Ernst & Young developed in the past six months a scenario study entitled How will consumers communicate in 2020? The results have been presented today by the Telecommunications, Media& Entertainment and Technology (TMT) experts of Ernst & Young at its premises in Luxembourg.

Their thorough analysis resulted in two core uncertainties :

• security and privacy (two extremes : in control or full chaos)
• degree of Internet integration into our daily lives (two extremes : fragmeneted or fully integrated)

Placing these two core uncertainties on the axes of a coordinate system results in the following four divergent and challenging scenarios :

• Full Speed Ahead scenario (self-regulation and uniform standards)
• Roller Coaster scenario (high speed innovation, no rules)
• Speed Limit Control scenario (stringent rules and regulations, more expensive, less user-friendly)
• Gear Down scenario (lost of trust in the Internet)

Ernst & Young has sketched these four illustrative scenarios in an interactive video.

The Internet Society engaged in a similar scenario study about the future of the Internet a few years ago.