Development Trends of Digital Infrastructure

Introduction

Modern civilization, hitherto based on the infrastructure of roads and bridges, telephones, energy systems, waterworks, and others, has been enriched with digital infrastructure. This infrastructure is driving the development of many industries and education. It is ubiquitous, but malfunctions can cause it to crash, immobilizing companies, agencies, and people.

This chapter will discuss the main trends in the development of ICT infrastructure and strategies for operational decision-making in the 21^st century. The essential elements of this infrastructure and the design trends include the following:

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  The Internet of People and the Internet of Things,

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  Smartphones and other personal communication devices,

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  Hardware and machine software,

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  Computer design,

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  Digital infrastructure design.

This summary will also highlight problems of ICT infrastructure related to unreliability and security.

The Development Of The Internet

The widespread occurrence of internetization in the 21^st century has been spectacular and has been, in principle, revered as a remedy for all socio-economic ills. Indeed, internetization has the following advantages (Figure 1):

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  Strengthens users,

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  Strengthens global business,

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  Strengthens organizations,

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  Strengthens society (but so far, only in the sense of responding to distortions).

It can, therefore, be concluded that ICT solutions live in symbiosis with other practical solutions; they are perhaps even more visible and spectacular for society.

The main network connecting people is the Internet. The development of the Internet has been particularly impressive, a development which includes a range of tools, services, and platforms that support both the work of software development teams and systems assisting specific areas of professional and private life. Next to the real world, a virtual world is consistently created, in which it is easier to get lost without realizing the consequences. An example is the loss of real-life communication (F2F, Face-to-Face), which has become the bane of modern young people. It can be said that the Internet has created a new direction of development, which can be called internetization. This concept covers both the development of the Internet itself as well as its users and their activities.

On one hand, internetization is a sensitive matter, for a significant failure in its development would disable many companies, agencies, and people. On the other hand, internetization supports the development of organizations and improves their activities. Figure 1 indicates both the advantages and disadvantages of the internetization process. Negative trends must be minimized. The trends in the development of this online community are as follows: