mobile-tech

Algorithms — a series of steps undertaken to solve a particular problem — are an integral element of our digital environment. Operating in search engines, personalized news systems, global financial markets, political campaigns and many more areas, algorithms hold ever-increasing power in society, as they steer decisions and make choices about what is or isn’t important. However, as algorithms become even more complex, concerns continue to grow over their lack of transparency.

As smart devices have evolved and improved, their popularity has increased rapidly. According to a Pew Internet report, more than half of all adults in the United States owned a smartphone in 2013, a 21% increase from 2011.

As of 2011, 83% of American adults own a cellphone and 35% own some form of “smartphone.” This equals more than 300 million mobile phones currently in use, up from 86 million just a decade ago.

With the coverage of cellular networks expanding rapidly across the developing world, researchers are investigating how the access to information that mobile phones make possible can be leveraged to help alleviate poverty.

In the 2010 election cycle, some 54% of adults used the Internet for political purposes, far exceeding the 2006 midterm digital usage rate of 31%.

By the very nature of their youth, teen drivers have little experience on the road. They also have a great comfort with and reliance on cell phones and other electronic devices, which have become a serious concern as a cause of distracted driving.