Internet Technologies
Trust Matters
IPSec (discussed in the "e-Business" section) provides support for encryption, proof of the sender's identity, and immunity from tampering. It can work on IPSec-enabled clients, on IPSec-enabled servers, or via a gateway and a VPN (virtual private network).
Biometrics devices and digital certificates will work together to improve Internet security, first by using your unique physical attributes--like fingerprints or retinal patterns--to confirm your identity, and then by determining what privileges you have in a particular environment. The technology to do this exists today, but its widespread implementation has been hampered by complexity, cost, and lack of consistent software support.
Content Delivery Gets Smarter
Both users and Web site operators are keen to find ways of delivering faster, more reliable access to information across the Net. Some research is focused on ways to improve streaming audio and video content via better codecs and compression techniques. Other products are aimed at working around bottlenecks within the Internet itself. Among the best-known of these solutions is Akamai's FreeFlow delivery system. Other companies addressing the problem from different angles include CacheFlow, Digital Island (and its recent acquisition, Sandpiper Networks), and Speedera Networks.
If there's any certainty about the future of the Internet, it's that our predictions will only scratch the surface--and that they'll look hopelessly dated in just a few months' time.
THINKERS
"The established wisdom of our industry would have us believe that we are set on a course to convergence. I don't think so! We are witnessing more divergence than ever before, with growing numbers of networks, devices, platforms, terminals, and applications. The only common themes are a focus on IP, the toppling of hierarchies, and a move to self-organisation and emergent behaviours. In the next three to five years, mobility looks set to become the dominant mode. There are already far more mobile phone chip sets being manufactured than the PC equivalent, and in an increasing number of countries, the mobile phone is becoming the terminal of choice and convenience. As more mobile bandwidth becomes available, we will see a sea change in applications. In Japan, more people buy goods using their mobiles than their PCs, and in Europe, you can pay for a cab, pay a restaurant bill, and buy food on your mobile.
- Professor Peter Cochrane, chief technologist, British Telecom
