More and more people from more backgrounds, including third world countries in Africa and South America, now participate in technological advances than previously.

This is a factual claim as of March 2025 that participation in technological advances has broadened over time, both in the number of people and in the range of backgrounds and countries (including in Africa and South America). Suitable measures include researcher counts, scientific publications, patents, tech startups and funding, software developers, and internet access. True: data show that both the absolute number of participants and the share from developing regions (Africa, South America) have grown over the past decades. Mostly true: participation from these regions grew strongly in absolute terms, but their share stayed roughly flat or grew only slightly. Mixed: some measures show broadening while others show stagnation or growing concentration. Mostly false: growth is confined to a few already dominant countries, with little or no increase from new backgrounds or regions. False: participation from developing regions has declined.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 DIGITAL PROGRESS AND TRENDS REPORT 2025 World Bank · 2025

   “This growth has brought 400 million new users online, nearly half of whom are from LMICs.”

2. E2 DIGITAL PROGRESS AND TRENDS REPORT 2025 World Bank · 2025

   “Patent trends reflect a similar concentration—China holds 66 percent of GenAI patent filings (2014–23, a ninefold growth since 2017), whereas India shows the highest growth (56 percent annually), and LICs are largely absent from AI innovation and adaptation.”

3. E3 Facts and Figures 2024 - Internet use International Telecommunication Union (ITU) · 10 November 2024

   “By contrast, the average figure for Africa is just 38 per cent.”

4. E4 Researchers per million inhabitants by country, 1996–2018 (in full-time equivalents) UNESCO Science Report 2021 (UNESCO) · 5 May 2021

   “Low-income economies have witnessed the fastest growth (+36%) in researcher density since 2014 but still account for only 0.2% of the world’s researchers.”

Some measures point to broader participation. The World Bank says nearly half of 400 million new internet users came from low- and middle-income countries (E1), and UNESCO reports that low-income economies had the fastest growth in researcher density since 2014 (E4). Other measures point to continued concentration. UNESCO puts low-income economies at only 0.2% of the world's researchers (E4), the World Bank finds generative-AI patents concentrated in China with low-income countries largely absent (E2), and the ITU puts average internet use in Africa at just 38 per cent (E3). Because broadening on some measures sits alongside concentration on others, the criteria point to a mixed verdict.