Copyright © 2025 Michael Herman (Bindloss, Alberta, Canada) – Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License
Decentralization refers to the shift from centralized control of identity, data, compute, and decision-making toward a distributed ecosystem where trust emerges from cryptographic proofs, verifiable credentials, and autonomous agents—not institutions. Instead of relying on a single platform or cloud to authenticate users, store data, run applications, or mediate transactions, decentralization enables individuals, organizations, and intelligent agents to interact through open protocols, self-sovereign identities, shared governance, and value-aligned automation. This creates a more resilient, equitable, and interoperable digital environment where trust is built into the architecture, users retain control over their digital existence, and intelligent agents operate collaboratively rather than being owned or constrained by proprietary platforms.
Web 7.0 Agentic OS is an example of a decentralized platform.