Internet Of The Future!

There are plenty of surveys related to the future Internet, many of them promising almost fantastic things. The analysis show that major predictions for the 2020 Internet and its impact are:

• Internet will be a low-cost global network but as most of the growing infrastructures it will tend to reach its limits and even disappear
• The access will be made via high-speed, low-power radio links
• The era of Internet-enabled devices and people will emerge. Most devices, vehicles and buildings will be on-line
• Technology will still be controlled by humans and not vice-versa. However, 42% of survey respondents doubted humans' ability to stay in charge of technology in the future. This is first of all because of the fact that people grow dependent on technology, which means they will loose many of their skills and abilities
• The group of those to choose life out of Net will gain strength as a cultural group. The major question is: will it be a new form of terrorism? Because, some would be able to just detach from always being on-line, while others wouldn't limit to this and will fight hard up to acts of violence
• People will wittingly trade their privacy for benefits, though the process will be somewhat 'painful'. Nano technologies combined with Internet possibilities will get under peoples skin in the direct sense of the word
• Internet will go outer space

It is interesting to mention that experts and analysts split in opinions when it is about the key question of whether the world will be a better place in 2020. About 46% of experts agreed that the benefits of transparency would outweigh the privacy sacrifices; while 49% disagreed.

So, it is clear that each benefit asks for sacrifices. Then, to what extent will the future Internet affect our daily lives? Well, let's paint the picture of our future lives:

'Accessibility' will be the motto of our lives! This is because world's information will be accessible instantly and from virtually anywhere. GPS feature will be embed into almost all devices which will increase the value of geographically indexed databases. Using GPS, cars will become smart enough to handle the route and drive itself. With proper software it will not be a problem to get voice-supported directions, advices, etc.

Health issues will also be taken care of – a database of records will be available for remote medical consultations and even surgeries.

What will be the price? Are there any downsides to this process? The greatest sacrifice we'll need to grant is privacy.

Internet will come to a point when it will contain huge amount of data about any persons affairs. It will generally make our lives easier, but it can also turn against us. First of all it will be almost impossible to protect 100% private information against intruders.

The key questions we'll be addressing are: Whom to grant access to our medical records and financial information? How to find the needed information in the growing Internet when it is already hard to do? How to control business transactions, jurisdictions, taxes, intellectual property, etc.?

The last, but at the same time one of the most important issues will be the future Internet-wide virus attacks. This problem hasn't got a proper solution today. So what about the future?

Making the future Internet a better place for millions of networks is the key priority for us today and for the coming generation of Internet engineers too. We won't forgive ourselves a failure!