Today is International Internet Day

Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark International Internet Day on October 29. Since 2005, the International Internet Day has been celebrated to commemorate a momentous day in the history of telecommunications and technology. The event commemorated is the sending of the first message, first electronic message which was transferred from one computer to another in 1969. This was situated in California, in the USA.

At that time, internet was known as ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). This was in 1969 when Charley Kline, a student programmer at the UCLA transmitted the first ever message on October 29, 1969. Charley Kline, whose supervisor was Professor Leonard Kleinrock, transmitted a message from the computer housed at the UCLA to a computer positioned at the Stanford Research Institute's computer. The two computers, one at the UCLA was the SDS Sigma 7 Host computer and the receiver was the SDS 940 Host at the Stanford Research Institute. Interestingly, the message was a text message comprising the word 'login'. But as it would transpire only the letter L and O could be transmitted across, because following the initial transmission the system collapsed and the transmission crashed.

Recall that the Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching, using standard Internet Protocol, IP. Now Internet has become one of the most important part of our lives. Most of us cannot think of spending one day without internet. From sending electronic mails to instant messaging and other smart office application that make both business and social life hassle free, the internet has become an indispensable tool in our lives.

49 years down the line, messages have been sent not just from one computer to another but from one tablet to many individuals and groups. At the moment, many individuals take email marketing as a full time job.

Though the journey has not been easy, the internet has in more ways than one helped to bolster economies of countries across the globe.

Statistics from the International Telecommunications Union, World Bank group and the United Nations Population Division indicate that the there are over two billion internet users across the globe. Records show that the first one billion internet users was achieved in 2005 and the number doubled in 2010 to two billion. Many industry stakeholders maintain that before the end of 2014, the world number of internet users will hit three billion.

The Asian continent has had it good in terms of internet number of internet users as the continent accounts for 48.8 per cent of the world’s internet connection while the Americas (comprising North and South American countries) account for 21.8 per cent of world internet users. Europe, with 19 per cent of all internet users is third while Africa accounts for 9.8 per cent of internet users across the world. Countries that make u Oceania account for a paltry 0.9 per cent of world internet users.

China in a not so surprising move leads other countries as it has the highest number of internet users with an estimated 642 million users. United States of America is following China with an estimated 280 million internet users, while Japan, Brazil, Russia and Germany follow USA in that order with 109 million, 108 million, 84 million and 72 million respectively.

Nigeria is ranked among the top ten countries with the highest number of internet users. With 67,101,452 million internet users, it is the only African country on the top ten list and it controls 2.30 per cent of the of the world’s internet users. While the country’s annual user growth rate has been put at 9,365,590, the percentage penetration of population with internet was pegged at 37.59 per cent.

As the world celebrates International Internet Day and as Nigerians celebrate today, issues bothering on internet safety, cyber crime, and child online safety are germane considering the fact that a chunk of the world’s population are exposed daily to the online community.

FACTS

Ø  Over 111 billion emails are sent daily.

Ø  Over four billion internet users watch YouTube daily.

Ø  Over 1.4 billion internet users have active Facebook accounts.

Ø  Over 693 million internet users have active Google⁺ accounts.

Ø  71 million Skype calls are made daily.

Ø  40 per cent of the world has internet connection.

Ø  There are over two billion Google searches daily.

Ø  There are over one million blog posts written daily.

Ø  One billion gigabyte is expended on internet traffic across the globe daily.

Ø  1.4 million tons of CO₂ emission from internet is recorded daily

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