Industry news

Internet users embrace new technologies

With the number of people using the internet in the world expected to rocket to nearly two billion over the next eight years, a growing number of people are embracing new technologies, a new report has found.

IDC's Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast has revealed that about a third of the world's population, or 1.9 billion people, will regularly be accessing the web by 2012 compared to about 1.4 million at the moment.

John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC, commented: "These trends will accelerate as the number of mobile users continues to soar and the Internet becomes truly ubiquitous."

He explained that the internet is now "more deeply integrated into the fabric of many users' personal and professional lives, enabling them to work, play, and socialize anytime from anywhere".

With the growing number of people logging on, the amount spent by companies on internet advertising is also expected to soar to more than $106 billion (£52 billion) in 2011.