Pew has released a study report after surveying around 250 leading internet stakeholders on the future of the internet.
Amongst the key expectations for the Year 2020 include:
• A global, low-cost network thrives:
• English displaces other languages:
• Autonomous technology is a problem:
• Transparency builds a better world, even at the expense of privacy:
• Virtual reality is a drain for some:
• The internet opens worldwide access to success:
While all these things display optimism, they are also more or less obvious, the report would have been more meaningful if it had looked at expectations and developments from Asia. Afterall, studies show that 36% of Internet users are now in Asia and 24% are in Europe. Only 23% of users are in North America and Asia would be adding more internet subscribers in the days to come. The impact of wireless, next generation communication hubs, politics surrounding Ipv6, Icann, explosion of content in asian languages- all these need to be factored in while discussing the future of internet. The rise of technologies like semantic web and lack of discussion about social networks, user generated content etc make this an incomplete work. Sadly the report falls short on various counts and may need to substantially increase its coverage, depth and probe advances in multiple dimensions in its next release.
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