| Measuring
progress |
|
Paragraph 28 of the Geneva Plan of Action stressed the need for an
international performance evaluation and benchmarking to follow up
the implementation of the objectives, goals and targets in the Plan
of Action. Para 112-120 of the Tunis Agenda further called for
periodic evaluation of the implementation of WSIS using appropriate
indicators and benchmarking.
ITU is recognized worldwide as the leading provider of timely and
comprehensive ICT statistics and indicators.
The main purposes for collecting indicators are:
To understand trends in national, regional and
international ICT development To assess the opportunities for possible financial
mechanisms To assess the impact of policy reforms and
technical assistance To better match the needs of countries with
available resources To monitor WSIS implementation To track global progress in the use of ICTs to
achieve internationally agreed Development Goals
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| WSIS Stocktaking process |
|
In 2004, ITU has launched a
stocktaking exercise with the aim of
providing an inventory of existing and planned initiatives by all
stakeholders. The stocktaking database was updated regularly. It
served as useful tool for illustrating how ICTs can help achieve the
MDGs, monitoring the implementation of the WSIS Plan of Action, and
identifying areas where further action is needed. By the end of
2006, there were more than 3’000 projects registered in the
database.
A number of actions aimed at improving the database's
functionality were taken during 2006. The database was adapted to
serve as a tool for the
WSIS Action Line facilitators.
In order to expand the functionality and interactivity of this
publicly-available tool, some additional actions are planned for the
year 2007. In particular, all WSIS Stakeholders will gain the
possibility to install the stocktaking database web interface on
their own web pages. It is expected that it may have a significant
impact on the growth of the number of entered project descriptions |
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| ICT indicators to achieve the MDGs |
|
ITU has been appointed lead agency responsible for defining ICT
indicators for the UN Millennium Development Goals project. The UN
called upon ITU to provide indicators, on an on-going basis, for
measuring access to ICTs |
| Digital Opportunity Platform |
| ITU launched the
Digital Opportunity Platform (DOP)
which is an ITU-led multi-stakeholder partnership for bridging the
digital divide. The Platform counts today among its members UNCTAD,
UNESCWA, London Business School (LBS), LIRNEAsia, LinkAfrica as well
as the founding partners ITU, the Ministry of Information and
Communication of the Republic of Korea (MIC) and the Korea Agency
for Digital Opportunity and Promotion (KADO). The core focus of the
Platform is the analysis and measurement of the evolving Information
Society, as called for in the WSIS Geneva Plan of Action (para 28).
DOP provides all stakeholders with a powerful and easy to use tool,
the Digital Opportunity Index (DOI). The DOI, which was compiled for
180 countries for 2005, provides an internationally-agreed benchmark
of the status of ICTs around the world, and can be used to track
progress made in infrastructure, opportunity and utilization of ICTs
by the target year 2015. A collaborative report produced by the DOP,
the World Information Society Report, reviews the key findings of
the work of the Partnership in all areas. |
| ICT Opportunity Index |
| In January 2007 ITU has released the
2007 ICT-Opportunity
Index. It is an inclusive index which relies on ten indicators that
help measure ICT networks, education and skills, uptake and
intensity of the use of ICT. It provides measurement across 183
economies. The 2007 ICT-OI is the result of the merger of the ITU’s
Digital Access Index (DAI) and Orbicom’s Monitoring the Digital
Divide/Infostate conceptual framework. |
| Partnership on Measuring ICT for
Development |
|
ITU is an active member of
the Partnership on
Measuring ICT for Development launched in 2004. From the core set of
indicators identified by the Partnership, ITU has been collecting
the majority of infrastructure and access indicators
Through the "Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development"
(UNCTAD/OECD/ITU/UIS/UN Regional commissions, UN ICT Task Force,
World Bank), ITU is building capacities of National Statistical
Offices in developing countries as well as competence to develop
statistical compilation programs on the Information
Society. | |
