Universal access to the Internet hasbecome a topdevelopment priority. Getting there requiresaffordable,reliable access to fast, “always on”broadbandnetworks, one of the United Nations’ SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDG 9.c). Finland has recognizedaccess tobroadband as a fundamental human rightsince 2010. In 2011, akey Uncommission also declared that broadband access is abasic human right, alongwith health care, shelter, and food.Affordable Internetaccess enables progress on some of thetoughestdevelopment challenges in the world’s poorestcommunities. According to one estimate, increasing theproportion of the world’s population that is connected tothe Internet to 75 percent(reaching 5.6 billion people)wouldadd 2 trillion dollars per year to world Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) and help create 140 million jobs—a lofty goal:today, only about 40 percent of the world’s population (3.2billion)is connected. But reaping those benefits requiresmore than adding Internet connections: while digitaltechnologies have been spreading, “digital dividends” havenot. Getting traction will require a major reevaluation ofInternet development and reform projects. That reevaluationis the focus of the World Bank’s World Development Report2016: Digital Dividends (WDR 16).It highlights the size ofthe digital divide and shows that a robust program ofdevelopment in the supporting environment points the way forthe development community to make decisive headway on theenormous promise of the Internet.
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