Three noted members of the regional\ntechnical community highlighted how the Internet has become an essential tool\nduring the COVID-19 pandemic. During the quarantine and social distancing\nmeasures implemented due to the coronavirus, the Internet has managed to\nmaintain social relationships, allowing billions of people across Latin America\nand the Caribbean to work from home and as many children and teenagers to\nattend classes through online learning platforms. Likewise, the Internet has not\nonly kept the regional (and global) economy ticking thanks to telecommuting and\ne-banking, it has also contributed to our entertainment with on-demand video\noptions at unusual hours and online gaming available 24\/7. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moderated by Franco Micallizzi, the\nLACNIC Podcast brought together Nicol\u00e1s Antoniello, Technical Engagement\nManager at ICANN; L\u00eda Sol\u00eds, General Manager at LACNOG, and Carlos Mart\u00ednez,\nLACNIC CTO, to discuss the role of the Internet during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To break the ice, Carlos Mart\u00ednez\nobserved that, since the pandemic was declared, the past three months have been\nvery strange. \u201cOur lives changed dramatically overnight. Luckily, this sudden\nchange was accompanied by a tool that helped reduce its impact: the Internet,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thanks to the Internet, a large part\nof the population was able to continue working and managed to socialize with\ntheir family and friends. The Internet also allowed children and teenagers to\ncontinue learning as teachers used various applications to continue their work.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt has become clear that the\nInternet is part of the infrastructure of society as we know it today,\u201d\nMart\u00ednez added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mart\u00ednez also noted that the pandemic\nhas led society to put into practice, very quickly and practically at the same\ntime, a set of possibilities that had always been available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In turn, Antoniello reaffirmed that,\nin recent months, the Internet has been the quintessential medium for\ncommunication, work and socialization. \u201cA significant part of the lives of many\nof us moved to the Internet, which has been the great enabler that has allowed\nus to continue to work and maintain our social ties.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevertheless, Antoniello reminded\neveryone that approximately half of the global population is still unable to\nconnect to the Internet. \u201cIn my case, it’s difficult to imagine what these\nthree or four months would have been like without the Internet. I wouldn’t have\nbeen able to work at all. The Internet is the star in this context,\u201d he\nstressed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sol\u00eds then mentioned Bolivia as an\nexample, a place where telecommuting was quite uncommon before the pandemic. \u201cOnce\nthe pandemic broke out, working from home has produced exceptional results. For\ncompanies, the most important challenge has been quickly investing in and\ninstalling technology. These efforts will no longer be necessary in the\nfuture,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Internet did not collapse<\/strong>. The three experts\ndemystified social media users\u2019 widespread concern regarding the potential collapse\nof the Internet due to its increased use. \u201cThe Internet did not and will not\ncollapse,\u201d Antoniello sentenced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is sufficient evidence that\nthe work that has been done in recent years has paid off, as the Internet has\noperated without any major inconveniences during this situation, much as it\nusually does,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his opinion, the community should\ncontinue to work on the security and resilience of the mechanisms or systems\nthat are critical to the functioning of the Internet, including the DNS and\nrouting (the mechanisms and paths followed by information transmitted over a\nnetwork) in general, \u201ceven more so now that the work of organizations is moving\nfrom their offices to the homes of their employees, which are typically more prone\nto vulnerabilities,\u201d said the ICANN expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the same sense, Sol\u00eds said that\nthis pandemic has laid bare the importance of promoting local traffic. \u201cPeople\nhave better perceived the proximity of content,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The immediate future holds major\nchallenges, such as maintaining Internet stability, mainstreaming education in\nsecurity, and attempting to promote local traffic and decrease our reliance on\ninternational links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Statistics show that Internet traffic\nincreased by 20% to 40% and changes at the local level include the flattening\nof the on-demand video consumption curve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n