If you had to choose between car and net, nearly two-thirds of the higher education students surveyed would be the winner.
For the second time, Cisco has published its international study, Cisco Connected World Technology Report, which sheds light on the interrelationships between everyday life, the Internet, and the intertwined relationship between networks. This year’s report in the research series points out that networks are playing an increasingly important role in our daily lives, so much so that one-third of those surveyed say the internet is now as essential an element of human life as air, water, food and housing. More than half of the respondents would no longer be able to imagine their lives without the internet as it “became an integral part of their lives”. Findings like this and similar ones illustrate the mindset, expectations, and behaviors of the new generation of workers, and the implications for virtually everything from business communications and mobile lifestyles to hiring and corporate security to keeping companies competitive. .
An international survey of students in higher education and professionals aged 30 and under, covering 14 countries, also highlights the challenges that companies strive to meet in a balanced way between current and future employee and business expectations. New challenges include the proliferation of mobility, increased security risks, and new technologies that make information available regardless of location, whether it is virtualized data centers, cloud computing, or traditional wired and wireless networks.
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Key findings:
The internet is an essential element of human life.
Internationally, a third of respondents (33%) believe that the internet is an essential element of human life. About half of the respondents (49% of students and 47% of employees) tend to agree with the above statement. Overall, four-fifths of those surveyed say the Internet is a vital, indispensable component of everyday life.
More than half of the respondents (55% of students, 62% of employees) would no longer be able to imagine their lives without the internet as it “became an integral part of their lives”.
If they had to choose between an Internet connection and a car, nearly two-thirds (64%) of students in higher education internationally would prefer the former.
The New Community Lifestyle: Is the Internet Over Partnerships and Friendships?
Internationally, two out of five students (40%) reported that the Internet was more important to them than dating, spending time with friends, or listening to music.
While previous generations have preferred personal social contact, the new generation is already seeing the advancement of online contact.
Worldwide, more than a quarter of students surveyed (27%) believe that updating their Facebook profile is more important than group entertainment, dating, listening to music, or programs with friends.
Using mobile devices to get information - the end of television and reading newspapers?
Two-thirds of students (66%) and more than half (58%) of working young people named some form of mobile device (laptop, smartphone, tablet) as their most important technology.
It is now certain that by the time the new generation gets to work, smartphones will take over the role of desktops internationally. This is evidenced by the fact that 19% of students surveyed now consider their smartphone to be the “most important” device used on a daily basis, while desktops received 20% of the vote. With the findings of the survey, the debate continues as to whether there is a real need for offices in the traditional sense, as the Internet and workplace network are now available from virtually anywhere, such as at home or in public places. Already in the 2010 Cisco report, 60% of employees said they did not need offices to work effectively.
The results of surveys over the past two years clearly show that the popularity of television is steadily declining among the age group surveyed, who are increasingly preferring mobile devices such as laptops and smartphones. Internationally, less than one in ten students (6%) and employees (8%) say that television is the most important technological tool of their lives on a daily basis. The decline is expected to continue as more and more TV shows and movies are now available on mobile devices. Is print communication a dead end? Only 4% of those surveyed in the international survey said they mostly still get their information from dailies.
Two out of five students (21%) have not bought a traditional paper-based book for at least two years in addition to the textbooks required for the lessons.
The impact of social media and distraction in everyday life
Nine out of ten students (91%) and employees (88%) have a Facebook profile, and 89% of these students and 73% of employees visit their site on a daily basis. One in three respondents (33%) opens their Facebook account at least five times a day.
Students reported that the preparation of their project work or homework was constantly interrupted by instant messages, recent news from social media, or phone calls. Four out of five students (84%) are disturbed in their work at least once an hour. One in five (19%) reported having it at least six times an hour, that is, on average every 10 minutes. And one in ten students (12%) can no longer count the number of times they are interrupted while completing a particular task.
The line between work and private life seems to be blurring more and more, as 70% of employees surveyed “marked their boss and / or coworker” on Facebook.
Two-thirds (68%) of employees who use Twitter track the activities of their boss or co-workers on Twitter, 42% watch both, while nearly one-third (32%) do not want to disclose their privacy to the public.
