Global digital information (the digital universe) amounted to 281 billion gigabytes (GB) (281 exabytes) in 2007, or almost 45 GB of digital information for every person on earth, according to EMC-sponsored research by IDC. The figure is 10 percent more than the previous estimate, and is expected to hit 1.8 zettabytes (1,800 exabytes) in 2011. read more »