Future Internet - User Expectations
•
2 likes•2,897 views
User expectations from the Future Internet
![the past [1]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Similar to Future Internet - User Expectations
Similar to Future Internet - User Expectations (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Future Internet - User Expectations
- 1. f uture i nternet What users need and expect Godwin Caruana Chief Technology Officer Malta Information Technology Agency
- 2. the past [1]
- 5. the reasons (cont) Moreover … it’s all about the user – netizen …..we are the web [3]
- 8. the needs and expectations The user must be provided with choice Each end everyone, everywhere, must have access Create opportunities that are easily identifiable, reachable Freedom of speech, choice without any discrimination
- 13. (not) the end
Editor's Notes
- Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Godwin Caruana . I am Maltese (from Malta) I am currently Chief Technology Officer at the Malta Information Technology Agency ( MITA for Short). MITA is the Government of Malta’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) agency Responsible for driving related policy, programmes and initiatives in Malta. First of all I would like to thank you for this opportunity Also allow me to congratulate the previous speakers for their excellent presentations. For this presentation , I will seek to present a slightly different perspective . I am a primarily a technologist , but the focus of my presentation is not technical at all. Basically , I will talk about the users expectations in the context of Future Internet This presentation should not take more than 10 minutes of your time. So, without further ado, I will start. In a world with increasingly marked economic challenges , we are resorting to technology more and more perhaps in particular to the Internet as one of our key means for ensuring a sustainable future . The Internet has become a fundamental part of our daily lives, for most of us. We should consider ourselves very lucky and privileged to live in such an era. Therefore, the Internet should seek to address current as well as future needs and expectations . An obvious question in this context is what are the areas and challenges do we need to address areas from an end user perspective and expectations This is the key topic I will be exploring and briefly addressing through this short presentation…
- Before hypothesizing about the future , it would perhaps be good idea to primarily have a quick look at our past; where we came from The Internet can be described as a continuous evolution of successes The trend-line provided on this slide show the primary milestones as we progressed from the early days to the current date. Some of the key milestones which can be observed include: 1969 – The early beginnings of the Internet – confined to a very small user base - mainly academia and Government ; Here the Internet was primarily employed for research purposes and for Government communication Then we come to the period from 1980s – 1990s Here we can identify the early adopters of the Internet. At this point in time, besides researchers and academia , we can identify its applicability within the finance and banking sector, amongst others Then in the 1990s Internet goes public – increasing exponential growth and adoption enabled through search facilities becomes more evident. During this period, Web sites are mostly simple interactive ‘ word processor documents’. Email , Internet Relay Chats also starts becoming increasing very popular. At this point we are looking at 250 , 000 users Then we start to evolve towards applications Shopping carts, more interaction and sophistication starts to become more widespread. 1995 – Some major web sites including Amazon , Yahoo , Ebay , MSN . Google follows in 1998 The 2000/1/2 years will be remembered as the years when dot . com went bust Or rather - when the Internet was introduced to reality and NASDAQ indexes peaked From 2003 and beyond. We see steady re-emergence and rise. New technologies like Java, Flash, PHP, ASP, CGI become widespread. Another phenomenon - social networking - starts gaining a lot of popularity. Online Games become increasing popular as well. The Internet continues to evolve into its wider adoption Within the public and the private sector Social Elements (Bookmarking, Networking) become a fundamental dimension of the online world. TODAY , the internet is part and parcel of SOCIETY in general – Societies are founded on people – the Internet user.
