The coronavirus pandemic has taught us that the skillful and sensible use of the internet will allow us to navigate through this crisis with the minimum possible damage.

Unmanned, remote and contactless technologies will inevitably be embedded into our economic system in the so-called With Corona era, in which people live with the virus, accepting the risk of infection as part of everyday life. When such a society takes root, the fourth industrial revolution, driven by artificial intelligence, blockchain, Internet of Things, drones, autonomous driving and fifth-generation (or 5G) high-speed wireless networks, will only advance at a faster speed.

At this point in time, there is a huge gap between countries and regions that are leading in digital transformation and those that lag behind, in terms of finding, tracing and isolating coronavirus patients and people who have had close contact with them, keeping others healthy and keeping society moving. Digitally advanced countries and regions have boldly introduced telemedicine, online education and teleworking. The ability of all countries to put technological innovations into practice will be crucial to the success of reconstructing virus-hit economies.

Yet COVID-19 is posing a historically significant challenge to what I call the “Internet Civilization,” as we approach a situation in which the internet becomes an essential part of our lives. Given the evolution of the internet in the past 30 to 40 years, where does it fit and what is its significance today?Read More …