Page 8 - Connecting the Future How Connectivity and AI Unlock New Potential
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Connecting the Future: How Connectivity and AI Unlock New Potential



                      1   Connectivity Infrastructure Matters in Unlocking AI’s Potential


                  To fully realize AI’s transformative potential, global efforts must prioritize the expansion of digital
                  infrastructure and the bridging of persistent connectivity and workforce divides. AI’s lifeblood is
                  data, and its storage, transmission, processing, and analysis across time and space rely on both
                  hyperscale computing elements (e.g., data centers) and robust networking infrastructure. This
                  network infrastructure encompasses several physical components, from subsea cables to Internet
                  Exchange Points (IXPs), and some of these elements play even greater roles in enabling AI-based
                  applications. Accelerating digital development will require a whole-of-society approach, where
                  governments, the private sector, international organizations and civil society organizations share
                  responsibility in driving these investments and crafting effective policies, enlarging economic
                  benefits and mitigating digital and AI divides in the 21st century.



                      This chapter outlines the importance of digital infrastructure for wide-spread adoption
                      and optimized performance of AI applications and systems, and recommends key
                      investments and policies needed across stakeholders to ensure the availability and
                      access of necessary infrastructure.




                  1�1  Global Connectivity


                  1�1�1  Connectivity Infrastructure Overview

                  According to the ITU’s Global Connectivity Report, more than 2.7 billion people remain offline,
                  and nearly 60% of users in low-income countries report affordability as the primary barrier to
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                  connectivity.  This underscores the need for public and private sector support for both modernizing
                  infrastructure and establishing new ones. The benefits of modernizing outdated network equip-
                  ment by phasing out and eventually replacing it with high-performing connectivity infrastructure
                  are multifold: it increases digital access, enhances network security, and promotes efficient energy
                  consumption.
                  Digital infrastructure can be mapped from the Internet’s backbone to users across three major
                  sections: first mile, middle mile, and last mile. Connectivity begins in the first mile, where subsea
                  fiberoptic cables facilitate the bulk of long-haul data transmission, increasingly complemented by
                  wireless satellite communication networks in low earth orbit (LEO). 4

































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