It's world internet day

2006-10-27 07:10

Cape Town - It's world internet day on Friday and for most people it's almost impossible to imagine life without it.

We depend on it for communication via e-mail, for carrying and transferring triple play data with ease and efficiency and for research, recreation and task convenience.

An entire language has developed in our daily speech that refers to and originates solely from the advent of this tool and it is inconceivable that one could compete on any kind of business platform without a firm grasp on it.

South Africa's first internet connection was established in Grahamstown between Rhodes University and the Portland Oregon home of writer Randy Bush in 1988.

Mike Lawrie, Director of Computing Services at Rhodes University at the time, says: "Our first e-mail link used a Fidonet mailing system as a transport mechanism to exchange e-mail between the Control Data Cyber computer at Rhodes and a Fidonet gateway run by Randy Bush in the USA.

"The Fidonet system in the USA had a gateway into the internet, and to many people's amazement, including the group at Rhodes, the system worked and stayed working."

At the time of its establishment South Africa was still under sanctions imposed by the US. Lawrie says that this ground-breaking work was occurring at the most difficult time in South Africa's history.

"The apartheid government was under enormous threat from the majority of the populace and was doing its utmost to control the flow of information out of the country. The government also viewed Rhodes University as a hotbed of liberal opposition, and had its spies infiltrate many aspects of the university's activities."

From these politically charged beginnings and the first connection, there flowed the innovations brought about by information and communication technology we are accustomed to today.

'Bandwidth-hungry'

Since these first bold steps, technology has radically altered our society and changed the way our economy, education system and social and cultural interaction work.

In less than 20 years South Africa has transformed from an information-starved and isolated third-world nation to a global economic competitor that has lodged itself firmly as a business leader in the developing world.

The internet has infiltrated business on every level, making it possible to trade ideas, information and products with any part of the globe. Advancements in science, economics and the ways in which we communicate at home and abroad have been as a result of these small beginnings.

With an eye to the future, Goal Technology Solutions COO Patrice Lasserre says the prevalence and development of the internet and all related technology solutions is unlikely to abate.

"Today's internet is bandwidth-hungry; and it will most probably be even more so in the future. Many countries around the world (Ireland and Korea for example) have demonstrated that there is a direct correlation between broadband availability and economic prosperity," he explains.

South African's can attribute much of our recent prosperity to the infiltration of the internet. At the same time, says Lasserre, South African communities are very short in bandwidth.

GTS intends to have an active role in changing this situation through the provision of Power Line Communication networks that will supply genuine broadband directly into the homes and offices of South Africans.

Goal Technology Solutions (GTS) is an ICT service provider that delivers broadband service to the home.

On the net:

goal.co.za/

- News24