Invigorating the future internet debate

Abstract

While many initiatives have been discussing the future of the Internet, the EIFFEL1 think tank set out to push these discussions forward by assembling a community of researchers debating the potential thrusts towards the Future Internet. This article provides an account of these discussions, being addressed both to the EIFFEL membership and more widely to members of the community interested in medium to long-term developments. We outline immediate problems as well as potentially missed opportunities in the current Internet, while focussing the debate on the need for a Future Internet on the style we conduct research as well as how we design systems at large. Most importantly, we recognize that an inter-disciplinary dialogue is required to formulate actions to be taken and to remove barriers to their realization.