KEY MESSAGE

• Developing countries still have a long way to go before they reach the levels of digital access enjoyed by developed countries. However, over the last decade many regions in the global South have shown remarkable progress, particularly in the field of mobile connectivity.
• An increasing number of creators are making intensive use of new technologies to generate online content on platforms such as YouTube and Wikipedia, among many others.
• There is accelerated growth taking place in e-commerce, which can be an advantage for local cultural industries, but also a risk for small and medium-sized players, given the advance of the big platforms.
• The boom in social networks since 2004 constitutes an opportunity for civil society participation, especially when it comes to sharing cultural content.