The current Internet sucks
The Internet has matured into two dominant models 1) the corporate-led Silicon-Valley one, sustained by profits made on user generated data, 2) the Chinese government-lead one, sustained by the need for socio-economic control. Both work against us rather than for us.
next generation internet (NGI) - EU initiatives
The European Union (EU) understands the potential of digital ledger technology (DLT) in the creation of the EU Digital Single Market. To that purpose, the EU has created the European Blockchain Partnership composed of all member states. This new body has already acted to create the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) to assist technical development of blockchain applications and services. In February 2018, the European Commission (EC) launched the European Blockchain Observatory and Forum for knowledge sharing, community engagement, project mapping, working groups, thematic reports and training. The EC is also funding up to EUR 340 projects like DECODE, LEDGER or TOKEN and many others. It has also instigated the creation of the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications [INATBA]: interoperability specifications, dialogue with regulators.
Some EC-funded projects
NGI-POINTER - New protocols, open software and hardware used to manage the Internet
SSIF-Lab - Self-sovereign identity
DAPSI - Data portability
NGI-TRUST - Privacy and trust - open source
NGI0-PET - Privacy and trust - open source
NGI0-Discovery - Discovery and identification technologies - open source
PRIViLEDGE - Cryptographic protocols enabling privacy, anonymity, and efficient decentralised consensus for DLTs
BLOCKCHERS - dissemination of DLT tech.
Current Internet Architecture
See an interesting reference.
Some notes:
The current internet protocol suite uses a conceptual model called the Open Systems Interconnection Model (OSI Model). The OSI Model is composed of seven layers: physical layer, data link layer, network layer, transport layer, session layer, presentation layer, and application layer, each of which serves different functions in networking.
Some of these technologies are familiar; for instance, the application layer is made up in part by protocols like Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which is associated primarily with the World Wide Web, and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), which is used to send email. One specific protocol that makes up the network layer is the Internet Protocol (IP), from which the term “IP address” originates.
The IP (internet protocol) is central to the Internet, allowing proliferation of applications on the user side and of networking technologies, on the provider side.
While on the whole, this system still works, the constant development of newer technology using the same protocols, and the increase in users and devices with internet connectivity, has led to continuous scalability problems, not the least of which are the countless breaches and privacy erosion that is commonplace today.
