Hyperconnectivity
Encyclopedia
Hyperconnectivity is a term invented by Canadian social scientists Anabel Quan-Haase and Barry Wellman
, arising from their studies of person-to-person and person-to-machine communication in networked organizations and networked societies. The term refers to the use of multiple means of communication, such as email
, instant messaging
, telephone
, face-to-face contact and Web 2.0
information services.
Hyperconnectivity is also a trend in computer networking in which all things that can or should communicate through the network will communicate through the network. This encompasses person-to-person, person-to-machine and machine-to-machine communication. The trend is fueling large increases in bandwidth demand and changes in communications because of the complexity, diversity and integration of new applications and devices using the network.
The communications equipment maker Nortel has recognized hyperconnectivity as a pervasive and growing market condition that is at the core of their business strategy. CEO Mike Zafirovski and other executives have been quoted extensively in the press referring to the hyperconnected era.
Apart from network-connected devices such as landline telephones
, mobile phone
s and computers, newly-connectable devices range from mobile devices such as PDAs
, MP3 players, GPS receivers and cameras
through to an ever wider collection of machines including cars refrigerators and coffee makers, all equipped with embedded wireline or wireless networking capabilities. The IP enablement of all devices is a fundamental limitation of IP version 4, and IPv6
is the enabling technology to support massive address explosions.
There are other, independent, uses of the term:
Barry Wellman
Barry Wellman, FRSC directs NetLab as the S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. His areas of research are community sociology, the Internet, human-computer interaction and social structure, as manifested in social networks in communities and organizations...
, arising from their studies of person-to-person and person-to-machine communication in networked organizations and networked societies. The term refers to the use of multiple means of communication, such as email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, instant messaging
Instant messaging
Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
, telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
, face-to-face contact and Web 2.0
Web 2.0
The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...
information services.
Hyperconnectivity is also a trend in computer networking in which all things that can or should communicate through the network will communicate through the network. This encompasses person-to-person, person-to-machine and machine-to-machine communication. The trend is fueling large increases in bandwidth demand and changes in communications because of the complexity, diversity and integration of new applications and devices using the network.
The communications equipment maker Nortel has recognized hyperconnectivity as a pervasive and growing market condition that is at the core of their business strategy. CEO Mike Zafirovski and other executives have been quoted extensively in the press referring to the hyperconnected era.
Apart from network-connected devices such as landline telephones
Landline
A landline was originally an overland telegraph wire, as opposed to an undersea cable. Currently, landline refers to a telephone line which travels through a solid medium, either metal wire or optical fibre, as distinguished from a mobile cellular line, where transmission is via radio waves...
, mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s and computers, newly-connectable devices range from mobile devices such as PDAs
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
, MP3 players, GPS receivers and cameras
Digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. It is the main device used in the field of digital photography...
through to an ever wider collection of machines including cars refrigerators and coffee makers, all equipped with embedded wireline or wireless networking capabilities. The IP enablement of all devices is a fundamental limitation of IP version 4, and IPv6
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...
is the enabling technology to support massive address explosions.
There are other, independent, uses of the term:
- The U.S. Army describes hyperconnectivity as a digitization of the battlefield where all military elements are connected.
- Hyperconnectivity is used in medical terminology to explain billions and billions of neurons creating excessive connections, within the brain associated with schizophrenia, or epileptic seizures or DS
Examples
Some examples to support the existence of this accelerating trend to hyperconnectivity include the following facts and assertions:- About 2.8 billion mobile phones are already in use with another 1.6 million being added every day (The Economist, April 28, 2007)
- The network will need to accommodate a trillion devices, most of them wireless, in the next 15–20 years' time (David Clark, MIT)
- Sales of wireless modules for devices, sensors and machines are forecast to grow to $400 million by 2011 (Harbor Research)
- Tens of billions of e-mails, mobile text messages and instant messages are being sent through the world's public networks each day (The Economist, April 28, 2007)
Further reading
- Mark A. Sportack, Frank C. Pappas, Emil Rensing, and Joshua Konkle (1997),High-Performance Networking Unleashed (ISBN 978-1575211879) http://docs.rinet.ru/NeHi/ch30/ch30.htm
- "New Media: The time is now-swim and swim fast," (1998) Telephony
- "Trends to track for the millennium" (1999) Target Marketing
- Christopher S. Rollyson, (2001) E-Business Market Dynamics
- Jim Carroll (2002) Opportunity awaits companies that master hyperconnectivity
- Mark Pesce, (2006) Hyperpeople
- John Roese (2007) Megatrends Part 1: Hyper-Connectivity
- "A World of Connections" (April 28, 2007), The Economist