Half the world's population doesn't have access to the internet and this is holding back efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus, campaigners warn.

The Web Foundation, established by World Wide

Half the world's population doesn't have access to the internet and this is holding back efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus, campaigners warn.

The Web Foundation, established by World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, says digital tools to slow the spread of COVID-19 aren't as effective as they should be as so many people can't share information online.

The group campaigns for universal internet access to be considered a basic right - saying that if this was already in place the virus could have been slowed sooner.

In its latest report, it said the current crisis and subsequent lockdown – with millions working and studying from home – underlines the importance of internet access.

The foundation created by World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, pictured, says people are being left behind due to a lack of internet access

Adrian Lovett, president of the Web Foundation, said: 'The web is a critical lifeline. And yet billions are not connected as we fail to meet these targets.'

'While this crisis affects everyone, those without the tools to protect themselves and their families are more vulnerable to the virus and its painful economic and social impacts,' the web advocate added.

The group say the virus outbreak proves 'the web is a basic right, not a luxury', saying that efforts to tackle COVID-19 must include getting as many people connected to the internet as quickly as possible.

'This global pandemic has cruelly exposed the extent of the digital divide,' said Lovett.

'Governments and companies must work urgently to accelerate progress to ensure that everyone, everywhere has the opportunity to get online.'

The Web Foundation warned that because most people who are unable to get online were in low and middle-income countries, as COVID-19 cases in those countries rise, the lack of digital resources could hinder steps to stop the spread.

Many of the tools being used around the world to trace and slow the spread of the virus require an active internet connection. 

An app being built by the NHS in the UK uses a combination of Bluetooth and other technology to alert smartphone users when they have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus.

These apps are seen by many experts as a vital tool in slowing the outbreak and helping countries out of lockdown but they require a significant majority of the country to install the app.

Half the world's population doesn't have access to the internet and this is holding back efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus, campaigners warn. Many tracing apps require access to bluetooth on a smartphone, as well as internet access to track the virus

In the UK the NHS is said to be hoping for 80 per cent uptake of its new app - something impossible in countries with very low internet availability.  

The group's latest report also says the world is set to miss a UN target as part of its Sustainable Development Goals, which hoped to reach 'universal access' to the internet in the least developed countries by 2020. 

The foundation claims its analysis projects that by the end of this year, only 23 per cent of those in the least developed countries will have internet access.

This falls well short of the 85 per cent target the UN uses as a reference for universal access, according to the foundation.

It also says a second target, from the UN's Broadband Commission to get 75 per cent of people globally and 35 per cent in the least developed nations access to a broadband connection by 2025, will also be missed.

The Web Foundation says it projects that only 70 per cent globally and 31 per cent in the least developed nations will have such access by that target date.

HOW DID TIM BERNERS-LEE CREATE THE INTERNET?

The World Wide Web was created by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist born on June 8, 1955.

Having studied physics at Queen's College Oxford, graduating in 1976, he started as an engineer in the telecommunications and microprocessor software industry.

In 1980, while working as an independent contractor at CERN, Berners-Lee described the concept of a global system based on using hypertext to share information between researchers.

Tim Berners-Lee wrote (pictured) the blueprint for what would become the World Wide Web, and said he is alarmed at what has happened to it in the last year

He built a prototype system called Enquire, which formed the conceptual basis for the World Wide Web.

In 1989 he published his landmark paper, 'Information Management: A Proposal', built the first WWW server and web browser 'WorldWideWeb.app'.

In 1994, he founded the World Wide Web Consortium, the main international standards organisation for the internet.