The 2008 WIA Report explores information access by looking at trends in the blogger arrests worldwide, diversity in the ownership of media assets in the 15 largest media markets in the Muslim world, and the ideological diversity of political content online in 74 countries with large Muslim populations.

We sometimes work with data that has been collected by international agencies, but more often our tables and graphics are based on original data collection efforts.

Complete 2008 Briefing Booklet

Please cite research from the briefing booklet or this website report as

Howard, Philip N, and World Information Access Project. World Information Access Report – 2008. 3. Seattle: University of Washington, 2008.

The 2007 WIA Report explores information access by looking at trends in the digital divide between the world’s primary and secondary cities, the cost of internet access in terms of income, the impact of telecommunications policy reform on the internet in Africa, the global broadband divide, and the state of the wired libraries, political parties, civic groups, and governments around the world.

We sometimes work with data that has been collected by international agencies, but more often our tables and graphics are based on original data collection efforts.

The online publication consists of nine chapters organized in five thematic categories, in a global comparative context.

• WIA 2007 Report with map (2 MB)
• “Wired Countries of the World” map (1.7 MB)
• Download 2007 Briefing Booklet without map (0.3 MB)

Please cite research from the briefing booklet or this website report as

Howard, Philip N, and World Information Access Project. World Information Access Report – 2007. 9. Seattle: University of Washington, 2007.

Consumer markets for information technology may bring innovative new products to many parts of the world, but markets are not doing so evenly, despite the booming production of ever cheaper computers. If the digital divide is measured in computer access, the divide is getting worse. If the digital divide is measured by cellphone connectivity, the divide is getting better.

Finding 2.
Civil society around the world has embraced the Internet. Over the last ten years, nearly 10,000 civic groups in 152 countries asserted their digital presence. More than twice as many civic groups around the world created a website between 2000 and 2004 as compared to the previous five-year period. [Civil Society Online]

In poor countries, the majority of civic groups are managed from more developed countries. The Internet may be changing that. In most countries, the number of online domestic civic groups is growing faster than the number of international civic groups working within those country.

Finding 3.
The design and manufacture of information technology still occurs in a small core group of countries. Since 1994, ten core countries have consistently accounted for almost 75 percent of the value of annual world exports in telecommunications equipment. Outside these core IT producers, 9 of every 10 countries averaged a negative trade balance over the decade and were primarily IT importers. [Latin America's Mobile Phone Services; IT Balance of Trade]

Most of the world is dependant on core countries to develop new information technologies. Not only do the majority of countries not have much of an indigenous IT industry, but they lack the capacity to maintain their existing IT infrastructure on their own.

Finding 4.
People in developing countries – especially countries in Latin America – are putting more cultural content online than they are pouring into books. Between 1997 and 2003, book production increased by 44 percent, while web host production increased six times over. [Cultural Content Online]

Even though the majority of people in developing countries do not have regular internet access, a huge amount of cultural production from those countries is going online.

Finding 5.
Internet access in the world’s mega cities is still a luxury for most residents, and in most of these cities, going online means paying to tap into western culture. In nine of the 24 most populated cities, the average person spends at least 10 percent of their daily income for an hour of Internet access at a commercial access point such as a cybercafé. Eight of the 24 most populated cities are in countries with proportionally fewer website hosts. Comparatively, there is more online gaming in the large cities of rich countries than the large cities of poorer countries. [Spending More, Seeing Less]

Not only is Internet access still a luxury, but people in rich countries get more for the dollars they spend on Internet access. For example, people in London or New York spend a small portion of their daily income on Internet access, and find a significant amount of content in English and of cultural interest. But when people in Cairo or Jakarta spend a large portion of their daily income on Internet access, they find relatively less cultural content on national domains or in their language (such as .eg and .id websites, respectively).

The online publication consists of nine chapters organized in five thematic categories, in a global comparative context.

• WIA Report 2006
• 5 Findings; 5 Implications

News Coverage of 2006 Briefing Book

• University of Washington news release 1: “Report finds growing inequality across global information society”
• San Jose Mercury News
• Seattle Times
• UW Daily
• PRI / BBC / The World Technology Podcast