Geneva, 26 Feb. 2009- The first revision of UNCTAD´s Manual for the Production of Statistics on the Information Economy(1) was released today on the occasion of the 40th Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission in New York. The new edition is the result of extensive collaboration between UNCTAD, national statistical offices (NSOs), and national and international experts who provided feedback and suggestions.
Designing and implementing sound policies to track the digital divide requires reliable statistical indicators to assess and monitor the development of the information society. Many countries still lack sufficient statistics and collection methods. This need was recognized by world leaders at the landmark World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2005.(2) As information and communication technology (ICT) data is a relatively new area of statistics, they saw a need to strengthen the capacities of NSOs in this area and called on the international community to assist.
Responding to this challenge, the UNCTAD Manual serves as a practical guide to all NSOs involved in the collection and analysis of data on ICT use by businesses, on the domestic ICT sector, and on trade in ICT goods. It is an important tool for ensuring that data produced are internationally comparable. According to Paul Cheung, Director of the United Nations Statistical Division, "Obtaining valuable information on access to, use, and impact of ICTs is a particular challenge for developing countries, many of which are just starting their statistical work on measuring the information society."
Currently, only 19 developing countries report data on ICT use by businesses.
The Manual introduces the reader to relevant international standards and definitions and offers model questions for conducting ICT surveys. It also reviews institutional issues that are central to the compilation and dissemination of ICT statistics.
ICT is a formidable enhancer of productivity and growth, including for developing countries. Moreover, the ICT sector has become a major employer and foreign currency earner in many developing countries. Measuring ICT access and ICT diffusion in the business sector is therefore of considerable importance for countries designing and implementing ICT policies to spur economic development. "Comparable ICT indicators are also critical to allow for cross-country comparisons of ICT development, to monitor the global digital divide and to establish policy-relevant benchmarks", said Khalil Rahman, Officer-in-Charge of UNCTAD´s Division on Technology and Logistics.
Measuring ICT is at the core of UNCTAD´s mandate to assist developing countries put in place policies that help ensure that the deployment of ICT improves national competitiveness.
The revised Manual will now be the basis for training and other technical assistance activities conducted by UNCTAD. It will be used to help developing countries design and implement ICT business surveys, for example. Such capacity building efforts include regional training courses and advisory missions to individual countries.
The Manual was developed in close collaboration with other members of the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, of which UNCTAD is a founding member.(3) The Partnership aims at improving the availability of ICT statistics and has established a set of core indicators.
An electronic version of the revised Manual for the Production of Statistics on the Information Economy is available without charge at http://measuring-ict.unctad.org.
