Moving towards a cleaner Internet

On Monday, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that they are working with BBN Technologies Inc. to manage the Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI), a "clean slate project" intended to test the possibility of recreating the Internet from scratch. Referred to as an “experimental research network,” GENI will require significant funding of up to $10 million over the next four years which will be supplied by the NSF.

So why all the renovation?

When the Internet was initially developed nearly forty years ago, it was not designed with E-Bay, MySpace, or personal blogs in mind. But for many Internet users today, these things are the quintessence of online activities; they represent the ever-growing virtual connection between buyers, sellers, friends and clients.

Many of us have witnessed— if not reaped— the boundless benefits of the Internet, but not without the occasional detriments. I am referring to dangers such as privacy invasion, identity theft, and account hacking.

A main focus of the clean slate projects is to eliminate technological flaws such as these. As stated on the GENI homepage, the organization strives to “invent and demonstrate a global communications network and related services that is qualitatively better than today's Internet.”

In an interesting MSNBC article concerning this matter, several researchers were said to believe that redesigning the Internet would be the “only way to truly address security, mobility and other challenges that have cropped up since [its] birth in 1969.” Ultimately, these renovations would involve “replacing networking equipment and rewriting software on computers,” among other things.

What do clean slate projects mean for people and businesses that are just now acclimating to the current Internet? Nothing too drastic… the NSF maintains that any newly-designed network will co-exist alongside today’s Internet until users are ready to make the switch. MSNBC reporter Anick Jesdanun states that “individuals and businesses [can] gradually [migrate] over as they need more advanced applications.” This is a comforting concept, but I can’t help but wonder if a delayed transition would be as futile as refusing to buy a cell phone or upgrade from vintage vinyl to compact discs.

Still, the theorized advantages of clean slate projects are impressive. For example, GENI hopes to approach the concept of wireless connections in a whole new way, aiming to “provide connectivity without the high cost of fixed wireline infrastructure.” GENI researchers assert the need to “rethink what support is needed for the mobile host” in order to improve it in the future. Limitless wireless connections could significantly enhance the capabilities of online businesses as well as individual users.

For the most part, this shift represents yet another attempt to better our existence through innovative restoration. With careful consideration to what consumers want and need in order to thrive on the Internet, the efforts of GENI could very well be a huge success. If a “cleaner” Internet does eventually emerge, one can only hope that through user-friendly mechanisms and helpful applications it would continue to encourage individuals and companies to explore and expand their role in the age of virtual interaction.