Asia is truly amazing. Here you will find more than 2000 spoken languages, political models ranging from monarchies to democracies to authoritarian governments, incredible wealth and unforgiving poverty, and numerous religious traditions.

• digital divide East to West
• digital divide between urban and rural
• digital dive between rich and poor
• challenges to public discourse of all types as people learn how to use new channels
• challenges to existing power structures as information and exchange become democratize
• political unrest and national security threats as these channels are used for different purposes
  

Anyone can explore this site. From the start, we have created this wiki as a free public resource. We compile data about technology penetration, mobile markets, case studies, leading bloggers, important web sites, and governmental policy in a single location. In 2008 we started creating original materials such as surveys and video blog posts, listed under the from the creators tab in each country page. 2009 will bring more rigorous research and the full digital media map of Asia. I encourage you to please support SMU, the faculty and students, as they build this site. And why is this information so important? Moving beyond the common knowledge that we are living in what many be called the Asian Century, and also recognizing that China is the world's largest Internet market with more the 300 million netizens, eMarketer has released a report showing that we have 500 million Internet users in Asia-Pacific and this number is only growing (see graphic, below and left). The implications for PR, corporate communication, marketing, and advertising are profound. But that is only the good news. The other side of the coin is that, according to a UN ESCAP report: South Asia, home to 23% of the world’s population, contains fewer than 1% of its Internet users. Clearly the benefits of the emerging knowledge economy are gravitating to the rich and educated, and unless special efforts are made to increase the competitive edge of poor people, that trend can only worsen. We want to help the world learn more more about this region and about communicating with its netizens. This wiki has been collectively created across many class sections. Our methods include interviews, writing case studies, data collection from government or industry sources, and first hand experience. These student teams, dedicated to a single country, have compiled their findings here.

Mobile Markets Asia
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