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Top1. Introduction
The physical space is where we live; it is our physical world; and it is God creation. The cyber space, or in other words the cyberworld, is a human made tool that enables information-based human activities to be implemented remotely and promptly with enhanced performance. The cyberworld, therefore, extends the capabilities of the physical world, opening a new dimension, for implementing various human professional and social activities. Since these activities are information-based, they are related to all fields of human life. They are also attracting people to spend increasing time performing increasing activities on the cyberworld. Furthermore, with the continuous development of cyberworld capabilities, this is expected to become a future trend. Figure 1 provides an artistic view of the cyberworld relationship with the physical world illustrating the fact that it is a useful tool in service of the physical world.
Figure 1.
The cyberworld is a useful extension of the physical world
A technical definition of the cyberworld says that “it is the collection of computing devices connected by networks and the network of networks (the Internet) in which electronic information is stored and utilized, and communication takes place (Clark, 2010). A missing issue in this definition is time under which the progress of the computing and communication technology takes place leading to renewed and upgraded information services.
David Clark (2010), introduced a four-layer model of the cyberworld, as shown in Figure 2. These layers, together with the time dimension, are explained in the following from the bottom to the top layer:
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The bottom layer gives the physical foundation; it is where the main physical elements are; and it provides the backbone technology infrastructure.
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The layer above is the logical construction layer, which includes the logical elements and provides services platforms.
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The third layer is the information layer, which considers information to be stored, transmitted, or transformed.
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The top layer is the participants’ layer, where people drive the work of the cyberworld using the available capabilities.
Figure 2.
Clark’s four-layer model of the cyberworld considering time
If we consider time in this cyberworld model, the technology and services associated with all layers will continuously be upgraded, with emerging newer services. This is continuously taking place, especially with the advancement of the artificial intelligence (AI) Domingos, (2015). One note should be added here is that part of the technology of the cyberworld are associated with the operation and control of national critical infrastructure in various countries; and this needs to be considered by the strategic directions of the cyberworld ITU, (2018).
The cyberworld provides useful services on the one hand and requires safe environment for these services on the other. The benefits of the cyberworld services have been studied by various researchers. They were divided into tangible and intangible benefits, and recursive and non-recursive benefits Jamal‐Aldeen et al., (2000). It should be noted here that these benefits are gained by individuals; businesses; the government; and the society as a whole Bakry & Alshoubi, (2017).