What if the Internet failed?

What if the Internet failed? Since its early development in the 1960s, Internet infrastructure has become almost as important as electricity and transport infrastructures in contemporary societies. More and more key services such as banking, food retail, and health care, rely on Internet connections. Despite its original resilient decentralised design, the increasing importance of a few central players and centralising developments have made the Internet more vulnerable to failure. This would have severe repercussions: citizens would no longer be able to withdraw cash or pay by card, supermarkets and large retailers could no longer bill and sell products, and digital certificates (such as the Covid-19 vaccination certificate) could no longer be controlled.