Turning today’s Youth into Tomorrow’s Leaders

Abstract

The uptake of information and communication technologies (ICTs) continues to grow exponentially worldwide. The two notable trends that are getting more
and more people connected are: 1) the ubiquity of mobile phones, and 2) the rapid increase in mobile-broadband services. The number of mobile phone subscriptions worldwide is close to 7 billion, and more than half of these are in the Asia Pacific region1 . Moreover, mobile broadband is the ICT service displaying the sharpest growth rates. By the end of 2014, the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions will reach 2.3 billion globally, almost five times as many as just six years earlier (in 2008). Fifty-five per cent of these mobile-broadband subscriptions are in developing countries. The steep increase in mobile-broadband subscriptions reflects the surge in mobile devices capable of accessing the Internet (smartphones and tablet computers), and the launch of high-speed mobile networks and services (3G and above) in many developing countries.