In May 2013, the World Economic Forum convened a cross-industry initiative to examine the ability of digital infrastructure to keep pace with the fast-rising demand being put on it, with a focus on developed markets. The assembled steering committee and working group include communications service providers, content companies, software companies and hardware manufacturers active in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. For 12 months, they have jointly assessed digital infrastructure adequacy and, in particular, the impediments – technological, financial and political – to the investments necessary to maintain and improve the telecommunications networks and digital ecosystem that constitute the internet. 

This report is part of the World Economic Forum’s series on the Hyperconnected World, a cross-industry, umbrella platform that connects the dots across industry projects to understand and manage social, economic and political consequences of digital technology. The report, which was prepared in collaboration with The Boston Consulting Group, discusses the steps necessary to keep digital infrastructure improving at a rate that will enable it to facilitate the growth and development of a vibrant global digital economy in the near and medium term. Other reports by the World Economic Forum in this series include Risk and Responsibility in a Hyperconnected World, Rethinking Personal Data and Global Information Technology Report 2014.