Scan-ICT Programme: Overview Afework Temtime ICT Policy Development Section ICTs, Science and Technology Division (ISTD) Economic Commission for Africa Regional Workshop on Data Management and Dissemination October 2009 Kampala, Uganda

Content  Introduction & background  Scan-ICT: Phases 1, 2, and 3  Regional list of core ICT indicators  Challenges in measuring ICT4D  Lessons & the way forward

AISI’s Information Policy Chain  Regional Information and Communication Infrastructure (RICI)  National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI)  Sectoral Information and Communication Infrastructure (SICI)  Village Information and Communication Infrastructure (VICI) RICI VICI AISI NICI SICI SCAN-ICT

The need for measuring ICT4D Rationale for Africa  Impact of ICTs on the globalised knowledge economy - marginalisation  Impact of ICTs in socio-economic development  ICT4D policies/strategies require relevant data to formulate policies and support their implementation  Proliferation of ICT activities and investments in Africa, but with little co-ordination and limited dissemination of results and best practices  Need for indicators for benchmarking, evaluating information society development  Emphasis laid in ECA’s work programme through the AISI and Scan-ICT project  Identified in WSIS Geneva Plan of Action as area of focus leading to Partnership on Measuring ICT4D  Measurement of ICTs in addressing MDGs and PRSPs

The Geneva Plan of Action states: “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.” The need for measuring ICT4D

indicators monitor, assess, measure progress and‘impact’ indicators THE HOW..? THE WHAT..? The POLICY The PLAN Phase 1 Phase 2 guide the development and target setting guide policy formulation Linkages between indicators and the ICT4D process indicators monitor, assess, measure progress and‘ impact ’ indicators THE HOW..? THE WHAT..? The FRAMEWORK The POLICY The PLAN Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 IMPLEMENTATION BASE/CASE guide the development and target setting guide policy formulation indicators Provide basis and make case

The most important phase for the identification and collection of indicators is related to the baseline study, which constitutes the first step in developing e-strategies in Africa It provides a basis for setting targets and projections for the various programmes and initiatives of the e-strategy A methodological framework derived from the Scan-ICT programme was used for the e- strategy development process and for Africa’s contribution to the list of core ICT indicators of the Partnership The Baseline/e-readiness study

Scan-ICT: Phase 1 Background Methodology based on indicators developed by IDRC, and on thematic areas outlined by the African Information Society Initiative (AISI)  These include infrastructure development, strategic planning, capacity building, sector applications, e-governance, Information Society and Information Economy  Aimed to expand data collection and analysis and to monitor the progress made in the ICT sector by the pilot countries  Scan methodology designed to fine-tune indicators to match growing or changing needs of countries, and where appropriate new indicators developed Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, and Uganda  Launched in 2001 in 6 pilot countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, and Uganda)  Implemented by ECA/IDRC with support from NORAD & EC

Scan-ICT Phase I: Technical Assistance Country Technical Support Ethiopia Faculty of Business and Economics, Addis Ababa University ( Ghana International Institute of Information Technology - INIIT ( Morocco Informatique, technologies de l’information et géomatique»- ITIGO (

Scan Phase I: Technical Assistance Country Technical Support Mozambique Centre for Informatics, University of Eduardo Mondlane – CIUEM ( Senegal Observatoire sur les systèmes d’information, les réseaux et les inforoutes au Sénégal – OSIRIS ( Uganda Uganda National Council for Science and Technology – UNCST (

Scan-ICT: Phase 2 Background Scan-ICT Phase 2 is implemented in the framework of the AISI and the international Partnership for Measuring ICT4D with financial support from the Government of Finland. Builds on Phase 1 based on the following principles:  integration of the IS/ICT4D indicators into e-strategy process  identify and classify the broad types of indicators to the phases of the ICT4D process  facilitate the identification of broad types of IS/ICT4D indicators to meet the core indicators developed by the international partners  Participating countries: Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Mauritius, and Rwanda  National Statistical Offices (NSOs) targeted for technical support to carry out activities

Scan-ICT: Phase 2 Scan-ICT 2 – Country Team Activities  In implementing the Scan-ICT activities, the Country Teams are expected to:  Set up a Committee composed of statisticians, NICI implementers, ICT experts, ISP personnel, staff of regulatory bodies and also higher learning institutions, private sector and civil society  Ensure linkages with various ICT initiatives such as national and sectoral e-strategies  Develop gender mainstreamed indicators and benchmarks  Collect and analyse both primary and secondary data  Enter into alliances with major stakeholders, which are responsible for data collection in various sectors

