It threw up new business opportunities for various verticals, as enterprises can use the platform to collaborate, do research and conceptualization, do prototyping and promote their brand, and also communicate in a completely different manner. With enterprises focusing more and more on collaboration and automation of all their branches, this will open a new mode of collaboration and communication medium. Still in its initial days this will surely become a trend to look out for and will take Web beyond Web 2.0.

Some key functionalities of Web 2.0 which help enterprises make their portal solution interactive and user friendly

The journey beyond Web 2.0
The future looks challenging and bright, with more opportunities being created and demand coming in from various quarters for added functionalities. We are looking toward a future where we will witness a better Web 2.0 platform with utility of serious applications, while retaining all the power of a simple Web delivery that a JavaScript + HTML based UI offers.

Soon we will have browser versions which will have offline support for AJAX Web applications. We may also see some level of automated artificial intelligence routines that manage various aspects of our digital life. It won't be a surprise to see a Web-based calendar application that intelligently arranges the schedules based on inputs from other's calendars minus any inputs from the user himself.

There is lot of talk about Semantic Web, which is supposed to draw sense out of data in a meaningful and impactful manner. Also, semantic Web developers are releasing a new XML format, which supposedly would be the final step to the completion of Web 3.0. All the more technology offerings like a deductive calculator can solve arbitrary problems using the math knowledge encoded in the Web. So we are moving toward the world where computers will be capable of understanding information and performing tedious tasks such as finding, sharing, and combining on the Web.

Some key technologies that will drive the future of Web are RDF (Resource Description Framework), a simple language for expressing data models which eventually refer to object and their relationship and OWL (Web Ontology Language) which adds more vocabulary for describing properties and classes as well as relationship between classes, characteristic of properties, etc.