Although the world’s most dense global cities are often packed with commercial internet access points, in many countries the cost of an hour of internet use is higher in primary cities than it is in secondary cities. (more…)
August 2007
Monthly Archive
Almost every city in the world offers cyber cafés or other commercial Internet
access, but they cost average people in a developing city two times as much of their daily income as people in a developed city.
In many parts of the world, the most well-developed information infrastructure is
supported by libraries. A country’s national library typically houses information on legislation, historical archives, patents, and sometimes court and tax records. University libraries store information on research and are often a gateway to international information services. But not all library portals are created equal. (more…)
While many governments are working to improve their information infrastructure, a significant number of governments around the world do not have the capacity to host their own websites. A third of all countries maintain websites with commercial hosting services in the United States. One quarter of all countries maintain all of their government websites on servers in other countries. (more…)
Has Privatization Contributed to the Relative Decline of Internet Hosts Africa?
Categories: Economics, Global Comparison, PoliticsFor several decades, international lending agencies have encouraged African governments to reform their telecommunications sector by privatizing the public telephone services, separating and depoliticizing the agencies that regulate telecommunications sector, and opening up competition in the consumer market for telecommunications services. Over this period, Africa’s share of the world’s internet hosts and secure servers has actually declined. (more…)
Political life in Muslim countries is surprisingly wired. In 2000, fewer than 50 political parties from Muslim countries had Web sites. By 2007, there were more than 200 parties online, the majority of them secular. The expansion of politics online in the Muslim world is out pacing that of the rest of the developing world. (more…)