—Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google


The goal of the Next Billion Network is to deploy innovative mobile technologies that help people reduce friction in their local markets from the bottom up.

Using cellphones to help basic causes in the developing world is now an on-going world movement. Companies, researchers, governments and students have recognized that the ubiquitous connectivity of even the most disadvantaged sectors of society constitutes a qualitatively new opportunity to enable low-cost, sustainable solutions to age-old problems.

The Next Billion Network seeks to play a central role in this movement by leveraging the skills and resources of MIT with the assets and reach of a wide network of people and organizations across the world.