UNCTAD ICT and E-Business Branch 9/17/2015 / 1 Joint UNCTAD-ITU-UNESCAP Workshop Information Society Measurements in Asia-Pacific Bangkok, July 2006 Dr. Susan Teltscher Chief, ICT Policy and Analysis Unit ICT and E-Business Branch, SITE UNCTAD ICT and E-Business Branch UNCTAD – United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

UNCTAD ICT and E-Business Branch 9/17/2015 / 2 Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development  A global, multi-stakeholder initiative by key stakeholders working on ICT statistics  An umbrella for co-ordination of ongoing activities and for planning future activities based on the commitment by the partners  A framework for raising additional resources to assist developing countries  Launched at UNCTAD XI, Brazil, June 2004

UNCTAD ICT and E-Business Branch 9/17/2015 / 3 International level ITU OECD UNCTAD UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UN ICT Task Force – World Bank Regional level ECA ECLAC ESCAP ESCWA Eurostat Current members Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development

UNCTAD ICT and E-Business Branch 9/17/2015 / 4 Main objectives  Defining and analysing internationally comparable statistical indicators on ICT and developing methodologies  Assisting developing countries in the collection of ICT statistics  Helping countries implement and promote their ICT policies  Developing a global database on ICT indicators To promote the advancement of comparable ICT data at the global level by:

UNCTAD ICT and E-Business Branch 9/17/2015 / 5 Phase I: June 2004 – December 2005  Contributions to the WSIS process (Geneva, 2003 and Tunis, 2005) and its follow-up  Global stocktaking to collect information from all countries on their statistical measurement of ICT  Standardisation of ICT data and adoption of set of core ICT indicators (February 2005)  Contributions to UN Statistical Commission  Development of methodological material on the collection of ICT statistics  Meetings and events at regional and global levels to promote ICT measurement

UNCTAD ICT and E-Business Branch 9/17/2015 / 6 WSIS Contributions  WSIS Geneva: Parallel Event on “Monitoring the Information Society”, Geneva, December 2003  WSIS Tunis phase: inputs to draft final Tunis documents  WSIS Thematic Meeting on “Measuring the Information Society”, Geneva, February 2005  WSIS Tunis Parallel Event on “Measuring the Information Society”, Tunis, 15 November 2005  WSIS outcome documents

UNCTAD ICT and E-Business Branch 9/17/2015 / 7 WSIS Geneva Plan of Action (para 28) “A realistic international performance evaluation and benchmarking (both qualitative and quantitative), through comparable statistical indicators and research results, should be developed to follow up the implementation of the objectives, goals and targets in the Plan of Action …”,, “All countries and regions should develop tools so as to provide statistical information on the Information Society, with basic indicators and analysis of its key dimensions. Priority should be given to setting up coherent and internationally comparable indicator systems, taking into account different levels of development.”

UNCTAD ICT and E-Business Branch 9/17/2015 / 8 WSIS Tunis Agenda We call for periodic evaluation, using an agreed methodology, such as described in paragraphs The development of ICT indicators is important for measuring the digital divide. We note the launch, in June 2004, of the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, and its efforts: a) to develop a common set of core ICT indicators; to increase the availability of internationally comparable ICT statistics as well as to establish a mutually agreed framework for their elaboration, for further consideration and decision by the UN Statistical Commission. b) to promote capacity building in developing countries for monitoring the Information Society. c) to assess the current and potential impact of ICTs on development and poverty reduction. d) to develop specific gender-disaggregated indicators to measure the digital divide in its various dimensions.

UNCTAD ICT and E-Business Branch 9/17/2015 / 9 Phase II: January 2006 – December 2007 Steering Committee (UNCTAD, ITU, ECLAC) 4 Task Groups (capacity building, government, education, database) Capacity building (training material, technical workshops, assist NSOs; PARIS21) Expand list of core indicators (education, government) Global database WSIS follow-up

UNCTAD ICT and E-Business Branch 9/17/2015 / 10 UNCTAD contribution UNCTAD XI Partnership launch (Brazil, 2004) Informal co-ordinator during first phase Steering Committee (UNCTAD, ITU, ECLAC) Leader of Task Group on Capacity Building Technical assistance on ICT measurement (advisory missions, training material, sponsoring of technical workshops) Website: (discussion forum) UNCTAD information economy database

UNCTAD ICT and E-Business Branch 9/17/2015 / 11 ICT and E-Business Branch UNCTAD – United Nations Conference on Trade and Development