June 11 will usher the publication of Jim Cashel’s new book The Great Connecting: The Emergence of Global Broadband, and How That Changes Everything.
The book is available for pre-order at any independent bookstore or on Amazon.
From the cover:
What happens when affordable broadband finally reaches the half of the planet that has little or no Internet access? Google, Facebook, SpaceX, and many others have major initiatives underway to connect the rest of the planet over the next few years. For the first time, even the poorest and most remote of global citizens will have access to information, communications, identity authentication, government programs, global philanthropy, online banking, telehealth, distance education, and other powerful services heretofore impossible. In The Great Connecting, Jim Cashel speaks with the major players driving the broadband revolution and travels to the most remote corners of the globe to consider the changes in our world about to take place ― certainly one of the biggest events in human history. As Cashel explains, the expansion of broadband offers many challenges but will also bring a remarkable opportunity for the planet.
Advance commentary on The Great Connecting:
Jim Cashel has identified our position on the precipice of potentially one of the great turning points of history. Almost half the world’s population has never known the ability to connect with the other half and with each other. The result will change lives, economies, and existing social structures. Cashel describes how connections have consequences, and he explores both the promise and peril that accompany connecting three billion people living in societies built around the absence of such connections. The Great Connecting is a must read for those who want to get ahead of this transformation curve.
—Tom Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and author of From Gutenberg to Google: The History of Our Future
Communications technologies are reshaping the planet—but we haven’t seen anything yet. Three billion new internet users changes everything . . . and this wonderful book captures that change in a very human way.
—Jeanne Bourgault, President and CEO, Internews
Jim Cashel explores a truly consequential moment in history through a compelling interweaving of narrative, travel notes, and policy recommendations. As both a technologist and a physician, Cashel leads us from the tech campuses of Silicon Valley to the refugee camps of Southeast Asia. I highly recommend you join him on this readable exploration of The Great Connecting.
—Nicco Mele, Director, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
***
From the Kirkus Review of The Great Connecting:
[Cashel’s] study is impressively exacting. At the same time, it’s an exceedingly practical work, and draws heavily not only on theory and data, but also on the author’s travels to the developing world.
From Goodreads reviews:
This is a thoughtful, vital book penned by an expert. And it’s an entertaining read, to boot.
***
The full Introduction to the book is posted here.
The “How to Get Involved” appendix of the book is published here.
Interview with the author here.
The book is available for pre-order at any independent bookstore or on Amazon.
Broadband Everywhere 
This looks like a great book coming around at the right time describing a real inflection point in the communications industry with a similar impact to the mobile industry in the early 1980’s or the commercial internet in the mid to late 1990’s.
LikeLike
Pingback: The Great Connecting: Interview with Jim Cashel : Forum One
Pingback: How Businesses Should Prepare for Global Internet Access – A&C Accounting And Tax Services – Top Quality Accounting, Bookkeeping, Payroll And Tax Services- Oakland, CA
Pingback: Global Broadband During a Global Pandemic: Interview with Jim Cashel | Forum One