The Future of the Decentralized Internet in Asia, Africa, and South America. Part 1
Introduction: A Web that Covers the World
More than four billion people use the internet today, and soon there won’t be a single major population center on the globe without access to the World Wide Web.
Compared to the indicators from 2017, as of January-February 2019 the number of internet users had grown more than 248 million. About a quarter of a billion new users went online for the first time in 2018. Our familiar way of life is changing at an astonishing rate.
A former “economic outsider” — a resource-rich country in Africa — shocked everyone by showing the fastest growth rates in terms of internet and app usage (over 20% year over year, according to GlobalWebIndex’s data).
For example, in December 2018 up to January 2019 the number of active internet users in Africa was approximately 453 million — that’s about 11% of the world’s users!
What’s Happening with the Internet in Asia, Africa, and South America
In some African regions the leap in internet activity was simply colossal. For example, internetization in the Democratic Republic of Congo grew by a factor of ten thousand!
Activity in Asia has been no less intense. According to data from GlobalWebIndex, there are more than two billion internet users in Asia in 2019. And the indicators are only increasing (over 98 million new users in 2019, or a stable +5%). If we account for the fact that the population of Asia is about 4.55 billion in 2019 and assume stable rates of internet integration, the prediction becomes even rosier.
About 50% of the population of Asia, i.e. every other person, is already using the internet.
Residents of Asian countries are connected to the online environment to an amazing degree. They can even make everyday purchases during their subway ride home (the famous vending machines with QR codes next to pictures of products). And social life and dating are gradually shifting entirely toward the online space. Instead of encouraging someone in person or over the phone, you send them a fun winking sticker or a valuable virtual gift. Real social life is gradually being replaced by a virtual social life, and this is not only characteristic of Asia — the World Wide Web is making its way into every corner of the globe.
Another promising region that deserves a special mention is South America.
Here internetization has affected over 306 million people as of the beginning of 2019.
And the World Wide Web isn’t about to stop. It’s continuing to make its way into homes and mobile devices. Analysts are already clocking the speed of internet integration at 71.5% (!). For Latin America, where the total population in 2019 is approximately 428 million, these indicators are simply mind-blowing.
To be continued...
Here we have explored foundations for the digital economy. Next time we will take a closer look to the perspectives of dWeb and disruptive processes in these regions.
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