Google announced today that its philanthropic arm, Google.org, is making new investments to improve Internet access in emerging markets.

For one, it is providing $3.1 million to the Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC) to help get local network engineering expertise to universities and national research & education networks in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Through labs and a train-the-trainers program, NSRC will provide hands-on training on campus network planning, deployment, and management for over 600 university and NREN staff,” explains Google.org principal Jennifer Haroon. “Their work will bring the Internet to students and staff at over 50 institutions and increase network engineering know-how in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

Additionally, Google.org is providing $1.3 million to the Internet Society (ISOC) to improve and create Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in emerging markets.

“IXPs play a big role in core Internet infrastructure, allowing Internet Service Providers to peer locally (and cheaply), which can lower end user costs, promote competition, and improve user experience,” says Haroon. “ISOC will create a toolkit for those who want to create and improve IXPs and build an industry portal to share IXP information and data.”

According to Google, five billion people are currently without access to the Internet.

Image: NSRC