How to unlock digital infrastructure investment

Undergraduate researchers at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in the US city of Philadelphia have been investigating the challenges of connecting the world.

The Penn students explored digital infrastructure investment — a topic selected jointly with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) — as part of a capstone project with the Perry World House Student Fellows programme.

The group conducted applied research under the supervision of Penn faculty, with ITU staff serving as coaches. The research, analysis and recommendations were produced independently by the students.

One of the student researchers, Leo Solga, answered some questions about the project.

You recently completed a research project on digital infrastructure investment as part of the Perry World House partnership with ITU, the UN agency for digital technologies. What challenges and opportunities have you identified for the expansion of digital infrastructure investment worldwide?

The key challenge in expanding digital infrastructure is inspiring wary private sector actors. ITU’s goals of universal connectivity and sustainable digital transformation implicitly call for developing Internet access where it might not be immediately profitable.

Unfortunately, building critical digital infrastructure in less- connected parts of the world can be riskier and, thus, less attractive for most firms. Further, the need for different types of Internet-related companies to enter a market simultaneously — such as tower companies, data centre companies, and service- contracting companies — requires some degree of collective action, with considerable advance planning and coordination.

Expanding digital infrastructure won’t be easy, but it can be done, especially with key technologies becoming more effective and less expensive. Low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, for example, offer exciting opportunities to connect remote communities where towers are prohibitively expensive to build. Lately, LEO satellites have become much cheaper to build and send into space. They are more efficient at linking with each other while in orbit. Hardly relevant just a few years ago, they could now be a significant player in connecting everyone worldwide.

Additionally, the newest sub-sea cables are bounds ahead of their predecessors in terms of data capacity. They have become lighter, more flexible, more durable, and more efficient at transporting data. Much of this advancement is thanks to innovations in fibre-optic technologies.

Advances in data centre technology are also very exciting. The latest data centres are not only more energy efficient, but they can also hold and move more data than ever before. In parallel, from a non-hardware standpoint, data itself is becoming more plentiful and more useful, especially thanks to recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI).

What has been your experience in working with ITU and carrying out your research on this topic?

Working with ITU, the world’s pre-eminent community of digital technology experts, has been eye-opening. Our research led us to discover complex international financial agreements, bold digital education policies, and innovative technologies that enable the Internet’s development and operation.

This has hugely expanded our understanding of the Internet and the world it supports — and parts of the world it doesn’t yet reach. The experience has enabled us to immerse ourselves in the political, societal, and technical aspects of telecommunications development for all people.

We would like to thank our coaches at ITU, as well as our mentor at Penn, Gavriel Cutipa-Zorn. This project will continue to guide our inquiries and studies into the world of digital development and global policy.

Do you have any recommendations for ITU to help build the required infrastructure for everyone to benefit from digital technologies and services?

ITU’s extensive network and reputation as a trusted source of expertise on digital infrastructure have led us to various recommendations. One of those is to help cultivate the political risk insurance market for digital infrastructure investments.

ITU-hosted or partnered political risk insurance, for example, could encourage private capital investment in underserved markets. It would achieve this by providing reliable data to make informed investment decisions, as well as by mitigating key risks companies face, not just from extreme weather events, labour disruptions, and equipment malfunction, but also from potential political instability, a factor that can deter investment in the most disconnected regions.

Global technical data, specific expertise, and the ability to bring so many stakeholders together would enable ITU to add substantial value in risk mitigation for ambitious digital projects.

Perry World House is Penn’s centre for international policy engagement on pressing global issues.

The Student Fellows programme engages students from Penn’s four undergraduate schools on widespread issues related to international affairs.

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