A recent study by the Pew Research Center suggests that the United States continues to suffer from a digital divide in Internet usage, a gap in accessibility and digital literacy between rich and poor and urban and rural. While corporate investment in national broadband infrastructure has increased the quality of service for affluent urban populations over the past decade, the expansion of service to disadvantaged communities has been left to the public sector.

"Fast-growing economies in emerging markets are outpacing more developed countries with respect to investment in innovation," according to Encouraging and Protecting Innovation — a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). A PwC researcher compiled the report utilizing survey data collected from over 200 global executives who attended the annual meeting of The Wall Street Journal CEO Council. The report points out that Asia's emerging markets, mostly due to China, already invest more on R&D than the EU and Japan, respectively.