Harnessing the Internet for Development

Universal access to the Internet has become a topdevelopment priority. Getting there requires affordable,reliable access to fast, “always on” broadbandnetworks, one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 9.c). Finland has recogni...

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Main Author: Melhem, Samia
Format: Brief
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/517911470919578231/Connections-Harnessing-the-internet-for-development
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26323
id okr-10986-26323
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spelling okr-10986-263232021-05-26T09:05:19Z Harnessing the Internet for Development Melhem, Samia ICT INTERNET BROADBAND DIGITAL DIVIDE Universal access to the Internet has become a topdevelopment priority. Getting there requires affordable,reliable access to fast, “always on” broadbandnetworks, one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 9.c). Finland has recognizedaccess to broadband as a fundamental human rightsince 2010. In 2011, a key Uncommission also declared that broadband access is a basic human right, alongwith health care, shelter, and food. Affordable Internetaccess enables progress on some of the toughestdevelopment challenges in the world’s poorest communities. According to one estimate, increasing the proportion of the world’s population that is connected to the Internet to 75 percent(reaching 5.6 billion people)would add 2 trillion dollars per year to world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and help create 140 million jobs—a lofty goal: today, only about 40 percent of the world’s population (3.2 billion)is connected. But reaping those benefits requires more than adding Internet connections: while digital technologies have been spreading, “digital dividends” have not. Getting traction will require a major reevaluation of Internet development and reform projects. That reevaluation is the focus of the World Bank’s World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends (WDR 16).It highlights the size of the digital divide and shows that a robust program of development in the supporting environment points the way for the development community to make decisive headway on the enormous promise of the Internet. 2017-03-30T21:37:35Z 2017-03-30T21:37:35Z 2016-01 Brief http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/517911470919578231/Connections-Harnessing-the-internet-for-development http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26323 English en_US Connections;No. 1 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Brief
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic ICT
INTERNET
BROADBAND
DIGITAL DIVIDE
spellingShingle ICT
INTERNET
BROADBAND
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Melhem, Samia
Harnessing the Internet for Development
relation Connections;No. 1
description Universal access to the Internet has become a topdevelopment priority. Getting there requires affordable,reliable access to fast, “always on” broadbandnetworks, one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 9.c). Finland has recognizedaccess to broadband as a fundamental human rightsince 2010. In 2011, a key Uncommission also declared that broadband access is a basic human right, alongwith health care, shelter, and food. Affordable Internetaccess enables progress on some of the toughestdevelopment challenges in the world’s poorest communities. According to one estimate, increasing the proportion of the world’s population that is connected to the Internet to 75 percent(reaching 5.6 billion people)would add 2 trillion dollars per year to world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and help create 140 million jobs—a lofty goal: today, only about 40 percent of the world’s population (3.2 billion)is connected. But reaping those benefits requires more than adding Internet connections: while digital technologies have been spreading, “digital dividends” have not. Getting traction will require a major reevaluation of Internet development and reform projects. That reevaluation is the focus of the World Bank’s World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends (WDR 16).It highlights the size of the digital divide and shows that a robust program of development in the supporting environment points the way for the development community to make decisive headway on the enormous promise of the Internet.
format Brief
author Melhem, Samia
author_facet Melhem, Samia
author_sort Melhem, Samia
title Harnessing the Internet for Development
title_short Harnessing the Internet for Development
title_full Harnessing the Internet for Development
title_fullStr Harnessing the Internet for Development
title_full_unstemmed Harnessing the Internet for Development
title_sort harnessing the internet for development
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/517911470919578231/Connections-Harnessing-the-internet-for-development
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26323
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