Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg connects the world – internet.org

CEO Summit of the Americas

CEO Summit of the Americas

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, is joining Head of State and business leaders of the region to analyze opportunities to trade business, at the CEO Summit of the Americas taking place in the country of Panama.

Zuckerberg announced the launch of internet.org, a global partnership with the goal of making internet access available to the next 5 billion people.

Today, only 2.7 billion people – just over one-third of the world’s population — have access to the internet. Internet adoption is growing by less than 9% each year, which is slow considering how early we are in its development.

The goal of Internet.org is to make internet access available to the two-thirds of the world who are not yet connected, and to bring the same opportunities to everyone that the connected third of the world has today.

The founding members of internet.orgFacebook, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, Qualcomm and Samsung — will develop joint projects, share knowledge, and mobilize industry and governments to bring the world online.

Partners will collaborate to develop and adopt technologies that make mobile connectivity more affordable and decrease the cost of delivering data to people worldwide. Potential projects include collaborations to develop lower-cost, higher-quality smartphones and partnerships to more broadly deploy internet access in underserved communities.

Partners will support development of sustainable new business models and services that make it easier for people to access the internet.

By reducing the cost and amount of data required for most apps and enabling new business models, Internet.org is focused on enabling the next 5 billion people to come online.

The Internet.org website launches in Panama to provide an overview of the mission and goals, as well as a full list of the partners. In the coming weeks, it will feature interviews with technology leaders and experts, along with the latest news on Internet.org activities.

Internet.org now available in India, Ghana, Colombia, Kenya, Tanzania, Indonesia

-Maria Blanco H-