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Connect2Compete is a national nonprofit organization bringing together leaders from communities, the private sector, and leading foundations. Through our programs and the power of technology, we will improve the lives of Americans - regardless of their age, race, geography, income, or education level. The use of technology to access educational content is necessary to ensure future generations can compete in the global economy and to prepare them for the 21st century workforce. Connect2Compete will help Americans access technology through three exciting offers: free digital literacy training, discounted high-speed Internet, and low-cost computers. To promote the work, Connect2Compete will create a national outreach campaign focused on the importance of technology to develop digital skills and find new opportunities.

"The Broadband Strategies Handbook is a guide for policy-makers, regulators, and other relevant stakeholders as they address issues related to broadband development. It aims to help readers, particularly those in developing countries, by identifying issues and challenges in broadband development, analyzing potential solutions to consider, and providing practical examples from countries that have addressed broadband-related matters."

Last year the U.S. broadband stimulus program finished awarding public, private and  nonprofit organizations over $7 billion to build new broadband infrastructure, create  public computing centers and implement broadband adoption programs. Concurrently,  hundreds of millions have come from private and other public sources for broadband.  Improving economic development is a driving force behind these investments.  What have we achieved for our investments, particularly in underserved urban and rural  communities? It is a little early in the process, though, and only a small portion of the  stimulus checks have been issued. Perhaps the more important question is, what  economic outcomes can we hope to achieve in the next two or three years? This  survey's results provide a number of clues. 

T oday's global economy is forcing executives, governments and consumers  to adopt a new way of thinking. The financial crisis and deep recession that  ended in 2010 caused a seismic shift that has reshaped the global business  landscape. No longer can companies rely on credit-fuelled domestic markets  for growth. Indeed, the need for households, banks and governments to regain  their balance will dampen growth opportunities in many advanced economies.  Instead, we are seeing the emergence of what has been called a "new normal  economy" characterised by several key factors discussed below. 

I nternational leaders face an era of unprecedented change. The recession and  financial crisis that ended in 2009 caused a seismic shift that has reshaped  the global business landscape. The world economy is now characterized  by sluggish growth in the West, a shift in power to the East, and value-driven  customers and rising risks everywhere. At the same time, the downturn has  hastened the adoption of key technologies-mobility, cloud computing, business  intelligence and social media-that are transforming businesses and sparking a  new wave of wealth creation, particularly in the emerging world. Economic growth and technology are inextricably linked. Current economic  conditions are fostering investment in technology as emerging markets ramp up  their demand for technology to fuel growth, and advanced markets seek new  ways to cut costs and drive innovation. This becomes a virtuous circle as digital  technologies drive consumer income and demand, education and training, and  efficient use of capital and resources-leading to increased economic growth,  particularly in emerging markets. 

Akamai's globally distributed network of servers allows us to gather massive amounts of  information on many metrics, including connection speeds, attack traffic, and network  connectivity/availability/latency problems, as well as traffic patterns on leading Web sites.  Each quarter, Akamai publishes a "State of the Internet" report. This report includes data  gathered from across Akamai's Intelligent Platform during the third quarter of 2011 about attack  traffic, broadband adoption, and mobile connectivity, as well as trends seen in this data  over time. In addition, this quarter's report also includes insight into SSL, the state of IPv6  adoption, and observations from Akamai partner Ericsson regarding the impact that mobile  data plans have on usage. 

In 2001, when the World Economic Forum first published  The Global Information and Technology Report (GITR),  the dot-com bubble had just burst; there were fewer than  20 million mobile phone users in all of Africa; and Apple  Inc.'s product line was confined to Macintosh computers.  That Report presented an optimistic view of the future,  highlighting the transformational potential of information  and communication technologies (ICT) in advancing the  progress of global society and business. In the decade  that followed, Booz & Company has witnessed firsthand  the realization of that potential in its work with clients and  communities worldwide and through its long-standing  involvement with the GITR. Today there are more than  500 million mobile phone subscribers in Africa, and  Apple is the world's largest company in market capitalization, producing iPhones, iPods, and iPads along with  Mac computers. Despite the strides the sector has made  since the technology bust in 2001, however, we believe  we are only just beginning to feel the impact of digitization-the mass adoption by consumers, businesses, and  governments of smart and connected ICT. Success in the digitization world-where competitors from Shenzhen to Schengen can emerge seemingly  overnight-requires policymakers and business leaders  to go back to the drawing board to identify and build  "right-to-win" capabilities in their spheres of influence.  Digitization is more than a matter of access. Our recent  research shows that digitization multiplies the impact of  connectivity, creating substantial incremental value in  terms not only of job creation and economic growth, but  also of societal well-being and government transparency.  Today, more than 70 percent of the world's citizens live in  societies that have just begun their digitization journeys.  As the individuals and enterprises in these societies  continue to progress in developing their own digitiza

"es Madelinots auront bientôt accès à Internet haute vitesse d'un bout à l'autre de l'archipel. Après des investissements majeurs de 3 millions et demi de dollars, la compagnie locale Duclos & Michaud Télécom se prépare à offrir des services de téléphonie et de télévision en haute définition."

"Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) aims to provide high-speed Internet broadband access to all Australians and transform Australia into one of the world's top five digital economies by 2020. The NBN's model of universal and equal access to information flows supported by a nationwide infrastructure network stands out from the dominant scenario of profit-driven, tiered models of communication infrastructure networks. This paper analyses the economic and social value of information as a basic utility in contemporary society and argues that the NBN is an essential component in a nationwide project of digital citizenship, while highlighting the need for strong and effective policies to support it. The policies underlying the NBN and the technical aspects of its infrastructure network are compared with the Coalition's alternative plan and public and private initiatives from other countries. It is argued that, in order to realise the full potential of the NBN, its future strategies must take into account the current networked practices of Australian citizens and be supported by an equally universal project of digital literacy. Finally, examples of current practices and future benefits of the implementation of high-speed broadband access are presented."

