Delivering the Mobile Web to the Next Billion Users

In many parts of the world, people have limited access to basic needs such as clean water, consistent electricity and healthcare. In these environments, having access to the web can be transformative for them and their communities, as it provides information on medical symptoms and treatments, opportunities for education and job training, and access to the arts and entertainment that often reaches far beyond the knowledge and output of the local community. Unfortunately, in these environments there are significant barriers to accessing that information on the web, including costs, connectivity, language, and an understanding of what the web provides. This talk will present an overview of the challenges and opportunities we face in making the mobile web useful and relevant for the next billion users who are coming online in the developing regions of the world. I'll present data on the current state of the mobile web, including usage patterns, as well as network and device constraints and web performance as seen in practice. I'll discuss several efforts at Google aimed at addressing the unique challenges of this population of users, and I'll conclude with thoughts on where we should focus going forward.