YNOT – Internet traffic has “exploded” over the past two years and stands to grow even more because of the popularity of online video, a representative of infrastructure provider Cisco told the Internet Governance Forum on Wednesday.Between 2007 and 2012, “traffic will increase six-fold,” Cisco Vice President Robert Pepper told the group assembled in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. “It’s growing at a compound annual growth rate of 46 percent, and this is being driven by video. Video is the driver. Make no question about that.”

According to Pepper, video’s visual medium overcomes barriers to interactivity that stymie text and other forms of communication which rely on language and literacy. Users not only watch video on the Web, but increasing numbers of everyday people are uploading their own homemade clips.

Pepper’s talk was part of the IGF’s “Preparing the Young Generations in the Digital Age: a Shared Responsibility” conference. More than 1,500 representatives of government, professional, commercial and advocacy groups based in more than 100 countries attended to discuss the future of the information superhighway.