The pioneers of what we now know as the Internet imagined a model very different from what we understand today. In 1969, the first computers were connected to the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network or ARPANET, the first-ever wide-area packet switching network, generally considered the forerunner of today’s Internet. However, while the Internet of 2024 is decentralized, dispersed, and integral to most aspects of the modern economy, ARPANET’s founders imagined a closed system with a limited number of specific use cases.
The problem we find ourselves in today is that the technological model that formed the foundation of ARPANET still underpins our present-day Internet, creating three problems we need to address now: security, access, and governance.
A key tool for overcoming all three of these issues is collaboration.
Security is the Most Pressing Issue the Internet Faces Today
In the original ARPANET closed model, there was no need to architect for security in the way we know it today because access to the Internet was only gained via specific sites. Cybersecurity for the system was about physical security. As more military users came onto ARPANET, there were early developments in encryption. But today, with so many critical infrastructure components – water, energy, transportation, finance – connected to the Internet, the threat from cyber threat actors to undermine our way of life cannot be overstated.
“Canada is in a unique position – with a highly educated workforce and a strong international reputation – to leverage the need for better tools and services by becoming a global leader in the burgeoning cybersecurity industry.”
But it’s not all bad news. Canada is in a unique position – with a highly educated workforce and a strong international reputation – to leverage the need for better tools and services by becoming a global leader in the burgeoning cybersecurity industry. There have been significant advancements towards this with the Government of Canada’s recent funding of the Cyber Security Innovation Network to support cybersecurity research and commercialization and the launch of Mastercard’s global cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT) innovation hub in Vancouver, but this can only be the start. Israel has gone a long way to link its academic, industrial, and defence sectors – both geographically and in terms of innovation – via CyberSpark. It’s only by linking the innovations borne out of a broad range of sectors that Canada will similarly be able to compete on a global scale against economic giants.
To be taken seriously as a reputable global provider of these tools, we need to be able to credibly say that we are taking care of our own backyard. Again, the benefits of collaboration—within and across sectors—are vital.
“The ultimate goal is a model where cybersecurity innovations made by entrepreneurs or via academic research can be trialled in the R&E sector, helping make the sector more secure while also giving these start-ups the initial customer base they need.”
The research and education (R&E) sector has already started moving in this direction. Realizing that individual institutions are unable to fully protect themselves against sophisticated threat actors, especially those backed by nation-states, the sector is looking for ways to collaborate. And it isn’t just the smaller institutions that have come to this realization – it’s a pan-sector approach that includes even the country’s biggest and most prestigious universities.
The ultimate goal is a model where cybersecurity innovations made by entrepreneurs or via academic research can be trialled in the R&E sector, helping make the sector more secure while also giving these start-ups the initial customer base they need to prove the value of their products and begin the path to export. This model will create a virtuous cycle of cybersecurity innovation and increased security for both the R&E sector and the broader Canadian economy.
Improving Access to the Internet
Again, the early days of the Internet did not envision a time when work, school, finance, retail, etc., would all be conducted to such a significant degree online – the focus was solely on connecting major military and research sites. But in a world where nearly everything is online, Internet connectivity is more than a nice-to-have; it’s a necessity, and many even consider it a human right.
However, across the world, a digital divide continues to persist, driven by both cost and geography. Even in a rich country like Canada, far too many people are unable to afford Internet access and/or do not have access to Internet connections that can sustain even low-to-medium bandwidth activities.
Technology is certainly helping to alleviate the challenge of access. Areas where affordable, reliable internet has not existed now have access to much higher speeds via Low Earth Orbit Satellite (LEO) connectivity. By using comparatively lower orbits than existing geostationary satellites, LEO satellites can offer high-quality internet through faster speeds, lower delay, increased coverage, and improved costs for remote and rural areas.
We have seen firsthand the benefits that LEOs can bring to a community through our work with Nunavut Arctic College, which used LEOs to connect to the National Research and Education Network (NREN) last year – a project which “completed” the Canadian NREN by connecting Nunavut.
“Canada is simply too big a country, with its population both relatively small and clustered, for market forces alone to close the digital divide.”
However, the technology alone was not enough to make this dream a reality. It took tremendous hard work and collaboration between Nunavut Arctic College, the Government of Nunavut, and CANARIE, and more work is being undertaken now by Nunavut Arctic College to extend the benefit of this connectivity to even more of the communities served by the College.
Canada is simply too big a country, with its population both relatively small and clustered, for market forces alone to close the digital divide; it will take a concerted effort by governments, civil society, and industry to ensure everyone has the access they need.
The Internet and Governance
ARPANET was funded by the U.S. Government, and as such, the rules of use were set by them, meaning that ARPANET was only authorized for government business. Computer scientist Leonard Kleinrock is often credited with carrying out the first illegal activity online in 1973 when he requested his electric shaver be returned to him in Los Angeles after he left it at a conference in the UK.
Today’s model is far more complex, with Internet governance based on a multistakeholder model, including governments, businesses, and civil society, and across a much broader range of topics. For example, the last Internet Governance Forum meeting in 2023 covered eight thematic areas including Internet fragmentation, cybersecurity, and human rights, and that is a separate body from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), which develops voluntary technical standards for the evolution of the Internet.
“There is a danger that a small number of organizations with the deepest pockets can have a stronger voice than the wider community.”
While this level of engagement is a huge positive for the evolution of the Internet, there is a danger that a small number of organizations with the deepest pockets can have a stronger voice than the wider community. This is why participation in forums that can help bring these voices together and into greater prominence is so important.
In Canada, we are lucky to have the Canadian Internet Governance Forum (CIGF), a multistakeholder initiative that fosters bottom-up, inclusive, open, and transparent digital policy dialogue to gather and represent Canadian priorities globally. CANARIE is proud to be a long-term partner in the CIGF (with special thanks to CIRA, whose staff provide the CIGF Secretariat function) because we see the value in ensuring all voices can be heard in the ongoing evolution of the Internet.
It’s clear that none of these problems will be solved overnight – but they are not insurmountable if we collaborate.
It is only by working together that we can make the Internet’s future as transformative as its past.