The Cyberspace: Redefining A New World
Author(s): U. M. Mbanaso, PhDand E.S. Dandaura, PhD. | Published date: May, 2015
Abstract: The cyberspace driven by information systems and the Internet is transforming our environment in extraordinary ways by enabling economic growth and providing new means by which people connect, interact and collaborate with one another. The continuous evolution of components of information and communications technology (ICT); advances in the underlying digital components (core electronics)and the corresponding reduction in costs suggest that the Internet is increasingly becoming more readily available and accessible worldwide. The outcome is that more and more people around the globe will ultimately rely on the effective functioning of the Internet to survive and prosper. This suggests an unremitting upsurge of the population of cyber citizens globally.Most countries no longer take these emerging trends in the virtual world casually. Aside the evolution of digital economy driven by the extensive use of information space or digital knowledge, most countries are working hard to dominate the information space. As the industrial revolution bifurcated the world, so also is the level of exploitation of the vast opportunities on cyberspace bifurcating nation states. This is simply due to the fact that traditional activities of all sorts are increasingly shifting to this new domain.Certainly, cyberspace has become a new focal point for innovations, enterprises, social networking, criminality and warfare.These factors are reshaping and redefining a new world. Most countries that have recognized cyberspace as the fifth domain, have,equally elevated their perception of the domain as an abstract virtual space to a more concrete space with‘physical boundaries’. This paper explores the different levels at which cyberspace is bringing benefits and risks to mankind, and the factors responsible for the widening gap between ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ nations.
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