- The present Internet is very different from the one of the early 70’s . Beside the technology aspects, we note an evident cultural paradigm shift Again - fuelled by the Internet user, people . There is evident widespread proliferation within Private, Public and Government institutions Throughout various business sectors And within households Basically the E in everything – eGovernemnt, eCommerce etc. etc. The Internet has become more ubiquitous Increasingly available anytime and anywhere. Transitioning into being part of our everyday lives, it has become and is considered to be a commodity In 2009 , InterNet World Stats asserts that there are around 450 million users of the Internet in Europe alone. This out of slightly less than 2 Billion Internet Users worldwide . It is evident that usage and application is not limited within evolved economies, although one can dare say that there may still be different North-South evolutionary driver Beside the evident Governmental and Commercial dimensions The Internet has become a key incubator of Social Activity. I dare say that this is one, if not the one, of the most important facets of the Internet as we know it today. We are also seeing early recognition of its access as a human right Various countries e.g. France, Greece, Estonia, Finland. This is believed to bode very well to the future. Access is key . Right for access is therefore a fundamental principle that cannot be underestimated in any way. We must ensure that we provide all necessary support to ensure that every one of us has the same opportunities to this established network, community, economy. But what are the reasons for such a continued explosive growth? { NEXT SLIDE }
- Slide 4 – The Reasons That the internet has become very successful requires no further discussion. There are obviously numerous contributing factors for the exponential increase in Internet reach and capitalization Perhaps the more obvious are the technology perspectives. In this context the more prevalent of supporting concepts include Sound and simple design Technology specific neutrality Flexibility in use and thus in its evolvement Conformance to internationally recognised standards The focus on how to glue stuff together rather than establish and prescribe measures on how to use it and what for. HTTP , SMTP , FTP etc inherently basic protocols and based on sound and flexible principles The federation and agnostic elements are fundamental enablers in this respect. In fact, the Internet can be considered as one global federated eco s ystem. Smaller ecosystems are allowed to grow in the direction and at the speed they require Whilst still having the opportunity to interact and exchange information with other participating entities within the overall ecosystem. An entity is used in its wider scope here - with reference to machines and most importantly to people . However , above and beyond all this , there is ONE fundamental key driver which is more important than all the rest together ..... { NEXT SLIDE }
- Indeed, I firmly believe that the Internet’s most important success factor is its focus on the USER. U ser centricity was , is and will need to continue be the key driver behind the use of the Internet. Users are the primary catalysts of this explosive success The Internet should be for Everyone , Everything , Everywhere and Anytime . To continue being increasingly useful and successful we need to continue putting more emphasis on the user. Having looked at the basics of the past and the present, we can consider a peek at the future ..... { NEXT SLIDE }
- P redicting the future has always been difficult, perhaps thankfully … A prominent visionary once stated in 1981: “ 640 K ought to be enough for anybody”. I would bet that in most people’s pocket there is enough computing power that exceeds this with a non trivial order of magnitude Within the context of the Internet, prediction is not an easy task either. There are various stakeholders with their own varied expectations and influences – there is no one key driver. Casually browsing the current internet , I have come across a very interesting quote from Vinton Cerf - the person who is mostly accredited to be the father of the Internet. It is a very simple statement but one which goes a long way to describe the rate of change and growth of the Internet. It says …. They say a year in the Internet business is like a dog year.. equivalent to seven years in a regular person's life. In other words, it's evolving fast and faster Therefore, at this rate of change it would be a safe bet to state that prediction with respect to the Internet is not exactly trivial So keeping our feet on the grounds ... we can perhaps ponder on the ‘immediate future’ - by looking at the past and current state ..... { NEXT SLIDE }
- (Commodity) Perhaps at the risk of stating the obvious, we are already considering the Internet as a commodity in terms of availability, pervasiveness and ubiquity. It is potentially the safest bet …… The internet will continue moving from a ‘ convenience’ status towards an essential element of our lives, both in the personal as well as social dimensions . This trend is supported by the continued increase in ‘users’, where we are looking at approximately 5 Billion users in 2025. At least 100 MBit by 2015 in some countries 1GB by 2012 in some (Pervasiveness and Ubiquity) Connectivity everywhere and anytime. We have heard this over and over again, so this sounds obvious. In reality it is still not an easy task. I am sure that everyone has gone through numerous challenging rituals to get connected. It does get complex at times with all our Internet aware gizmos, each with its own set of idiosyncrasies to get usably connected This does not in any way diminish the importance and merits of approaches such as Mobile Connectivity and the Internet model surrounding it. Wireless and nG networks are continuously being improved upon and a number of associated services converging in different ways. Home / Tablet PC Application Stores Mobile Broadcasting Location independence is becoming more key . People want mobility . The internet has the ability to really create location independence. It is therefore reasonable to expect further and increased exploitation of these technologies and opportunities. Disconnected connectivity (Innovative service provisioning) New service opportunities arising at a personal level , within Government and at a business level through: Mash ups , whereby tasks involved often require combining data on the Web, e.g.: Hotel, transport, meeting, personal info come from different sites Searches in disparate digital libraries against your preferences Mining data from biochemical, genetic, pharmaceutical, patient databases Integrating data across the enterprise Personalization context Users want to easily identify, select and aggregate More importantly personalize meshed content Cloud computing is also emerging as potential paradigm for providing services in the immediate future. There are a lot of discussions surrounding this subject with varying opinions on to what extent this paradigm will drive immediate future internet services. Obviously , debates on the challenges it poses abound as well (Higher service reliability) The focus should be on empowering the end user , rather than solely relying on the IT expert. Again, the federation / distributed approach allows each ecosystem to grow at the rate and in the direction required at an individual level, yet the interoperable elements provide the necessary glue (Personalisation) In the immediate future one must also ensure that the necessary driving and enabling architectures are context and individual aware. Context refers to numerous aspects here, including social and personal (Further originality) The virtual reality dimension is also bound to be increasingly exploited. Improved bandwidth, computing resources as well as VR related technology has made considerable advances which are bound to be further exploited in the Internet . I am sure that everyone is aware of the success of Second Life. It is important to note that again , it is the USER which drives this success or otherwise. The USER Internet relationship is analogous to the Software / Hardware counterpart. Based on the past, present and immediate future, we can look at what potentially the USER, who has been identified as the KEY driver, needs and expects from the ‘future internet’ ..... { NEXT SLIDE }
