Japanese government plans to scrap internet
J. Mark Lytle
21 Aug 2007
Faster, next-generation data network in the pipeline
In a perfect example of bureaucrats seeking to reinvent the wheel, a Japanese government minister has claimed that his department will be working to replace the current internet.
According to
Kyodo News, communications minister
Yoshihide Suga recently stated that he would soon be setting up a team to create an internet replacement by 2020. He added that the project would be a joint effort between government, academia and private businesses.
Internet2 too
While there are absolutely no details to speak of at the moment, the notions of both improving upon and replacing the internet are not new by any means. The US-run Internet2 project has been connecting over 200 universities there at 10Gbit/s and higher since 1999.
A key goal of any such scheme will be to increase the bandwidth available for transmitting the mushrooming amounts of data needed as more and more entertainment moves online. The aim will be to create a network that is more secure and robust in the face of virus threats and other malware.
Not to be overlooked, however, is the aim of the Japanese ministry and others to steal a march on commercial developers in other countries seeking to create standards for any future global network - a potentially very lucrative consideration.
http://www.tech.co.uk/computing/inte...leid=629093856
Japan in plans to get rid of the internet by 2020
By NIALL FIRTH
22nd August 2007
Japan has issued a bold statement on the future of the internet - it plans to get rid of it altogether and replace it with something better, smoother and faster.
The country's communications minister Yoshihide Suga has announced that the Japanese Government wants to completely replace the existing internet by 2020.
He said that the Japanese replacement would be faster, more secure, and easier to use than the current generation.
According to Suga, the new technology would be able to deliver more reliable data transfers at higher speeds and be more resistant to viruses and crashes.
Many people believe that a new form of global network may one day be required to carry far higher amounts of data as well as improving online security.
Last month's report by the House of Lords' Science and Technology Committee raised the possibility of a UK reinvention of the internet, an idea which was quickly dismissed by leading academics.
Professor Mark Handley from UCL's Computer Science department told the Lords:
"The idea of coming up with something different without getting there incrementally from where we are is simply not going to happen."
In the end, the Lords' report went no further than recommending "research into alternative network architectures".
However it looks as though Japan may have already taken a lead in the development of post-internet technology, something that would inevitably drive business for Japanese companies specialising in both hardware and software.
Speaking to reporters in Brazil on a business trip, Suga said an organisation with cooperation from businesses, academia and the Japanese government would be set up to promote this new version of the internet.
It is estimated that this new consortium will look to receive around £36 million (7.8 billion yen) from Japan's 2008 budget to fund the new research.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1965