About SolidWhy is Solid better? Solid lets you bring your data together into a decentralized data store called a Pod. It is like a personal Web server for your data.Why fix the Web? The first web browser was also an editor. The idea being that not only could everyone read content on the web, but they could also help create it. It was to be a collaborative space for everyone. However, when the first browser that popularized the web came along, called Mosaic, it included multimedia and editing was taken out. It was considered too difficult a problem. This change was the first curtailing of the web’s promise and spawned an effort led by Tim and others to get the write functionality back. It was dubbed the ‘read-write web’ and led to Richard McManus’ seminal article published in 2003... When your data is siloed away from you: * You have hardly any visibility into what is being retained. * You have little control over how it is used, or who is using it. * You have little choice in which applications you can use to access it. * It is hard to use as a cohesive unit, specifically because it is siloed, scattered across proprietary vendors, interfaces, and data formats. ^ All of these factors combine to make it very hard to access all of your own data, and put it to work on your behalf.SolidSLD_2f77b0de-5370-11eb-ab6b-93b70a83ea00Solid is a mid-course correction for the Web by its inventor, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. It realizes Tim’s original vision for the Web as a medium for the secure, decentralized exchange of public and private dataSir Tim Berners-LeeRichard McManusWikipediaThe issue with writing data, as Wikipedia and others have learned, is that you need a degree of control over who can write what. That means you need to have permissions to dictate what individuals can do to the data. And to have permissions you need to have a system for identity - a way of uniquely authenticating that an individual is who they purport to be.Social NetworksOf course the social networks solved this problem within their own systems using their own specific identity and access control, but these were not standard, not interoperable, and gave you no choice in what applications you could use to access that data. You had to have your entire personal or professional life within one silo for it to work. And since the Web is ubiquitous, these silos exist across the data spectrum, from social and medical to financial and civil.PodsPods are where you store your data. Your WebID lets you login to Solid apps and Pods as well as letting you connect to other people using Solid.Pod ProvidersYou can pick a Provider in the following list. However, keep in mind that Solid is about freedom: you won’t be tied to the provider you choose now, and you will have the ability to move your data elsewhere if you want to.Amazoninrupt.net -- Inrupt, Inc., USADigital Oceansolidcommunity.net -- Solid Project, UKHosteuropesolidweb.org -- Solid Grassroots, GermanySolid Appshttps://solidproject.org/appsSolid CommunitySolid is a burgeoning technology that is already being applied in the real-world to solve practical problems, introducing exciting new ways for people to control their data and extract value from it. The Solid ecosystem evolves and expands thanks to the efforts of the Solid Community. Check out some of the applications created by the community as well as some of the exciting work underway in several prestigious Research Labs across the world.MIT - CSAIL DIGBoston, USA -- Solid started at the CSAIL Solid Social Linked Data Lab in 2015, which is now CSAIL DIG. The research on Solid at MIT focuses include verifiable credentials, privacy-preserving data aggregation on the decentralised web and investigating decentralised management of health and fitness data. Contact Lalana KagalOxford University Computer Science LabOxford University Computer Science Lab - Oxford Martin School’s program on Ethical Web and Data Architectures. The work at the Oxford Martin School’s program on Ethical Web and Data Architectures focuses on four themes: data autonomy, data privacy, algorithmic accountability, and data sharing. In 2020, a grant was recieved to architect new ethical data systems such as Solid. Contact Nigel ShadboltImecThe KNowledge on Web Scale (KNoWS) group at Ghent University – imec Ghent, Belgium -- Imec has been involved in Solid for several years, focusing on data interoperability, querying, scalability, and the developer experience. They are currently building the Solid Community Server. Contact Ruben VerborghWESOUniversity of Oviedo - WESO, Oviedo, Spain -- Classes at WESO now have the tradition of a competition for the best Solid app produced during their course. Contact Jose Emilio Labra GayoCERNCERN - CERN-Solid collaboration entry point, Geneva, Switzerland -- CERN is heavily involved in open source, and follows Solid work. Contact Maria DimouOpen UniversityOpen University - Open Blockchain Group, Milton Keynes, UK -- The Open University runs an experimental server and works on a COVID-19 immunity passport Solid app. Contact Manoharan RamachandranSecure, decentralized exchange of public and private data_2f77b21e-5370-11eb-ab6b-93b70a83ea00To fix the Web_2f77b2d2-5370-11eb-ab6b-93b70a83ea00DecentralizationSecurityDataStandardizationOpennessInteroperabilityCollaborationPersonalizationControlEnable users to control their own data_2f77b37c-5370-11eb-ab6b-93b70a83ea001You control the data in your Pod._2f77b41c-5370-11eb-ab6b-93b70a83ea00Formats & ProtocolsUse standard, open, and interoperable formats and protocols to store and access data_2f77b57a-5370-11eb-ab6b-93b70a83ea002It is all stored and accessed using standard, open, and interoperable data formats and protocols. Any kind of information can be stored in a Solid Pod._2f77b642-5370-11eb-ab6b-93b70a83ea00SharingShare data with controlled access_2f77b6e2-5370-11eb-ab6b-93b70a83ea003You can share slices of your data with the people, organizations, and applications you choose, and you can revoke that access at any time._2f77b78c-5370-11eb-ab6b-93b70a83ea002021-01-10https://solidproject.org/aboutOwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net