International Internet Day 2021: All you need to know
Today, 29th October, is by far one of the most significant days in the history of human invention as this day is globally observed as the International Internet Day. The day celebrates the anniversary of the first ever digital message that was exchanged between two computers on 29th October 1969, through ARPANET, or what we know as the forefather of today’s internet. Since then, the internet has become a vital part of our lives, giving billions of users access to information anytime, anywhere. From a student’s online classes to a government’s security protocol, it is the indispensable power of internet that makes everything possible. According to some estimate, in 2021, there are about 4.66 billion internet users worldwide. It comprises of almost 60% of the entire global population.
History behind International Internet Day
The first message sent by using the internet’s predecessor was from UCLA professor Leonard Kleinrock and his understudy and programmer Charley Cline to Stanford Research Institute’s programmer Bill Duvall. Kleinrock and Cline had attempted to send the word “login” as the first ever text of the digital world. But unfortunately, the system had crashed after the first two letters were typed. This led to the first ever text shared across the network be the incomplete word “lo.” However, almost an hour later, the programmer duo was successful in sending the entire electronic message that was initially intended. To mark this day, the world has been celebrating 29th October as the International Internet Day since 2005.
Significance of International Internet Day
The internet has revolutionised human lives in ways we never imagined. However, it has impacted us in both positive and negative ways. This is why it is important to commemorate this day, not only to pay tribute to the fathers of the internet, but also to promote its safe usage.
Internet usage in India
According to statistical analysis, the active internet user population is supposed to rise by 45% by the year 2025. This is expected to happen by bridging the digital gap in the rural areas. In terms of male-female ratio of the country’s active internet user base, about 57% are male users, while 43% are female. It’s almost similar in both urban and rural areas.
From among the active internet users, 9 out of 10 people access it every day, and spend approximately 107 minutes on an average on the internet, be it for work, study, or leisure. To delve into the statistics further, around 96% of internet users in India, use the network for entertainment purposes, while 90% use it for formal or informal communication. Over 82% use it for social media access, while 45% use it for online monetary transactions.
Moreover, the states of Maharashtra, Kerala and Goa have the highest internet penetration, while the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have the lowest.
Despite millions of active internet users, India’s global ranking in terms of internet speed is at 122. As per the research done in July 2021, the country’s internet lag was at every 47 seconds on an average. Moreover, the download speed of mobile internet was 17.77 mbps and the upload speed was 5.09 mbps on an average. Compared to the worldwide average of 56.74 mbps and 12.61 mbps of download and upload speeds respectively, India still has a long way to go, in terms of strengthening its internet infrastructure.