If only 1 in 3 people have access to the Internet, as a global social community, what do we need to do about it? internet.org was founded last year with the aim to bring down the cost of connectivity as a means to tackle this problem head on. Last Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg made quite the statement by revealing the next step internet.org plans to take.
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Internet.org is a global partnership between technology leaders, nonprofits, local communities and experts who are working together to bring the Internet to the two thirds of the world’s population that don’t yet have access. On Thursday March, 28th Mark Zuckerberg announced that Internet.org, an organisation that Facebook started in partnership with a few other technology companies, is experimenting with solar powered drones that are capable of beaming internet connectivity from the sky.
“In our effort to connect the whole world with Internet.org, we’ve been working on ways to beam internet to people from the sky,” Zuckerberk wrote on Facebook .
While the idea seems radical, its not in fact new. Indeed, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google, are also pursuing greater connectivity around the world. Last year Google announced Project Loon, which intends to use high-altitude balloons to deliver fast internet in hard to reach areas. Having been tested in New Zealand, they are currently running the next stage of testing in California.
However, Facebook’s work on the project so far has already had quite the impact. Their work in “the Philippines and Paraguay alone has doubled the number of people using mobile data with the operators we’ve partnered with, helping 3 million new people access the internet.” These advancements and groundbreaking projects are all being led from a new division within Facebook, now known as Connectivity Lab. Its purpose is to create new technologies which will drive forward Zuckerberg’s goal of total internet connection.
Has Mark Zuckerberg just taken a giant leap in his well publicised goal of connecting the whole world? Let us know what you think here at Markets For Good.
Be sure to read his full post on Facebook, and enjoy the internet.org site for further information.