ABSTRACT
This chapter explores more deeply into the current state of, and recent trends in, physical stocks of infrastructure, access rates, and spending levels. The challenge of historical data on infrastructure and our need for a relatively comprehensive infrastructure database led us to draw on the databases, reports, and papers of nearly a dozen international governmental and nongovernmental organizations. Water is a vital resource, not only because life on Earth depends on it but also because it makes civilization possible, from basic activities like growing food and removing waste, to advanced processes like manufacturing and electricity generation. Energy, the capacity to do work, is a fundamental characteristic of life and a building block of human development. A modern information and communication technology (ICT) is often classified as either information technology or information and communication infrastructure. The Joint Monitoring Programme of the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund defines separate "ladders" of sources of access to drinking water and sanitation.
