Data composability: what it is + why it matters

One core piece of the Web3 vision is "composable data" - the idea that the information that powers our online experiences can be shared, used, and 'composed on' by applications across the web. This is in contrast to today's model, where data are primarily trapped in application-specific siloes.

When database functionality is not siloed but open, this all changes. Any app can build on the same data.

This basic stack is so accepted (and frankly so much easier now with AWS etc.) that we rarely question it. But it's ridiculously inefficient. Why should every potential business need to build all 3 parts of this stack when their core innovation or value add comes primarily from one or two?

Ceramic is building infrastructure for composable data.

Today’s web browsers are relatively composable - you can add new functionality and features with extensions. Imagine if web browsers were locked down, and you had to choose between the core feature set alone: Chrome with built-in casting, Firefox with Pocket, or Brave with a crypto wallet. Thankfully you don't have to choose and be left so wanting ... See more

Applications no longer need to build an entire stack and compete for the best underlying data. Instead, anyone with an idea for improving the features, services, or interfaces of a use case can plug into the existing ecosystem and its data and start offering their improvement. Builders can build faster, users get more choice, and the Web as a whole... See more

Censorship is the removal of things already created and triggers massive uproar. But the hidden and the much larger impact of siloed control is the gatekeeping on innovation: the suppression of things that could never be created in the first place.

Why should every potential business need to build all 3 parts of this stack when their core innovation or value add comes primarily from one or two?

This enables 'permissionless innovation' - anyone can build any new service (logic) or any new interface (app) on the same data layer.

If Medium were built on open data, Substack wouldn't have to build an editor, interface, and CMS from scratch. They'd build a subscription module that operates on top of the Medium editor and content. You could continue writing in Medium (or elsewhere) and publishing there while using Substack's subscription feature to build an audience and deliver... See more