17th May, Day of the Internet
17th May, Day of the Internet
In 2005, the Internet User Association decided to promote that date to make the importance of the Internet known.
This week started with the celebration of 17th May, Day of the Internet, an ephemeris celebrated in many countries over the world, including Spain, whose main objective is promoting the correct use of the Web and make its possibilities known, to improve society through new technologies.
It was in 2005 when, thanks to the Internet User Association and Internet Society, this day was celebrated for the first time. Although at first it was celebrated in October, in 2006 the UN agreed to change the dato to 17th May, a day that was already devoted to telecommunications, to promote the importance of IT and other issues related with Information Society. Nowadays, access to the Internet is a fundamental right for people, recognized by the UN, linked to freedom of expression.
From then, each year a topic is chosen as the central axis of that date, and in 2021 the topic chosen was the role of the Internet as Digital Transformation and Resilience lever, with the aim to accellerate the recovery associated to the crisis caused by COVID-19. In such an important and critical year such as 2020, technology and particularly the Internet, have become a great foothold for society.
And all of a sudden, the Internet came into our lives
For those of you who are older, you surely still remember the beginnings, when the Internet started to settle in our homes, through our phones. At the time, that revolution was far away from what we have today, you have anything you might need at reach through our smartphones.
During the 80s, specifically in 1983, from the Defense Department of the United States, they used the TCP/IP protocol in their Arpanet network, creating the Arpa Internet network. Years later, in 1989, they described for the first time the hipertext transfer protocol that would generate the first Web. A year after, the Internet was created in closed form in CERN, and then in 1991, the network opened their doors to external users. From then, its growth has exceeded any expectations, surpassing 100 websites in 1993 to more than 200.000 in 1997.
That quote by Bill Gates where he said that "if your business is not on the Internet, your business doesn't exist" is more true than ever today
As years go by, the number of Internet users increases noticeably, even further from the arrival of mobile devices. According to data from the 2021 Digital report by We Are Social and Hoostuite, currently 6 of every 10 people in the world us the Internet. We should highlight that in 2020, 330 millon users were added, until reaching more than 4 700 millon Internet users.
Every day on the Internet, more than 100 billon emails are sent, more than 300 hours of videos are uploaded to Youtube and more 100.000 domains are registered.
Today, in the midst of of the 21st century, we can't imagine what it would be like to live without the Internet, a tool that has revolutionized everything we knew, work, education, governments, health, business, people's relationships, etc.
Only every day on the Internet, more than 100 billon emails are sent, more than 300 hours of videos are uploaded to Youtube and more 100.000 domains are registered
A whole new revolution
Some years ago, Bill Gates was right when saying that in the 21st century, there would be two types of business; “those that are presnt on the Internet, and those that no longer exist”.
The Internet has changed everything, also businesses and commerce. Today it is not enough to be present on the Internet, it is also important the way your business is present there. It doesn't matter if you're a big, small or mid-sized company or a particular. Offering online services is the new "must" whether they be physical products or not. The best example is Amazon, which in spite of its beginnings as an online library, has become the king of e-commerce.
Just in case the new expansion of this model for the last few years was not enough, the pandemic also took its toll and accellerated the expansion of e-commerce. According to the special 2020 Digital report, during the third quarter of 2020, Spanish e-commerce experienced an interannual growth of 2,5%, a positive figure after starting the year with one of the most serious crisis ever remembered.
Lights and shadows
There are lots of advantages to the Web and we all know them, but its dark side should not be taken lightly, and we're not talking about going into the Dark Web.
We previously talked about the noticeable growth of network users but we also should mention that the dangers you may face have also increased. Cybercriminals are always lurking and due to the pandemic, they found a new way to expand. Watching news about cyberattacks has become pretty common, though different methods, particularly ransomware, with very well known attacks such as that to the public administration of Spain.
Therefore, from INCIBE they point out in a date as important as this one, the importance of educating, not only on the proper use of the Web but also on its possible dangers.
