{"242971":{"#nid":"242971","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Where in the World are Young People Using the Internet?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA common myth today is that young people are all glued to the Internet, but in fact, only 30 percent of the world\u2019s youth population between the ages of 15 and 24 years old have been active online for at least five years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn South Korea, 99.6 percent of young people are active, the highest percentage in the world. The least? The Asian island of Timor Leste with less than 1 percent. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThose are among the many findings in a study from The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs Assistant Professor Michael Best and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The study is the first attempt to measure, by country, the world\u2019s \u201cdigital natives.\u201d The term is typically used to categorize young people born around the same time as when the personal computer was introduced and who have spent their lives connected with technology.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENearly 96 percent of American millennials are digital natives. That figure is behind Japan (99.5 percent) and several European countries, including Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the percentage Best thinks is most important is the number of digital natives compared to a country\u2019s total population.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThat\u2019s because a country\u2019s future will be defined by today\u2019s young people and by technology,\u201d said Best, who co-led the study and, jointly with ITU, developed the model that calculated the worldwide figures. \u201cCountries with a high proportion of young people who are already online are positioned to define and lead the digital age of tomorrow.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe countries with the highest proportion of digital natives among their population are mostly rich nations, which have high levels of overall Internet penetration. Iceland is at the top of the list with 13.9 percent. The United States is sixth (13.1 percent). A big surprise is Malaysia, a middle-income country with one of the highest proportions of digital natives (ranked fourth at 13.4 percent). Malaysia has a strong history of investing in educational technology. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe countries with the smallest estimated proportion of digital natives are Timor-Leste, Myanmar, and Sierra Leone. The bottom 10 consists entirely of African or Asian nations, many of which are suffering from conflict and\/or have very low Internet availability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, the report notes that Internet usage has increased significantly in the developing world during the past five years. The ITU believes the digital native population in these regions will more than double by 2017.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOverall, there are approximately 363 million digital natives out of a world population of nearly 7 billion (5.2 percent).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYouth are transforming our world through the power of information and communication technologies,\u201d said Hamadoun Tour\u00e9, ITU secretary-general. \u201cThe \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.itu.int\/en\/bynd2015\/Documents\/bynd2015-global-youth-declaration-en.pdf\u0022\u003EYouth Declaration\u003C\/a\u003E developed at ITU\u2019s BYND2015 Youth Summit in Costa Rica and presented to the United Nations General Assembly last week by Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla calls for more measurable targets to monitor\u0026nbsp;the digital empowerment of young people at national, regional, and international levels. This first attempt to measure the number of digital natives around the world is a valuable first contribution to this effort.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe model was developed using data collected by the ITU through surveys conducted around the globe. The study is part of the ITUs Measuring the Information Society 2013 report, which was released on October 7.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBest is a faculty member in The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs with a joint appointment in the\u0026nbsp;College of Computing. His research focuses on information and communication technologies for social, economic, and political development, primarily in low-income countries in Africa and Asia.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New study measures digital natives in every country"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA common myth today is that young people are all glued to the Internet, but in fact, only 30 percent of the world\u2019s youth population between the ages of 15 and 24 years old have been active online for at least five years.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A common myth today is that young people are all glued to the Internet, but in fact, only 30 percent of the world\u2019s youth population between the ages of 15 and 24 years old have been active online for at least five years."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2013-10-07 09:29:33","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:05","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-10-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-10-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72215":{"id":"72215","type":"image","title":"Michael Best","body":null,"created":"1449177446","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:26","changed":"1475894651","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:11","alt":"Michael Best","file":{"fid":"193656","name":"michaelbest_portrait.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/michaelbest_portrait_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/michaelbest_portrait_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":926692,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/michaelbest_portrait_0.jpg?itok=3pxuzk12"}},"244181":{"id":"244181","type":"image","title":"Digital Natives Map","body":null,"created":"1449243722","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:42:02","changed":"1475894919","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:39","alt":"Digital Natives Map","file":{"fid":"197870","name":"fig-4-2-numbers.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fig-4-2-numbers_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fig-4-2-numbers_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":366499,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/fig-4-2-numbers_0.jpg?itok=8KNTXBTd"}},"242961":{"id":"242961","type":"image","title":"Digital Natives Chart","body":null,"created":"1449243704","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:41:44","changed":"1475894919","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:39","alt":"Digital Natives Chart","file":{"fid":"197843","name":"table-4-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/table-4-1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/table-4-1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":260747,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/table-4-1_0.jpg?itok=-Jubrvqg"}}},"media_ids":["72215","244181","242961"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.itu.int\/en\/ITU-D\/Statistics\/Pages\/publications\/mis2013.aspx","title":"ITU Report"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Computing"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/","title":"Ivan Allen College"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"75941","name":"Digital Natives"},{"id":"2229","name":"Internet"},{"id":"955","name":"ivan allen college"},{"id":"907","name":"Michael Best"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"},{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}