- Without wanting to be overly ambitious in trying to come up with what possibly every internet user expects and need from the future internet, I believe that as identified very well at internetforeveryone . org , there are a couple of elements which can be generalized as core requirements . These are CHOICE - Every Internet user must enjoy real choice in online content as well as among high-speed providers to achieve lower prices and faster speeds. ACCESS - Every home , business and civic institution must have access to a high - speed , world-class communications infrastructure. INNOVATION - The Internet should continue to create opportunities, foster entrepreneurship, spread new ideas and serve as a leading engine of economic growth. OPENNESS - Every Internet user should have the right to freedom of speech and commerce online in an open market without gatekeepers or discrimination Obviously, different people have different needs , but i reckon that the above can provide use with a number of key driving parameters in our quest to ensure that the future internet lives to the end user expectations. ..... { NEXT SLIDE }
- Indeed, for Internet to form an even more integral part of human lives , it needs to address human’s basic needs. After all – besides the technology itself – the Internet is ultimately a network of individuals We can consider the application of renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow’s common sense ‘Hierarchy of needs’ as a basis to identify what is needed and expected out of the Internet. Contextualizing this in a simple fashion ; addressing the Social/ Economic and IT needs of all Internet users are the basic needs, without which no other Internet need and expectation can be met. Moreover, in a fast moving world, the Internet is expected to address such functionality and reliability at a fast pace and be sensitive to the varied lifestyles of individuals ..... { NEXT SLIDE }
- Slide 10 – The needs and expectations The Internet will not fulfil its full potential simply as a content or service delivery platform . The Internet is expected to foster increased interaction , cooperation and collaboration within human society, to solve or at least alleviate issues which address the very needs of the society , whilst contributing to the overall development of human character formation and competence . The Future Internet must provide a greater sense of belonging as well as enabling greater self esteem by putting the user in control - in the driver seat. It must enable users to easily participate and involve themselves in opportunities including Democracy Global markets Education The future internet must provide the user with a better life style and increased quality of life Without groups, interaction and benefits, there is little need for status or reputation . The Internet, in essence, calls for its user to form part of and, most importantly, feel part of the community which makes it up. We are here referring to the: individual who expects to communicate his/her views and opinions freely , who expects to be better served in areas such as healthcare, education – through related technology developments Corporate users – and with particular focus on micro-enterprises and Small to medium sized firms – for which the Internet opens opportunities to expand their markets or participate in research and development initiatives . ..... { NEXT SLIDE }
- Future internet needs to facilitate the provision of a more pervasive and intuitive user experience . This can be achieved by providing content and services specific to the user’s implied need Increased convergence between the multitudes of interaction devices is a must to assist users with varying degrees of technology awareness to capitalize better on internet based services. As Ora Lassila, Senior Data Technologist at Nokia highlights, “It should not matter where the data comes from, where it resides, or what applications or systems create it – What Matters is how I want to use it” The users need and expect a safe environment for themselves and their close communities. The future internet must provide the necessary security measures to ensure adequate privacy in a non intrusive fashion . Expecting technology ‘ savviness’ from each and every one of us is not reasonable. Full capitalization of the Future cannot be achieved without it not addressing further security needs or rather safety needs. The further growth of the Internet shall obviously expose it to further undesirable exploitations existing within the real world. Protection from denial of service attacks, bot-net takeovers, virus/malware infections and moreover safeguards from cybercrimes, abuses, invasions and abuses of their privacy are expected. It needs to also act as an innovation catalyst and incubator . ..... { NEXT SLIDE }
- Various perspectives, by the varied stakeholders , need to be considered to ensure the attainment of user needs and expectations of the Internet. Some areas are not clear cut and need communication, collaboration, intelligence and above all else, goodwill and mutual respect from all parties concerned . There are issues that need to be tackled from a political and legislative perspectives, including but obviously not limited to Striking a fair balance between openness and protection in the interests of the affected parties involved The extent of globalisation challenges posed by the Internet that transcend local jurisdiction and vice versa Ensuring a level playing field for businesses , particularly when dealing with large multinational concerns and small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) Social issues include: the degree to which openness may be allowed without infringing upon privacy or other ethical issues ensuring mutual respect , tolerance and acceptance within and across borders ..... { NEXT SLIDE }
- No single discussion can cover the in any breadth or depth the Internet’s effect, past, present or future. What i tried to deliver here is a very, very short perspective from the Users viewpoint. The graphic representations on this slide describe a metamorphosis. … a paper certificate marked the beginnings of the Internet . As the second image shows, the Internet is now a virtual cluster of networks and nodes in a wider black void to exploit …. It is up to us to fill in this space The Future Internet is an opportunity for all of us and for our posterity. ..... { NEXT SLIDE }
- Ladies and Gentleman, it has been a great pleasure – I hope you found this presentation interesting PROSIT GODWIN