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A subsidiary of Google called Loon develops high-altitude autonomous balloons that provide internet connections to rural areas. Since almost half of the world’s population has no access to the internet, these developments are of great importance for connecting people worldwide.

This February, just before the COVID-19 lockdown, I was traveling in Peru enjoying the beautiful landscape and fascinating history. I did a 4 day hike towards the Machu Picchu and was amazed by the astounding scenery of the Andes. Its high and steep mountain range is a challenge for hikers, but a large barrier for transportation to get from the sea to the Amazon rainforest. Hundreds of years ago, the Incas where able to build roads that connected rural places from Peru to Chile and even Argentina. This impressive road network increased the connectivity by using runners.
Currently, its country is facing different connectivity issues. Its country is divided by its mountain range, deserts and rivers, causing several areas being ignored by internet providers. In 2016, 80% of Peruvian villages had no access to the Internet, whereas today only 57% of the people in Peru use the internet. To create rural connectivity, Loon launched a balloon that provides wireless internet connection to the people on the ground by partnering up with local mobile network providers. It is still in the test phase, but the plans are to have the balloon permanently installed. In 2019, they have already used temporarily balloons to provide internet connection to the households that were damaged by an earthquake in Peru. These balloons are solar powered, flying at an altitude of 20 kilometres in the air and have the size of a tennis field.

Loon is now also testing in Kenia to provide unserved rural areas with internet connectivity. Areas that have never been connected before, have no access to the world wide web. In addition, such places are hard to reach by transportation, so if the future would allow drones to fly on the network of these balloons, rural areas would be even more accessible than ever before.

I think this development of connectivity is of great value to developing countries, but especially to the powerful multinational Google and others like Facebook. Currently, only 59% of the total world population are using the internet. Look at the opportunities Google has for the future, if it starts to offer more and more areas internet connection. It is creating the networking effects itself. More users=more value.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/technology/google-drones-internet-balloons.html

https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/tech/artikel/4765591/google-zusterbedrijf-gaat-internetballonnen-kenia-testen

https://www.rcrwireless.com/20191125/network-infrastructure/autonomous-balloons-bring-internet-to-rural-peru

https://loon.com/

https://connectivity.fb.com/rural-access/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/209114/peru-internet-penetration/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/

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Every month I see these subscription fees from online media and entertainment platforms being deducted from my bank account. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify, Videoland and YouTube are the platforms  I pay for. But every time I see that their monthly subscription is being deducted, I wonder how much I have used each online platform during that month. Was it worth it to pay for the full price? Or is it possible to pay only for the content you have used? Blockchain will make this happen.

Blockchain is about to change the Media and Entertainment industry. The technology allows pay-per-use consumption through micropayments technology. Instead of having a subscription for an online content creator, you are charged for the content you consume. Now, firms are not able to gain revenue from customers that do not want to pay for a monthly subscription. Some customers only want to watch one show or even one season on Netflix, or read one news article. By using Blockchain technology that can make the micropayments fully automatic, firms are able to track how, when and by who their content is consumed. This can change the payment model of online streaming platforms like Netflix.

Also, Blockchain is able to track the ownership and rights of content creators over several channels. In the media and entertainment industry, one of the major problems is the management of  intellectual property rights. Currently, it is very complex to track the digital rights and royalty payments across a large range of channels. Blockchain can decrease intellectual property right infringement by creating transparency and more control for the content creator. For instance in the music industry,  all the songs that are streamed online or being used in a television show should be paid for to the songwriter and producer. However, several discussions arise over the fair amount of payments to the songwriter. Blockchain can easily track how long and when a song is being streamed by a third party, protecting the rights of the content creator.

This new technology is very interesting and I look forward how it will change the media and entertainment industry. What would happen to the current online streaming platforms like Netflix? Will all major platforms be integrated into one, where Videoland and Netflix will receive payments only when there content is consumed? What do you think?

https://www.pwc.nl/en/industries/entertainment-media/entertainment-and-media-outlook-for-the-netherlands/blockchain-in-music.html

https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/report/blockchain-me

https://www.jpmorgan.com/commercial-banking/insights/future-blockchain-media-entertainment

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tatianakoffman/2020/02/26/how-blockchain-will-transform-media–entertainment/#62c1c31d1b75

https://thetrichordist.com/2020/08/11/negative-royalty-checks-streaming-service-appeal-makes-it-real-possibility/

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“The benefit of [the internet] is that voices that might never have been heard are heard. On the other hand, we also hear from people whose messages we wish weren’t delivered—terrorism, misinformation, deliberate deception, and then there is malware and other kinds of things.”- Bob Kahn & Vint Cerf, founders of the internet.

