A GLOBAL INTERNET In just four decades the Internet has spread to much of the world. Now, the shift to high-bandwidth connectivity and the global availability of supercomputing is accelerating. Related article: A High-Stakes Search Continues for Silicon’s Successor Related article: Creating Artificial Intelligence Based on the Real Thing

A MORE CONNECTED WORLD Cellphones are proliferating rapidly in much of the developing world. The use of smartphones and other Internet-connected devices is still low, but should rise quickly in countries like China, which will soon have the world’s largest domestic market for Internet commerce and computing. Related article: Vast and Fertile Ground in Africa for Science to Take Root

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INNOVATIVE CHINA China is the dominant maker of computers and consumer electronics, and is readily able to adapt and improve on technology innovations made elsewhere. But innovation within the country has been limited by government controls and the relative lack of intellectual property protection. Related article: China Aims for High-Tech Primacy