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4 June
2008
 A
new report on "Global Information Society: a Statistical
View" was launched at the 2008 Global Event on Measuring
the Information Society, held from 27 – 29 May 2008
at the Palais des Nations under the direction of the Partnership
on Measuring ICT for Development, whose members include UNECA.
Representatives from developing countries
reviewed standards for collecting statistics on information
and communication technologies (ICTs) to spur social and economic
development. An important outcome of the Conference was the
endorsement of a new core list of statistical indicators for
measuring ICT use in education, and the launching of Partnership’s
publication entitled “The Global Information Society:
a Statistical View”, which provides a summary of the
current status of ICT measurement worldwide.
The report indicates, among other things,
that there has been an increase in the collection of ICT data
by developing countries but that more such nations need to
incorporate ICT statistics into their regular statistical
surveys -- that such information is vital for making effective
decisions on linking national economies into global information
networks and for taking advantage of the opportunities such
technologies as the Internet offer for development.
ISTD/UNECA, through its Scan-ICT
initiative, is a member of the international Partnership
and provided input to this publication reflecting the status
of ICT measurement in Africa. Furthermore, ISTD is coordinating
development of e-government indicators and leads the Task
Group on eGovernment. Scan-ICT is currently implemented in
Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Mauritius and Rwanda. In addition
to UNECA,
members of the Partnership include the United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Institute for Statistics
of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO); the Statistical Office of the European
Communities (Eurostat); the World Bank; the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU); the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD); and the United Nations
regional commissions for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Western
Asia (UNESCWA), and Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC).
The publication can be downloaded from: http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/LCW190_en.pdf
For further information on ISTD’s Scan-ICT initiative,
contact Afework Temtime (atemtime@uneca.org).
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