The endless technological possibilities of the current era are drivers of the constantly growing IoT ecosystem, which resulted in more than 30 billion IoT connected devices worldwide today (Statista, 2020). The pace of launching connected devices to the market cannot be kept with cybersecurity professionals. A very large portion of the security of today’s IoT devices  are vulnerable, allowing hackers to access the device and track personal data or even take control over the device (Kontsevoi, 2020). And this is rapidly increasing; in 2019 there were 300% more cyberattacks on IoT devices than its year before (Doffman, 2020). The internet where such devices are connected to, is not designed to protect its users from cyberattack in the first place. The fundamentals of the internet are openness, transparency and connectivity. And the last years, security practises are placed onto it. With this in mind, why can’t we invent the internet again, like we did 50 years ago? With security as its foundation. China is already doing so, so why can’t we?

Last year, Huawei presented the idea of re-inventing the internet, called ‘New IP’, to meet the fast growing digital world at the International Telecommunications Union (Murgia & Gross, 2020; Huawei, 2020). Their vision is that current internet model, the TCP/IP (internet protocol), does not have the capabilities to enable future technological developments to function such as holographic video calling, autonomous driving and remote surgery. There is a need for a new internet architecture that is able to support these developments with a so-called governance top-down structure, that is very likely the replace the current Internet model (Murgia & Gross, 2020; Hogewoning, 2020). Huawei stated that this new IP does not involve any governmental influence, but critics believe otherwise. Several scientists believe China wants to create absolute control over everyone using the internet, like they have now in their politics (Murgia & Gross, 2020). With this new IP, data would be shared among the Chinese government that in turn can accept or deny users to access the internet and gain control over all individuals that is connected to the internet.

The current internet is not owned by anyone. US firms like Google, Facebook and Apple have likely the most power over the internet and its users. There is no central sovereignty controlling all the content and users. Hackers can access the internet and threaten organisations and even households at all times. One might say the current internet is too open and unstable for all its users. Firms do not have cybersecurity as a main priority (Annenbaum, 2017). Firms are more focussed on the profitability of their businesses and to stay ahead of competition rather than the threat to the environment they are creating. Households and organisations are increasingly using IoT devices in their daily activities that are very vulnerable of being hacked. We can discuss if you really need a smart fridge that tells you when you run out of milk, or that drones are of such importance to deliver your package at the same day. If all that matters to our lives so much, why can’t we re-invent the internet? Building the IP infrastructure that contains all the security practises needed to avoid cyberattacks.

China is doing it in a more radical way, but the western world could collaborate and create an alternative, democratic IP infrastructure. An European Union version of the internet, with all member states having a say, including scientists and law makers, deciding on the new foundation of the internet. Since we are in the middle of a technological revolution and we need an internet that is able to support the future technological applications, while keeping everyone safe at the same time, why not reinvent?

I am curious about your opinion about the New IP of Huawei. Do you believe we need a new internet, if so, how would you like to see it?

References:

Kontsevoi, B. 2020. IoT threats and what to do about them. [online] Available at: < https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/03/31/iot-threats-and-what-to-do-about-them/#6a8fc8155b50   > [Accessed 29 September 2020]

Fastcompany, 2017. The Internet’s Future Is More Fragile Than Ever, Says One Of Its Inventors [online] Available at: < https://www.fastcompany.com/40437402/the-internets-future-is-more-fragile-than-ever-says-one-of-its-inventors> [Accessed 29 September 2020].

Huawei. 2020. A Brief Introduction About New IP Research Initiative. [online] Available at: <https://www.huawei.com/en/industry-insights/innovation/new-ip> [Accessed 29 September 2020].

Murgia, M. and Gross, A., 2020. Inside China’S Controversial Mission To Reinvent The Internet. [online] Ft.com. Available at: <https://www.ft.com/content/ba94c2bc-6e27-11ea-9bca-bf503995cd6f> [Accessed 29 September 2020].

Doffman, Z., 2020. Cyberattacks On IOT Devices Surge 300% In 2019, ‘Measured In Billions’, Report Claims. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/09/14/dangerous-cyberattacks-on-iot-devices-up-300-in-2019-now-rampant-report-claims/#538634715892> [Accessed 29 September 2020].

Hogewoning, M. 2020. Do we need a New IP? [online] labs.ripe.net. Available at: <https://labs.ripe.net/Members/marco_hogewoning/do-we-need-a-new-ip> [Accessed 29 September 2020].

Griffin, A. 2020. Amazon reveals new Alexa devices, including round echos and new show that follows you around the room showing Do we need a New IP [online] theindependent.co.uk. Available at:  <https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/amazon-echo-alexa-show-new-netflix-round-price-release-date-buy-b597874.html>[Accessed 30 September 2020].

Annenbaum, A. 2017 “Why Do Iot Companies Keep Building Devices with Huge Security Flaws?,” Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 4/27/2017, P2.

Statista, 2020 IOT number of connected devices worldwide.[online] Statista.com. Available at: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/471264/iot-number-of-connected-devices-worldwide/> [Accessed 29 September 2020].