30, maybe an hour. This could have been the most interesting discussion of the day had it been more in-depth. Here are some of my notes:

What is identity? Who are you. The basics is that just like a credit report, past experiences predicts future experiences.

Dick recommends a book — The Innovators Dilemma by Clayton Christensen

What is digital identity? It is what's behind your usernames.

Dick talks about Microsoft's Info Card product and that it appears cool. He states that Google and Yahoo! basically are one login for multiple sites but that the sites are in silos. And that while Passport by Microsoft has basically failed, the Info Card product holds potential.

eBay's reputation system uses a past predicts future model. He suggests eBay is the best in this area today.

Some of the companies using Identity 2.0:

• Wikipedia
• Slashdot

Final thought from Dick: eBay could use reputation as a central housing point. Other companies could leverage the eBay reputation system and pay to post reputation points.