ICT for the Next Five Billion People

The mission of the Munchner Kreis is to take an active part in forming the information and knowledge-based society. As a non-profit supranational association working at the interface of public policy, science, business, and the media, it is concerned with issues of technology, societal and business impacts, and regulation of information and communications technologies. The Munchner Kreis supports the responsible development of the information society and works constructively towards improving conditions in Germany and Europe by making contributions and promoting dialogue grounded in research and practice. The Munchner Kreis organizes discussion groups, member conferences, symposia, and congresses. The work of the Munchner Kreis is interdisciplinary rather than specialized in one field, and its results are published.

Currently, around one to two billion users are able to connect to the Internet, most of them living in the industrialized parts of the world. However, if we want to improve the quality of life of the world population with the help of access to information and education, it is necessary that in the next decade an additional five billion people gain access to the Internet. The next five billion Internet users are mainly living in emerging economies. Therefore, the main challenge is to lower the economic barrier using new approaches for infrastructure deployment and service delivery to billions of people. This book reflects the discussions of the challenges from the Munchner Kreis with representatives from the ICT industry, academia, non-governmental organizations and governmental development organizations, among them many representatives from emerging economies in Africa and Asia. They had highlighted the real demand for ICT, and what impact ICT creates for the wealth and lifestyle of the people.