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Member SurveysInternet InnovationsDec 2004 This survey is designed to determine which Internet innovations you believe have had--and will have--the largest impact on the evolution of the Internet. As the pace of innovation continues to accelerate, it is often hard to determine which new technologies are really important and which are mostly hype. It is even harder for governments to keep abreast of the latest technologies and adapt their laws and regulations to reflect new technological realities. The Internet Society is devoting more resources and effort to helping governments understand new Internet technologies. By responding to this survey, you can help us ensure we are focussing on the right technologies and policy issues. Since we cannot cover all technologies and issues in one survey, please feel free to provide additional comments on issues and technologies you think we should be following.1. Which new Internet innovations do you think have been important over the last three years? Not important Somewhat important Important Very Important The Most Important Peer-to-peer (e.g. Napster, KaZaa, etc.) Not important Somewhat important Important Very Important The Most Important Peer-to-peer (e.g. Napster, KaZaa, etc.) Not at all A little A lot Should be priority #1 Peer-to-peer (e.g. Napster, KaZaa, etc.) Not worried Somewhat worried Worried Very worried Peer-to-peer (e.g. Napster, KaZaa, etc.) Summary of ResultsWe received almost 650 responses to last month's cyber survey about Technical Internet Innovations. Wireless LAN technology appears to be the innovation used the most over the last 3 years (for more than 70% this was very important or even the most important innovation). This was followed by peer-to-peer technology like Napster and KaZaa (for 67% this was either very important or the most important innovation). Also Broadband wireless was very important or the most important technology for 66% of the respondents. With the second question we tried to look into the future and asked which innovations will have the largest impact over the next 3 years. Broadband wireless is seen as the most important technology by 39%. Another 37% believe this will at least be very important. Also VoIP is seen as an important innovation for future development of the Internet (almost 70% think this will be the most important or at least a very important innovation) as well as wireless LAN (for 29% this will be the most important technology, for the another 45% this will be very important). The last two questions focussed on possible government involvement in Internet innovations. When asked what governments should promote, again broadband wireless got the highest mark: 38% believe this should be priority #1. Another 34% think broadband wireless should at least be promoted a lot. This was followed by VoIP (28% think this should have highest priority; another 37% want it to be promoted a lot) and wireless LAN technologies (almost 70% suggest this to be high on government's priority lists). The answers to our last survey question show that people are generally not very worried that government could limit or block certain technological innovations, maybe with one or two exceptions: about 60% are worried or very worried that governments could block access to peer-to-peer applications. And almost 50% is worried that VoIP could be blocked by governments. Thank you to all who took the time to complete the survey. |
