The Future of the Internet

The Future of the Internet
The technologies of the fourth industrial revolution are coming together in ways that are producing systems and innovations that are transforming our public and private lives. Technologies that I spoke about at length in my book ‘Brave Knowledge World’ published in 2019, including artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, the internet of things (IOT) and others, are now flourishing, each with its own sophisticated ecosystem, tightly integrating with one another to produce value chains that are revolutionizing the way we work, play and learn. 
The basis of the internet was planted by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) in the U.S. and successively built upon by researchers such as Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn who developed the TCP/IP communication system which fuels internet communication, and Tim Berners Lee who laid foundation of the modern internet we see today.
Linking global communities in ways that were previously never possible, the internet is seeing massive growth as technologies, connecting billions of devices together and millions in developing countries across the world. This expansion is requiring the internet to become more resilient, for more servers to come online, more storage devices to be made available which in turn is leading to a greater demand for IP addresses and domain names to meet the growing appetite for internet enabled goods and services.
The IoT will push the boundaries of the current internet as it will require a huge number of new IP addresses to deal with the massive explosion that will come with it, with the research company ‘Statista’ predicting that 76 billion IoT devices will be online by 2025. With billions of devices coming online, providing more IP addresses will be critical which means that initiatives like the adoption of IPv6 will be accelerated, as current IPv4 technology only provides 4.3 billion IP addresses. IPv6 will provide over 340 undecillion IP addresses, in other words 340 trillion followed by 24 zeros - enough to give every atom on 100 Earth size planets an IP address.
Due to the decentralized nature of the internet, it is arguably larger than any government or institution we have ever known, from which nefarious elements are now rising. The internet needs a dynamic type of regulation without hindering the very reason it was created; to transparently share information and allow meaningful interactions to take place; whilst at the same time allowing law enforcement fair access to such information in order to better protect nations from those looking to do harm. All too often today, we are seeing that fake news or grossly over sensationalized misinformation being disseminated through social media channels. The influence of the internet over popular opinion is great and needs to be better controlled in order not to negatively affect it. This can be seen in recent times with uncorroborated news regarding the COVID virus and its various vaccines spreading like wildfire.
As online services increase, so has the amount of personal information being collected relating to peoples internet habits. This has become a goldmine for retailers and online advertisers who use such information to put their advertisements in front of larger, more targeted audiences. While this is good business, the consumer has little awareness of the consequences of sharing such information. Tedious and complex online terms of service which consumers agree to, are never actually properly read nor understood. The consumer needs to be put back in control of their information in an easy and functional manner and internet giants like Google and Facebook must make it easy for consumers to do this.
The proliferation of e-commerce in the internet has led to a multitude of online sites opening up, selling goods and service to consumers over the globe. This number is continually growing and the ease in which online businesses can be set up is unsettling, as the checks and balances to do so are very lax. This has led to many dubious outfits setting up shop in the cyber world, jeopardizing consumer trust, evading regulation and possibly putting financial information of consumers at risk. All the latest technical controls to protect consumers are almost rendered useless as the weakest link in the chain is the consumer who may unwittingly buy from a rogue trader whose online presence looks convincing. This requires a multi-stakeholder approach to be effective, ensuring that global cyber security laws are established, proper trade governance is implemented, safe financial transactions are recognized and enforced by central banks, and that sufficient legal deterrents are in place. Governments need to become more internet literate and must have the mechanisms to track, deter and prosecute online criminals, as well as inform, educate and promote citizens about internet issues. 
A democratic, safe internet must be realized.
During my time leading the UNICT Task Force, the UNGAID and the Global Compact, I called for the establishment of a fifth mode of trade, to govern online trade and services. I also called for the negotiation of an Internet Economy Agreement with the goal of creating a Free Trade Zone for the internet. The World Trade Organization (WTO) that governs international trade, was set up in an era prior to the internet and needs to have a mode for dealing with new forms of commerce on the internet which should regularly be  reviewed and improved.
Cyber security is a vital key that need to be comprehensively addressed if the internet is going to survive. The internet has brought along with it high value targets which criminals are targeting in ever more sophisticated manners. It has been estimated by cyber security firm McAfee in Dec 2020, that cybercrime costs the world over $1 trillion yearly. Cybercrime can severely damage and can even cripple companies and governments alike, adversely affecting innovation, trade and economic growth. The most efficient manner to deal with this threat will be to develop cyber security AI systems that will analyze and evolve according to the constantly changing cyber threat landscape. As this phenomenon is affecting every strata of society, global public-private partnerships and inter-governmental alliances are needed to combat this growing threat which is a multi-faceted problem involving people, governments, law-enforcement, businesses, technology companies and internet providers. The threat of internet crime needs to be taken seriously and dealt with within a global manner as the effects of it are far reaching and seriously threatening the new internet landscape in which we all live. 
Crime on the internet has been fueled by a new phenomenon called the Dark Web. This in effect provides anonymity of access to a private internet via specific programs. While this may be seen as a good thing in the case of those that require concealment to conduct their work; such as military agents, journalists, etc.; it is also now being used as a vehicle through which organized crimes are reselling their services and products. The Dark Web requires law enforcement agencies to be technically savvy enough to be able to monitor its activity in order to better protect national interests in a more comprehensive manner. 
The need for pragmatic, global cyber policing is clear.
Moving forward, greater strides must be taken to improve the underlying networks through which the Internet operates. As I mentioned earlier, the prosperity of today’s technologies are dependent on a more secure, resilient, faster and intelligent network backbone infrastructure to serve the needs of a growing Internet population. Technologies such as IoT, autonomous vehicles, smart cities, AI and more will need intelligent connectivity; networks that are functionally compatible and massively scalable in order to provide a seamless experience for end users.
Anything internet enabled will be intelligently connected through this invisible system of connected people, places and things. This will help give context to all the digital information and services that surround us, allowing the plethora of Internet enabled services and devices to act as an intelligent whole, delivering more value to users. The Internet of Everything (IoE) is an even larger concept than IoT, potential connecting every data, process, person and thing to the internet, especially with the falling cost of IoT sensors and increasing flexibility. Some companies have even printed IoT sensors on paper and plastic that opens up a whole new world of possibilities.
As a businessman and chair of numerous international committees on business, ICT and sustainability, it will be very interesting to see how the internet matures to provide opportunities, never previously seen, and provides novel solutions to challenges facing the human race. This means we must develop a strong foundation now and put in place the relevant processes, regulation and technologies to enable the internet to grow and mature in a safe, secure and pragmatic manner and have skilled knowledge workers that can effectively harness it.