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Digital Planet: Almost two-thirds of the world’s population now online

Factual: Science & Nature

Almost two-thirds of the world’s population now online

01/12/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Almost two-thirds of the world’s population now online

Almost two-thirds of the world’s population is online according to a new report.

Almost two-thirds of the world’s population now online. Also VR/AR personal data safety and identification and keeping an eye on your waste with tech.

The Digital Intelligence Index (DII) has calculated that almost two-thirds of the world’s population is now online.  The newly published report analyses 12 years of data to map 90 economies and over 95% of the world’s population to report on countries’ progress advancing their digital economies. Bhaskar Chakravorti, the dean of global business at Fletcher, The Graduate School of Global Affairs at Tufts University, led the research and is on the show.

VR/AR personal data safety and identification
Do you like playing video games in VR or perhaps take part in AR arts shows?  Well if you do you may want to ask what is happening with your personal data – not your name or your age but the way you move.  Research from Stanford University shows that it’s possible to identify someone from the way they walk in VR in just minutes.  Professor Jeremy Bailenson has also looked at identifying medical conditions from our behaviour in VR – is it now possible to be anonymous in these environments and also to keep our very personal data safe? 

Keeping an eye on your waste
The way we sort our recycling could be about to change, and all thanks to a sensor that mimics the relationship between the human eye and brain. Engineers at UK start-up RecyclEye have combined low-cost camera technology with a machine learning system to give waste sorting an intelligence boost. Digital Planet reporter Jack Monaghan finds out how this new technology might make rubbish a thing of the past, with sound engineering by Robert Moutrey.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.



(Image: Getty Images)

Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

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