According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, government internet shutdowns have cost the global economy more than $50 billion since 2019. In 2023, these shutdowns affected almost 750 million people worldwide and cost the global economy over $9.1 billion.

The Top10VPN data show that since 2019, nearly 600 major internet shutdowns across the globe, totalling more than 205,000 hours of disruptions.

Analyzed by year, 2019 saw the highest number of internet blockages, 134 lasting more than 19,200 hours. Statistics show 2022 remains the absolute record year in terms of total economic cost. That year alone, internet blockages cost the world economy a shocking $24.6 billion. That means almost half the five-year cost of internet blockages and shutdowns happened that year.

Still, 2023 saw the longest total duration of internet blockages. Although the total economic cost of government-caused internet shutdowns dropped by 60% to $9.1 billion, last year saw more than 79,000 hours of internet disruptions, the highest number in the past five years.

Analyzed by geography, Russia is undoubtedly the most affected nation by government-caused internet blockages and shutdowns. In 2023 alone, the total cost of internet and social media blockages in the country hit over $4 billion, while the five-year figures climb to over $25 billion, or half the world`s total in this period.

The Top10VPN data also showed that X, formerly Twitter, is generally the most blocked social media platform, suffering more than 10,600 hours of deliberate disruption in 2023, 26% more than TikTok and 18% more than Instagram.

Also, over half of all government internet outages last year were associated with additional human rights abuses, most frequently restricting freedom of assembly.

The full story and statistics can be found here:  https://stocklytics.com/content/the-world-economy-has-lost-over-50-billion-due-to-internet-shutdowns-in-the-past-five-years/

The post Internet shutdowns costs global economy over $50B in last 5 years appeared first on Startagist.

Commenting on the report launch, Jaideep Mukherji, CEO, Smart Power India, said,  “Mini-grid developers in India, Africa, and around the world have led the way in establishing new business models, deploying innovative technologies, and securing government recognition and support. Yet mini-grids continue to operate in remote locations under challenging conditions which put immense strain on plant electronics, batteries, and other equipment. This leads to accelerated degradation which in practice often goes unnoticed and unmitigated.”  Mini-grids operate in challenging environments, and their viability depends largely upon building and maintaining integrated and efficient technical systems. Due to lack of resources, low availability of appropriate equipment, and inadequate technical support services, projects frequently struggle to realize their full potential. Robust evaluation of mini-grids’ technical performance is a critical requirement. The Guide offers the standardized protocols to follow in order to construct a detailed and far-sighted assessment of a mini-grid’s health and the appropriateness of its underlying design.

“We foresee every step of monitoring becoming increasingly streamlined: from data collection, to benchmarking, to interpretation, and hence to confident prescription of interventions which will improve and safeguard performance,” added Mr. Mukherji.The Guide seeks to support the knowledge base of various stakeholders in the broader mini-grid ecosystem, including technical services companies, equipment manufacturers, regulators, and investors. Currently, in the absence of any standard established monitoring framework, new entrants to the sector are forced to commit to a period of experimentation in how to track and manage performance. This leads to cost inefficiencies and mistreatment of equipment. This Guide helps mini-grid developers avoid elementary pitfalls, providing a foundation that can be built upon and adapted as they gain more experience in the capabilities and requirements of the equipment on the market.

Mini-grid plant monitoring consists of three complementary activities.

1.      Technical Audit: Adeep and thorough evaluation of plant equipment, architecture, and operations requiring a visit from a specialized audit team. A technical audit provides a detailed snapshot of the plant at a given point in time, providing a baseline for future investigations. It also outlines corrective measures and projects future performance.

2.      Routine Monitoring: Local mini-grid field personnel need to monitor the plant components. These activities maintain a proactive and continuous understanding of plant behavior and give opportunity for swift intervention before incipient problems escalate

3.      Remote Technical Assessment: The tracking of specific technical indicators to reveal longer-term trends in the performance of mini-grids is critical. With remote data collection from in-plant sensors and automated analysis on cloud servers, these key indicators give continuous comparative insight into whether a plant is meeting expected performance.

The mini-grid sector as a whole has now developed to the point where routine technical audits and monitoring are indispensable for both aging and newly-built plants. The root causes of under performance can in some cases be revealed through a single approach alone, but typically insights from all three must be combined to arrive at a complete picture. Once underlying issues have been identified, short- and long-term solutions can be devised; weighing the benefits and costs of these, plant management can optimally allocate their resources in correcting the performance of existing plants and revising the design of new builds

This Guide lays foundations for development and implementation of a variety of assessment approaches. Mini-grid technologies continue to mature, and the range and quality of sector specific services continue to improve, making valuable contributions for the development of the sector.

Link to the Technical Guide: https://smartpowerindia.org/pdf/techinical-guide-10th-sept-low-res.pdf

About Smart Power India (SPI)

SPI, a subsidiary of the Rockefeller Foundation, was established in 2015 to develop and scale sustainable models to accelerate electricity access and spur economic development amongst the rural underserved communities. It is committed to create knowledge and accountability in the public domain through robust evidence-based research and provide field and analytical support the Government, private sector, implementers and other donors in their pursuits for rural electricity access.  SPI develops and disseminates relevant knowledge in the rural electricity access and services space with an aim to promote research and innovation and partners with policymakers, practitioners and academic institutions to come up with actionable insights and innovative strategies. While SPI’s work covers the spectrum of supply and demand side issues of rural electricity, its focus is the last-mile customer. SPI exchanges knowledge by promoting and facilitating platforms for networking, knowledge sharing and collaborative research, networking, knowledge sharing and collaborative research.

The post Smart Power India launches its Technical Monitoring Guide appeared first on Startagist.