The introduction of the WWW caused a commercial explosion of the internet sometime in 1992. It brought into the Net the world of graphics, audio and video. The WWW created a platform for companies to display their products, information, and services on the Net. At the same time, it gave rise to highly specialised professionals.

From an added luxury, the internet isfast maturing into a strategic resource; for organisations, professionals, housewives and just about everyone. The last few years have witnessed an explosive growth in internet-related products and services; web sites, internet connections, business on the net. Some figures to illustrate the point presently there are about 97.9 million computers connected to the internet and about 36.89 million web sites, all of it growing at the rate of 9-12 per cent per month.

Revenue from internet-based business is expected to reach US $ 170 billion in the year 2000 from the current level of US $48.6 billion in 1998. India is fast catching up with this global trend. The market size for internet related solutions currently is Rs 375 crore and it is expected to grow to Rs 8,500 crore by 2003.

Alongside internet, multimedia has witnessed tremendous growth. It allows integration of the various media elements like voice, video, test, images along with interactivity and is fast becoming the `motive power' for the internet.Together, the two industries are set to revolutionise our world.

According to Nasscom's Strategic Review of the Indian software industry, the multimedia industry in India is expected to reach a size of Rs 6,000 crore in 2000 from the current levels of Rs 1,900 crore in 1998. While the IT industry in India is expected to grow by 30 per cent during 1998-99, the multimedia and graphics segment is expected to grow by 65 per cent during the same period.

When a system is used to publish web pages, it is considered to be a Web server system and this is considered part of the internet. The Net can be accessed using Web Browsers. According to information required, the browser accesses the respective Web server over the Net and retrieves the information from the server. A wide array of Web browsers are available for just about every platform including the Graphical User Interface and Text. Currently the most popular browser for the WWW is Netscape's Navigator, developed by Netscape Communications Corporation.Netscape as it is popularly known, is available for the Macintosh, Windows and the X-Windows. Some of the other browsers are Internet Explorer from Microsoft, MOSAIC by NCSA and Lynx by University of Kansas.

In the bygone days, sites were developed by a single entity. Today, a team of highly specialised people work on sites. There are organisations, which are exclusively dedicated to developing and hosting websites. The business of creating or developing a website is also called Web Publishing and organisations doing this are called Web Publishers. The combination of these technologies is opening up a host of new opportunities for organisations and professionals.

The author is Vice President, Aptech Limited