In a few short years, social technologies have given social interactions the speed and scale of the Internet. Whether discussing consumer products or organizing political movements, people around the world constantly use social-media platforms to seek and share information. Companies use them to reach consumers in new ways too; by tapping into these conversations, organizations can generate richer insights and create precisely targeted messages and offers.

In the coming years, mHealth-the provision of health services enabled by mobile  communications-will revolutionize the way healthcare is delivered. From text  message campaigns disseminating information on healthy lifestyles to the use of  smartphones as medical devices capable of diagnostics and remote monitoring,  mobile technology will permeate every aspect of global health systems. In the  process, this technology will cut the costs associated with provision while  maintaining and improving quality of care and reaching patients for whom access to  healthcare has until now been limited.   However, a number of barriers need to be broken down before mHealth can begin to  transform health systems and service delivery. Moreover, a diverse range of  stakeholders must collaborate in order for mHealth applications to be adopted on a  wide scale.  For this reason, Telenor Group commissioned The Boston Consulting Group to study  the potential impact of mobile services on healthcare over the coming years. This  report summarizes the findings of the study, which focused on 12 markets that  Telenor serves

Over the past several decades, the globalization of the  manufacturing ecosystem has driven more change and impacted  the prosperity of more companies, nations and people than at any  time since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Nations around the  world have taken part in and benefited from the rapid globalization of  industry and expansion of manufacturing. Globalization of  manufacturing has been a key driver of higher-value job creation and  a rising standard of living for the growing middle class in emerging  nation economies. This has dramatically changed the nature of  competition between emerging and developed nations as well as  between companies. Recent research confirms manufacturing has  been immensely important to the prosperity of nations, with over  70% of the income variations of 128 nations explained by differences  in manufactured product export data alone. 

"Every business needs to "go digital." Data about customers, competitors, suppliers, and employees are exploding (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns341/ns525/ns537/ns705/ns1175/Cloud_Index_White_Paper.html). Ninety percent of all data were created in the past two years. By 2016, there will be 3 billion Internet users globally, and the Internet economy will reach $4.2 trillion in the G-20 nations1."

The Cisco ®  Global Cloud Index is an ongoing effort to forecast the growth of global data center and cloud-based  IP traffic. The forecast includes trends associated with data center virtualization and cloud computing. This  document presents the details of the study and the methodology behind it. Global data center traffic:  ● Annual global data center IP traffic will reach 4.8 zettabytes by the end of 2015. In 2015, global data center  IP traffic will reach 402 exabytes per month.  ● Global data center IP traffic will increase fourfold over the next 5 years. Overall, data center IP traffic will  grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33 percent from 2010 to 2015.  Data center virtualization and cloud computing transition:  ● The number of workloads per installed traditional server will increase from 1.4 in 2010 to 2.0 in 2015.  ● The number of workloads per installed cloud server will increase from 3.5 in 2010 to 7.8 in 2015.  ● By 2014, more than 50 percent of all workloads will be processed in the cloud.  Global cloud traffic:  ● Annual global cloud IP traffic will reach 1.6 zettabytes by the end of 2015. In 2015, global cloud IP traffic  will reach 133 exabytes per month.  ● Global cloud IP traffic will increase twelvefold over the next 5 years. Overall, cloud IP traffic will grow at  a CAGR of 66 percent from 2010 to 2015.  ● Global cloud IP traffic will account for more than one-third (34 percent) of total data center traffic by 2015. 

"Consumers have a seemingly insatiable thirst for mobile data. New devices-powered by better, faster software-and an ever-expanding selection of apps continue to enhance the user experience. Telecommunications companies with spare network capacity have done their part to boost demand with device subsidies, faster networks, and all-you-can-eat pricing plans. But coming capacity constraints in many markets complicate prospects for continued profitable growth. Smart companies will get ahead of the curve by shifting their strategies from promoting data use to maximizing the economic value they can extract from the massive demand already on the horizon. Managing capacity and value, rather than cost, will be the deciding challenge of the future."

"Since deregulation in the 1980s and the emergence of the commercial Internet in the 1990s, the telecommunications industry has faced disruptions and premature reports of its untimely demise. But the challenges have never been greater than now. The stock market has punished most large carriers while richly rewarding companies that compete with telcos. Since Google's IPO in 2004, its market capitalization has risen to about $150 billion, while the value of most operators in developed markets has fallen. The U.S. telecom industry has lost more than 100,000 jobs in the past five years and more than 400,000 in the last decade. The decline in wireless average revenue per user (ARPU), which began in the United States in 2006, has since spread to most major operators. Carriers are not standing still. They are rapidly reducing costs and trying to streamline operations1. These moves are necessary but not sufficient. The world is spinning too rapidly for restructuring as usual-no matter how deep-to keep working. Game-changing forces, such as cloud computing and "voice for free" services, are warping the industry. (See Exhibit 1.) Cloud computing, for example, exposes operators to competition from major IT players, while free voice services-led by Google, Skype, and others-threaten operators' main source of revenue."

"The economic impact of the Internet is getting bigger-just about everywhere-and it already has an enormous base. In the U.K., for example, the Internet's contribution to 2010 GDP is more than that of construction and education. In the U.S., it exceeds the federal government's percentage of GDP. The Internet economy would rank among the top six industry sectors in China and South Korea."