Internet Day This Friday... And All Week

What is Internet Day?

Internet Day is an annual celebration of the advances in telecommunications, digital technologies and the evolution of the “information society”, which has developed over the last half century thanks in large part to the internet.

The primary focus of this year’s Internet Day, which takes place on 17^th May (and has done every year since 2006), is to support the United Nation’s drive for sustainable development in all walks of life, which the internet plays an ever more significant role in.

The UN outlines 17 key sustainability objectives, to be reached by the end of the period 2016-2030, in areas such as eradicating poverty and hunger, gender equality, climate change, renewable energy and education.¹

The evolution of the internet as a tool in schools and in the workplace, the use of social media campaigns to promote equality and the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated systems in industry are all ways in which the internet can continue to be a catalyst for global change.

Who is involved?

As you might expect with a name like Internet Day, the big players in the online community are present and accounted for. Google, Facebook, Telefónica and Hewlett-Packard are some of the primary sponsors of the event, which features lectures, conferences, exhibitions, presentations and competitions at several different locations and online this week.

One of the main events is a gala and prize-giving ceremony - a red carpet affair with cocktail reception - in Madrid tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Fundación Telefónica building, where winners of various different categories of internet innovation will be announced.

Internet Week

As well as Internet Day itself, the above-mentioned events are being held at various points over the course of this week.

But it is not just the conferences and galas that are of interest. The Semana de Internet (Internet Week) initiative extends to online retailers, who are taking advantage of the occasion to offer discounts on their goods and services for a limited time only.

The participating businesses represent several different retail sectors. The official Internet Day website² lists retailers of (among many other things) electronics, cosmetics, video games, sports equipment, pet products, stationery, as well as clothes stores and food and drinks merchants.

If you want something from the Thyssen Museum online shop or want to order fresh seafood online at a reduced price, you’re in luck! It seems like all bases are covered this Internet Week, as is becoming customary with the growing number of E-commerce sales periods over the course of the year.

…Talking of which, the next date in the online discount calendar is just around the corner. Amazon Prime Day 2019 will be held one day in mid-July, although the date has not been confirmed by the online retail giant.

Where would we be without the internet?

Like it or loathe it, being “connected” is the future of both our working and personal lives. If recent history has taught us anything, we should expect to experience the same leaps in technology and telecommunications in the next couple of years as we saw in the last decade. This pattern is pretty clear.

But if Internet Day can teach us anything, it is that it can be a force for good. Big business and sustainability haven’t always gone hand-in-hand, but the drive to achieve the UN’s 17 core sustainable development goals by 2030 is something I can definitely get on board with.

What about you... do you agree that the premise behind Internet Day is a positive one? Did you even know it existed? In any case, if you live in Spain, you can take this opportunity to get some online deals this week!

Sources:

¹ https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/

² http://www.diadeinternet.org/2019/?page=new_todas_candidaturas&act=392

Photography of Edificio Telefónica by Antonio Tajuelo