1. The Committee on Development Information (CODI) is one of the seven subsidiary bodies of the Economic Commission for Africa, established in 1997 by the twenty-third meeting of the Conference of African Ministers responsible for Economic and Social Development and Planning. As a subsidiary body of the Commission, CODI provides policy and technical guidance for the sub-programme "harnessing information for development".

The ICT, Science and Technology Division (ISTD) formerly Development Information Services Division (DISD) is responsible for implementing this sub-programme which covers information and communication technologies; statistical development; database development and management; geo-information and library, documentation and information services.

2. The terms of reference of CODI, as established by the ECA Conference of Ministers in 1997 (see Annex), identify the areas of responsibility of CODI. So as to operationalize the terms of reference, CODI considered its terms of reference at its first meeting (28 June-2 July 1999) and elaborated on them further with a view to better focus the work of CODI. The terms of reference as revised and adopted are presented hereunder.