The United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union (ITU) featured the research of USC Annenberg Provost’s fellow Martin Hilbert in its 2012 edition of “Measuring the Information Society.”

Included in the annual report is Hilbert’s approach to measuring communication capacity in bits and bytes of information. This idea was drawn from a previous research project that Hilbert had done, calculating the “world’s total technological capacity,” along with co-author Priscila Lopez, a researcher from the Open University of Catalonia.

The study was published in Science last year.

"We live in a world where economies, political freedom and cultural growth increasingly depend on our technological capabilities,” Hilbert said in regards to his research. “This is the first study to quantify humankind’s ability to handle information and how it has changed in the last two decades.”

Hilbert's work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and The Washington Post, among many others.

He also holds a permanent position with the United Nations as Economic Affairs Officer.