July 2015

A map from Oxford Internet Institute shows the total number of Internet users in a country as well as the percentage of the population that has Internet access. The distortions in the map paint a revealing picture about human activity on the Internet. Looking at the largest Internet countries and regions, one can identify a few key findings:

First, the continued rise of Asia as major home region to the world’s Internet population. At 1.24 billion users, 46 percent of the world’s Internet users live in Asia. That is roughly equal to the number of Internet users in Europe, Latin America & Caribbean, Middle East & North Africa, and North America combined.

Second, few of the world’s largest Internet countries fall into the top category (above 80 percent) of Internet penetration.

Third, in terms of total Internet users, Latin America & Caribbean is almost on par with the United States (287 versus 297 million people). This is with an Internet penetration of 47 percent compared to the 84 percent Internet penetration in the United States.

Fourth, some African countries have seen staggering growth since OII last mapped Internet use globally (using 2011 data), e.g. South Africa where Internet penetration rose by 14.9 percentage points, Kenya at +11 percentage points, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria with each roughly +10 percentage points, and Botswana at +7 percentage points. Other countries have seen virtually no change, e.g. Somalia, Eritrea, and Burundi. It remains that 29 out of 47 Sub-Saharan African countries have an Internet penetration rate of less than 10 percent, and have seen very little growth since 2011.

With these findings in mind, it is important to realise and remember that despite the massive impacts that the Internet has on everyday life for many people, most people on our planet remain entirely disconnected. Even today, only a bit more than a third of humanity has access to the Internet.

The American Cable Association is taking its call for regional sports network-related conditions on the AT&T/DirecTV deal directly to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler. In a letter to Chairman Wheeler, 27 ACA members said they were "extremely concerned that following the completion of the AT&T and DirecTV merger, the combined company will charge us higher carriage fees for its Root Sports regional sports networks ('RSNs') than the two could charge remaining as separate entities." They said they don't mind competing head to head with other distributors, but that they are "put in a bind when purchasing 'must have' RSN programming from direct rivals like DirecTV and AT&T." They also said that bind would factor into whether they would have sufficient capital to invest in broadband. They said that without conditions including baseball style arbitration of carriage disputes and an improved version of the FCC's non-discriminatory access remedy, the deal should be rejected.

ACA has staked out the RSN issue as a key one in the FCCs' vetting. Earlier in the week it took aim at what it said appeared to be the FCC's plan not to apply any regional sports network conditions to the AT&T/DirecTV merger, which the FCC is widely expected to approve in the next week or so. “ACA is deeply disappointed that the Federal Communications Commission appears headed toward approving AT&T’s merger with DirecTV without shielding consumers from being overcharged for three Root Sports regional sports networks (RSNs) owned by DirecTV and a fourth Roots Sports RSN currently co-owned by AT&T and DirecTV," said ACA president Matthew Polka in a statement July 7. In the letter, the cable operators, all of whom said they purchase RSNs from DirecTV/AT&T, echoed that concern.

As President Barack Obama's chief adviser on technology policies, Megan Smith is trying to bring workforce inequality to the attention of the highest levels of government. The problem has taken new urgency with another round of embarrassing workforce data released in recent days by tech's leading firms. Despite splashy promises to pour more resources and attention into recruiting women and minorities, the work forces at Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Apple haven't changed. Women make up less than 20 percent of employees, Hispanics hold about 5 percent of jobs, and blacks are particularly under-represented at below 2 percent of those work forces. Smith said tech companies are now willing to admit their dismal track record with hiring and promoting women and under-served minorities. Still, despite promises to do better, only those that make it a top priority will see progress. And perhaps the biggest problems -- ones that can't be solved through technological fixes alone -- are the hard-set, unconscious biases that are spread throughout the culture.

She recently introduced special screenings of the documentary "Code: Disrupting the Gender Gap" at the State Department and on Capital Hill. Smith, who appears the film, told an audience of hundreds gathered at the Capitol building that the diversity problem in Silicon Valley could weigh down on the entire nation. "In venture capital, three percent of venture funding is going to women and less than one percent to people of color. People across the country have extraordinary ideas for startups. We need to leverage that talent on behalf of our economic future. We need to support VCs to overcome their biases," Smith said.