Professor Hernán Galperin's paper, "Localizing Internet infrastructure: Cooperative peering in Latin America," has been published in the current issue of the journal Telematics and Informatics.

In his research, Galperin uses Latin America as a springboard for a discussion on changes in Internet interconnection over the last few decades and on what those changes might mean for the development of online infrastructure in developing regions around the world.

In 2005, 60% of internet users lived in developed countries. But by 2014, that number had dropped to 34%, reflecting the growing number of people online in developing countries, as well as approaching actual world population distribution.

As the number of Internet users in developing countries grows, internet service providers in Latin America and elsewhere are increasingly turning to "peering" -- an arrangement where two or more providers share the burden of web traffic. This is an appealing solution as traffic grows globally by leaps and bounds, largely due to things like video streaming and file sharing.

In his paper, Galperin ultimately concludes that while governments have a role to play, policy encouraging peering has proved to be more effective than strict regulation.

Galperin studies online labor markets, digital inclusion and telecom regulation in Latin America. He was previously the Director of the Centro de Tecnología y Sociedad at the Universidad de San Andrés in Argentina and currently works with ARNIC, the Annenberg Research Network on International Communication.