Net2.0 – Evolving towards the Next Generation Internet

There’s been a lot of hype around Web2.0 and the way novel applications in the Internet are created in an ever-increasing speed.

But why only Web2.0 (and Web1.0 as its predecessor for that matter)? Isn’t the Web built on top of major Internet protocols? Do we need similar developments for the basic networking functions to ensure an evolution of the Internet beyond Web2.0?

So I came up with some possible line of evolution. It starts (rightfully as I believe) with Net1.0, the Internet before the World Wide Web, evolves towards Web1.0 (see O’Reilly) and ends up at Web2.0 as we know of today. But what comes after it? This is where Net2.0 comes in, the application of Web2.0 principles of openness, community, adaptiveness and end-user creation on networking level. Fair enough, there won’t be as much hype around this as it is for Web2.0. But it argues for necessary developments on the networking level, along the lines of Web2.0, in order to evolve towards something that one could call the Next Generation Internet.

How far out is this? Well, some of the necessary work is already ongoing (even within Nokia) and some of it will definitely reach far out.

What does it mean for the industry landscape? If we look at the implications of Web2.0 regarding the role of large Internet service providers and the transition that companies are going through, we can expect a significant impact of Net2.0 on our relation to the operators as we know of today.

But have a look at it yourself: Here’s the presentation on Net2.0 that I gave at Cambridge University in December 2005.