The broadband generation

Broadband Internet is set to become an increasingly significant factor for society as a whole, with the growing convenience provided by broadband Internet applications playing a major role. 65 percent of the consumers surveyed said that broadband Internet made everyday life easier. They also cited positive benefits for elderly people, an improved ability to keep in touch and enhanced personal safety as additional advantages (Fig. 47).

Fig. 47:		Degree of concurrence with statements on Broadband Internet trends in Germany (Consumers)

The increasing ease of data interchange and global communication processes is also a critical factor for our economy and society. Accordingly, over half of all the experts surveyed agree that easier access to information would make for greater democracy in the dissemination of information and would raise the level of awareness of economic and political issues, both global and local ones.

An indication of the ongoing vitality of this social trend is provided by the survey findings on the importance of broadband Internet applications as perceived by the broadband generation (Fig. 48). The results clearly show that all areas of everyday life are involved with and impacted by broadband Internet.

Over 80 percent of the survey subjects said that broadband Internet would be important or very important when choosing a career, seeking a job or planning leisure activities by 2010, with the level rising still further through 2015. Around 60 percent saw broadband Internet applications as being important to keeping up with current issues and events as well as for education and training. The only area attracting a more reserved response from the experts was the political sphere, with little potential perceived for positioning special broadband Internet applications here by 2010. The forecast for 2015 was more favorable.

Fig. 48:		Significance of broadband Internet applications in the lives of the broadband generation (Experts at public-sector institutions)

One important aspect of broadband Internet applications in terms of our changing society involves their role at the workplace and in the educational sphere. In particular, Internet skills are now a key requirement for all employees and employers. This view was shared by 87 percent of the experts surveyed, who agreed that Internet skills improved a person's job prospects (Fig. 49). In the area of continuing education, the experts again agreed that e-learning had been a successful professional development tool for some time. Almost 60 percent of the respondents saw on-demand e-learning programs as a suitable tool for professional development.

Fig. 49:		Potential benefits of broadband Internet for education and continuing education (Experts at public-sector institutions)

German businesses, employees and consumers are becoming increasingly reliant on networks, which makes the security of these networks all the more critical for everyone concerned. Almost 90 percent of the experts identified security as a "high" or "very high" priority for distributed work environments. At the same time, over 65 percent of them classified the far greater access to information and increased mobility and flexibility that networks provide as a significant factor for businesses and for economic and social development in general (Fig. 50).

Fig. 50:		Future importance of distributed work environments in Germany (Experts at public-sector institutions)

The experts surveyed agreed in particular that a high-performance broadband infrastructure would increase Germany’s appeal as a business location (Fig. 51). And around two-thirds of them saw the innovative capacity of the broadband Internet environment as a success factor for the sustained growth and success of the German economy.

The social impact of broadband Internet was viewed just as positively as the economic impact. Around 90 percent of the experts rated mobile broadband as important or very important for the ongoing trend towards an information society. And over 40 percent saw the expansion of high-performance broadband Internet applications as offering good or very good prospects for delivering fundamental improvements to the German educational system.

Fig. 51:		Economic and social importance of broadband Internet in Germany (Experts at public-sector institutions)

In sum, the overall conclusion is that the increasing blurring of boundaries between everyday "reality" and the broadband Internet opens up wider access and opportunities for education and continuing education across the whole of society. This makes information access and dissemination all the more critical: the aim must be to integrate all social classes and categories, and to enable them to improve their social status and economic prosperity through participation in broadband Internet.