During its 2024 Scientific Council Day – on the theme “Pushing the limits of the internet” – Afnic gave the floor to several researchers and experts, notably Catherine Letondal (professor at the National Aviation School Civilian, but also software developer for 15 years at the Pasteur Institute). She held a small conference entitled “ Interactions for a web browser resilient to a degraded Internet ».
Once upon a time in the future…
She begins by laying the foundations of her thinking, with a future of forced sobriety: “ one day, which may happen within a few years, the Internet will perhaps be a little different from what it is today, and possibly quite degraded “. The reasons can be varied, particularly regarding resources.
« There may be less energy available and it will have to be shared with other sectors, depending on a budget », electronic equipment may be less well maintained (resources, regulations, etc.) and infrastructure damaged.
In the latter case, the causes can also be multiple: “ increased frequency and severity of environmental disasters like wildfires, floods, storms, etc. “. We saw this recently with landslides around submarine cables in Africa.
Think today about the world after
This project, still in its early stages, is preparing for such a paradigm shift. If the corollary is a more eco-responsible use, this is in fact not the primary goal of the project: “ We are not in an approach of sobriety with tools that would allow more moral behavior in relation to the environment […] We are in an attitude where we tell ourselves that one day things are going to get very bad. How do I anticipate this and ensure that there are already tools ready? ».
