Signal 2.6 billion offline and 27% connectivity in least developed countries

Summary

This signal quantifies today's digital divide as a baseline for a possible future enhancement divide. EY reports that 2.6b people worldwide remain offline. In the least developed countries, only 27% of the population has access to the internet. EY expects advanced augmentation technologies to be affordable at first mainly for wealthy individuals and organizations. On that basis, it warns that the existing connectivity gap could grow into a divide between enhanced and unenhanced people that worsens global inequality. Whether this happens will depend on the trust frameworks organizations build and on their willingness to share the benefits broadly.