12:17
Juan MC Larrosa
Mark Zuckerberg says connectivity is a basic human right – do you agree?
Amid a year of online innovations, the Facebook founder says a better-connected world benefits local economies. Is he right?
It's good to talk … Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg believes the world is better off connected. Photograph: Paul Sakuma/AP
Over the past year, several significant online innovations have emerged. It was predicted that mobile phones would outnumber people by 2014, with low-cost smartphones opening up opportunities for even more people to get connected. And the UN turned to the internet to canvass opinion on what should replace the millennium development goals.
In August, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that he aimed to get every person on the planet online. He then launched internet.org, along with a 10-page document entitled Connectivity is a Human Right that outlines his vision of the future.
This followed the 2010 launch of Facebook Zero, a text-only version of the site with no data charges. In the 18 months since its launch, Facebook users in Africa increased by 114%. The business benefits for the popular social-networking site are obvious, but Zuckerberg believes a better-connected world is better for local economies, too.
Next came Twitter, which in December signed a deal with a Swiss mobile company to enable cheap access to users of phones with basic features or on low-cost plans.
Wikipedia also got in on the act. Its foundation, Wikimedia, has a clear mission: to create a world "in which every single human being can freely share the sum of all knowledge''. Last year the company launched Wikipedia Zero, a flagship programme that partners with mobile phone providers to let people browse with no data charges. As with Facebook, the term "zero" signifies free data.
In October, Wikipedia joined forces with Airtel to provide Wikipedia Zero by SMS for the first time in Kenya. Users can text *515# to receive an invite to search Wikipedia; they are then sent the information requested a paragraph at a time. After a three-month trial they hope to expand the service. Wikimedia hopes to reach 1 billion people by 2015.
The most recent partnership announced by Wikipedia is in Burma, which has a 10% mobile phone penetration rate, one of the lowest in the world.
Meanwhile, Groundsource is testing a new platform to ensure that communities that are not online are able to get their voices heard. The platform, which works on feature phones, hopes to bring people together over shared concerns and connect them with journalists.
In India there are an estimated 200m internet users, but only 30% are women. Google hopes to change this by helping 50 million women go digital over the year. It's helping women get online website gives a step-by-step guide to the internet, from computer basics to language preferences. Mothers are targeted by "inspirational" quotes such as "internet moms connect well with their kids" and "internet moms make meals fun". The company has also set up a toll-free helpline and partnered with companies to raise awareness of the initiative offline.
There are also innovations such as BRCK, a low-cost modem, designed for Africa, that can switch between ethernet, Wi-Fi and 3G/4G connection. Its backup battery means it can last for eight hours off grid.
So are we going to see a dramatic increase in the number of people getting online in developing countries over the next few years? How can people overcome the barriers of high charges, low network coverage, a lack of reliable electricity and restrictions to information due to laws enforced by their governments?
We want to hear from you. Do you agree with Zuckerberg's view that connectivity is a human right? Will his initiative have an impact on your life, or do you see it as simply a marketing strategy by global tech companies?
How does your internet behaviour differ from five years ago? Many people now turn to the web for information on key services – are you among them?
We'd like to hear about similar innovations that have caught your eye.
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