Graphing broadband adoption around the world

[Commentary] Who doesn’t love statistics? I certainly do. Especially when they are presented in an interactive and highly visual way. One website that does a superb job of this is Gapminder.org, which lets you explore all sorts of data, including the state of broadband around the world. The Gapminder data shows us the strong positive relationship between broadband penetration and liberty. One of first things you should notice is something that isn’t surprising: In 2010, which is the last year for broadband data on the site, there was a clear positive relationship between proportion of broadband subscribers in a county and its GDP per capita.

To me, the chart signals that broadband adoption -- and the access to the modern Internet it enables – is an expression of the human spirit. While political and economic oppression can hold broadband back, the relationship isn’t absolute: people find a way to get broadband once the floodgates open. Given the opportunity, people pursue information and communication. This relationship also says to me that we need to be ever vigilant to defend broadband from those who would seek to control it, and lend our support to those who seek to spread it around the world.

[Mark Jamison is the director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida]