Diffusion Framework

Over the years, we covered the globe with cities then linked them with railroads, highways, telephone lines, power grids, canals, and so forth. We are now deploying the Internet, and several organizations and projects are tracking this global diffusion [4]. This column describes one such project, the MOSAIC Group (www.agsd.com/ mosaicgroup.html) study of the global diffusion of the Internet. The global diffusion of the Internet is of interest to infrastructure planners and policy makers. As Ithiel de Sola Pool pointed out, telecommunication infrastructure planning is implicit social planning. Policy makers may see the Internet as an opportunity, a threat, or both, but none can ignore it— infrastructure and society are inextricably interdependent. While this is the case for all nations, we are particularly motivated by the hypothesis that a relatively small networking investment may have a significant impact in developing nations [1]. While support for policy makers is our primary motivation, we must also confess to a degree of unabashed curiosity in tracking the spread of the Internet around the world. In tracking the diffusion of the Internet, one must choose a balance between breadth and depth. One of the first chroniclers of