Geneva,
Switzerland, Room K, ITU Headquarters, 10 May 2010, 16:00-17:30 hours
2010 marks the midpoint between the Tunis phase of the WSIS and 2015,
the deadline for achieving the WSIS targets, in line with the target
date of the MDGs. It is therefore critical to review progress made on
the ten WSIS targets, based on measurable indicators. At the
international level, no systematic approach has been taken so far to
measure progress towards the achievement of the WSIS targets. The WSIS
outcome documents do not specify quantifiable indicators that could be
applied to monitor progress. As a result, no international framework
exists for measuring the WSIS targets and goals.
Although the Partnership on Measuring ICT for
Development has developed a core list of ICT indicators that are
increasingly collected at the national and international level, the WSIS
targets are very broad and go beyond the Partnership’s core list.
Therefore, an effort has to be made to address measurement issues
related to each one of the ten WSIS targets, and to help countries monitor
them.
In this context,
ITU’s World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report
(WTDR) 2010 focuses on Monitoring the WSIS Targets. It was prepared
as a collaborative effort with other UN agencies and WSIS stakeholders.
The Report identifies a set of measurable indicators for each target and
reviews the status of the targets based on available data.
This event presented an overview of the WTDR 2010,
including the main findings and proposed indicators for each one of the targets.
The event also saw the official launch of the Partnership Task Group on
Measuring the WSIS Targets:
Task Group on
Measuring the WSIS targets (TG WSIS)
As a follow-up to the WTDR 2010 and to
this event, ITU proposed that work on measuring the WSIS targets be
brought under the umbrella of the Partnership, in a new task
group on Measuring the WSIS targets (TG WSIS). The overall objective of
the task group is to develop a framework for monitoring the WSIS goals
and targets based on internationally defined indicators and standards.
The indicators proposed in the WTDR could constitute the starting point
for the work of the Task Group, with the objective to further enhance
and refine them, and to apply them in the work carried out by individual
Partnership/TG members and other stakeholders.
The task group consists of members of the
Partnership involved/interested in measuring one or several of the WSIS
goals and targets. These include ITU, OECD, UIS (tbc), UNCTAD, UNDESA, UNECA,
UNECLAC, UNESCAP and UNESCWA. The TG WSIS is open not only to
Partnership members but also to non-members. The participation and
input from external collaborators is important as the WSIS targets cover
areas of the information society that go beyond the expertise of the
Partnership.
In order to accommodate the inputs of a wide range of stakeholders, a
discussion forum was set up to facilitate the discussion for
different targets. All TG WSIS members are invited to register at
http://groups.itu.int/wsis-targets and to also encourage other
experts and organizations to join the TG forum. It is proposed to start
the work by commenting on the indicators proposed in the WTDR for each
target.
Program
16:00-16:10 |
Opening remarks by the
ITU BDT Director
Introductory remarks by the Chair, Torbjörn Fredriksson,
Officer-in-Charge, ICT Analysis Section, UNCTAD |
16:10-16:20 |
Overview of ITU WTDR
2010 on Monitoring the WSIS Targets, Susan Teltscher,
Head, Market Information and Statistics Division, ITU |
16:20-17:15 |
Monitoring the WSIS
Targets: proposed indicators and status of achievement
- Vanessa Gray, ITU
- Claude Akpabie, UNESCO
Institute for Statistics
- Misha Kay, WHO
- Seema Hafeez, UNDESA
- Daniel Pimienta, FUNREDES
- Mariana Balboni, ECLAC
|
17:15-17:25 |
Follow-up: towards
2015 - Open discussion |
17:25-17:30 |
Closing remarks by ITU
and UNCTAD |
For more
information on this event and the TG WSIS, please contact
indicators@itu.int.
The WSIS Forum 2010 took place from
10-14 May 2010, for more information see
http://www.itu.int/wsis/implementation/2010/forum/geneva/index.html.
|