The impact of public access venues and the benefits of libraries

Public access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) can play an important role in development. Communities benefit when people can access information and communicate with experts and people in their social networks to learn about health, jobs, education, leisure activities, or whatever inspires them. When access to ICTs is public and available to everyone in the community, such as in public libraries, telecenters, and cybercafés, it can be an effective tool for those that need it most.

In some countries, public libraries deliver this core service. There are over 230,000 libraries worldwide, most in developing countries. Many of these libraries offer free computer and Internet access, sometimes the only options for free and reliable access, yet they are often overlooked when development agencies implement policies to promote public information and communication.

This brief describes some of the emerging findings of the Global Impact Study of Public Access to Information & Communication Technologies related to the impact of public access on development, including the unique benefits successful public libraries offer.

Speed matters: A report on Internet speeds in all 50 states

From Communications Workers of America.

The results of a nationwide study of Internet connection speeds in the United States reveal little progress over the previous year in the country’s median data download speed. At the present rate—with a gain of only four-tenths of one megabit per second—it will take the U.S. more than one hundred years to catch up with current Internet speeds in Japan.

The national report is based on aggregated data from nearly 230,000 Internet users who took the online Speed Matters Speed Test (www.speedmatters.org), a project of the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

The Speed Test, which measures the last-mile speed of a user’s Internet connection, shows that the median real-time download speed in the U.S. is a mere 2.3 megabits per second (mbps). The best available estimates show average download speeds in Japan of 63 mbps, in South Korea of 49 mbps and in France of 17 mbps. That means the same multimedia file that takes four minutes to download in South Korea would take nearly an hour and a half to download in the U.S.

Norton Online Living Report

The Norton Online Living Report "gives a snapshot of how different cultures and different countries approach the Internet and provides insight into how their daily lives are affected by the online world. All the data is constantly changing and will be updated in further iterations of this first bi-annual report."