Scan-ICT: Phase 2 Outputs / Data Dissemination Mechanisms  Document on methodology (priority theme areas, selected indicators, data collection and analysis methodology, development of survey instruments, geographical coverage, publication and dissemination of the findings)  Scan Country Profile/baseline data (Primary and secondary sources, special attention to gender disaggregated data)  Scan Country Profile/analysis (qualitative analysis on the ICT use and impact in the priority theme areas)  National Scan website + database (as part of the institution’s website or separate) At regional level:

List of Core ICT Indicators WSIS Phase I held in Geneva, Dec 2003: Survey on regional metadata collection  Formation of the international Partnership on Measuring ICT4D Recommendations from Scan-ICT Phase I Evaluation workshop (Addis Ababa, Feb 2004) Recommendations of the First meeting of the Advisory Board on Statistics in Africa (ABSA) - May 2004 ECA/ITU Workshop on ICT indicators (Botswana, October 2004) African Regional Preparatory Conference for the WSIS (Ghana from 2 – 4 Feb 2005) WSIS Thematic Meeting on Measuring the Information Society (Geneva, February 2005) Scan-ICT Phase I Scan-ICT Phase II

 Launched in June 2004  Objectives:  To work with NSOs, regulators, ministries, etc. to develop a common set of core ICT indicators  Enhance the capacities of National Statistical Offices and other stakeholders on collection & processing of ICT indicators  Develop a global database on ICT statistics ESCWA

The Partnership indicators  Launched in Tunis in 2005 with 42 indicators  Divided under four categories:  ICT infrastructure and access;  Access to, and use of ICT by households and individuals;  Use of ICT by businesses; and  ICT sector and trade in ICT goods  Endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC) in 2007, which requested the “Partnership to continue work to update the list of indicators, especially in view of measuring use of ICT in education and in government”  Education sector was added as 5th sector led by UNESCO in the Task Group on Education  After revision and update, the list includes presently 46 indicators endorsed by the UNSC in February 2009

Objectives of the indicators  To help countries that collect ICT statistics to produce high quality and internationally comparable data  To have readily available standardized info:  Definitions of terms (e.g. computer, the Internet);  Model questions;  Calculation of indicators (e.g. use of appropriate denominators for proportions);  Collection scope (e.g. by business size or industry, age of individuals); and  Classificatory variables (e.g. business size; age ranges for individual ICT use core indicators).

Regional Core List of ICT Indicators (62) : Categories (13)  Basic infrastructure and access  ICT sector  Households  Individuals (by age, gender, including the disabled)  Business  Education  Government  Agriculture  Health  ICT investments and expenditures  Content issues and local languages  Security issues  NICIs

Capacity Building for NSOs  TWO Training courses (ECA-ITU-UNCTAD):  Training course on measuring ICT access and use by households and individuals  Training course on measuring ICT access and use by businesses  Anglophone: 13 – 24 July 2009, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Over 25 participants from Botswana, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe  Francophone: End of December 2009, Rabat, Morocco

Scan-ICT: Phase 3  Focus on capacity building for NSOs and ICT ministries  Supported by the Government of Finland  Support will continue to Scan-ICT phase 1 & 2 countries  Requests being received from member States for support – ToR available

Challenges/Lessons Policy  To utilise data effectively in both formulation and implementation of policies in building the Information Society  Greater support to NSOs on a short, medium and long term to ensure that measuring IS is integral part of work in cooperation with respective national agencies  Linkage with various ICT initiatives is needed to sustain the Scan-ICT process and increase its responsiveness to strategic planning and ICT investments  Crucial to continuously monitor and capture ICT4D indicators to facilitate informed decisions

Challenges/Lessons Data Gathering  Identifying appropriate indicators as well as internationally agreed methodology for comparative analysis by national agencies  Developing culture of sustainable data collection mechanisms at national level – rationale for involving NSOs  Ensuring that data collectors are abreast of the rapid evolution of IS applications and their integration in various socio-economic sectors  Need for gender disagregated data

Challenges/Lessons Involvement of stakeholders other than Government agencies and private researchers  More involvement of academic and research institutions in this effort  Encourage CSOs in this area, particularly in working on indicators at the community levels  Greater involvement of private sector  Multi-stakeholder partnership in data the national level could be explored more

Lessons - The Way Forward  Need for a limited list of indicators – international core list + a few selected sectors, eg. eGov  Need to develop various elements that accompany the indicators such as: definitions, scope, method of collection and data sources, method of calculation and interpretation; etc.  Put in place appropriate mechanisms for measuring the ICT4D at national, regional and international levels  Ensure the sustainability of such activities  Partnership at national, regional, and international levels  Inclusive process – stakeholders consultation  Benchmarking at regional, sub-regional & int. levels  International Partnership for Measuring ICT4D

Thank You !