Australia's technology research consortium, Smart Internet Technology CRC, has released some results of an 18-month study examining what the Internet might evolve into by 2010 and the implications for end-users, writes Techdirt. The public versions (pdf) of the Smart Internet 2010 report and its Executive Summary point to four types of future, what are termed Schools of Thought - or general scenarios: the Adaptive User Environment, Not The Smart Internet, Rich Media, and Chaos Rules.

These scenarios are viewed not as mutually exclusive but as co-existent and to some degree intertwined. Specific areas that are discussed include the Open Source movement, social networks, digital games, voice services, e-health, and mobile devices.

"The project examines how end-users might interact with the many possible Internet innovations during the next few years. It explores the possible benefits that may follow for the users, as well as examining likely major changes for the Internet as a whole by 2010. The approach to the report was designed in part to provide CRC stakeholders with models of future patterns of user needs that could influence new product and service development," according to the Executive Summary.