The next generation Internet is a broad vision for a more open, inclusive, interoperable and trustworthy internet—not one new protocol, numbered network generation or consumer product. In the European Commission’s usage, it describes an effort to shape internet infrastructure and services around human values, privacy, user choice and control, and wider access.
What does “next generation Internet” mean?
The phrase has no single universal technical definition. It can refer to the European Commission’s named Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative or, more generally, to ideas about future internet technologies and architectures. The Commission frames NGI as a human-centered, values-led vision for improving how the internet is built and experienced.
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The Commission describes its mission as “to reimagine and re-engineer the Internet of tomorrow, reflecting fundamental human values.” That framing makes NGI a sociotechnical vision: it concerns technology, but also who can use it, how it is governed, and how much control people have over their data and online experiences. European Commission: Next Generation Internet initiative
What values is the vision meant to support?
The Commission’s stated values include openness, inclusion, privacy, transparency, cooperation and data protection. In practical terms, the intended outcomes include more trustworthy services, interoperability between systems, greater user control over data, and opportunities for people to access and participate in the internet. These are goals for the initiative, not guarantees that every technology described as “next generation” will deliver them.
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The Commission’s consultation page uses the phrase “Internet of Humans” for a vision of a trustworthy digital experience with more choice, control and participation for users. European Commission consultation on the Next Generation Internet initiative
What technologies and systems can it include?
NGI spans both the infrastructure that carries and processes data and the applications and services people use. The Commission’s programme description includes trusted, energy-efficient network and service infrastructure, alongside consumer, industrial and societal applications. Possible building blocks include connectivity beyond 5G, software-defined infrastructure, the Internet of Things, cloud systems, edge computing, decentralised management and blockchain. They are examples of areas that may contribute, not a required technical stack or checklist for an NGI system. European Commission: Next Generation Internet policy
That breadth matters: a new network capability alone does not define the next generation Internet. The services built on top of networks, the ways systems work together, and the control users have over data and services are also part of the vision.
Is it the same as 6G, Web 3.0 or the metaverse?
No. Next-generation networks can provide enabling infrastructure, but the broader term does not simply mean 6G. Nor is it interchangeable with Web 3.0, Web 4.0 or the metaverse: those are technologies or areas that may feature in discussions about the future internet, not universal definitions of NGI.
A 2026 European Commission study groups NGI and extended-reality technologies into three clusters: decentralised and secure Web 3.0; sovereign Web 4.0 infrastructure; and immersive technologies, including augmented, virtual and extended reality. The study treats these as distinct technology clusters at different maturity levels, from experimentation toward pilots and industrial deployment. This is the study’s framework, not a universally accepted taxonomy. European Commission study on Next Generation Internet and virtual-worlds technologies
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How far along is the EU initiative?
The initiative is an active policy and research effort, but its funding figures describe the EU programme rather than all global work on future internet technologies. A 2024 report by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology and Gartner says the initiative began operationally in 2019 and mobilised about €140 million over five years, supporting more than 1,000 projects. European Commission and Gartner, 2024 impact report
Those figures indicate the scale of that specific funding effort; they do not mean that more than 1,000 projects have completed deployment or that the entire internet has already changed.
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What should readers take away?
- “Next generation Internet” is a broad vision and initiative, not one standardised technology or product.
- In the European Commission’s usage, it combines infrastructure and user-facing services with goals such as privacy, trust, inclusion, interoperability and user agency.
- Terms such as 6G, Web 3.0, Web 4.0 and immersive technology may relate to the field, but none alone defines it.
- The phrase describes an effort to shape both what the internet can do and how it is built and governed.
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