ICT Development Index 2019 Consultation

​​​​​​​​In 2018, the ITU did not publish the ICT Development Index (IDI) due to a number of challenges related to data quality and quantity resulting from the change in the set of indicators included in the IDI that was agreed in 2017. In addition, as presented during the 16th World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS), held from 10 to 12 December 2018 in Geneva, a number of flaws appeared with respect to some of the new indicators included in the IDI, which prevents the index from reflecting the true ICT development in countries. Therefore, it was decided to postpone the publication of the IDI until 2019. After verifying the data received from countries in 2019, it was found that, despite two rounds of capacity building workshops in all the regions, the data situation has not improved sufficiently to warrant the calculation of the IDI for 2019 based on the revised set of indicators. For 2019, the ITU Secretariat recommends to publish the IDI based on the original methodology and set of indicators, rather than not publishing it at all. Conscious of the fact that there are a number of countries that have expressed concerns about publishing the IDI using the original methodology, a consultation with all Member States is being conducted on this matter. Below you can find the Circular Letter announcing the consultation, as well a background document, which explains in more detail the reasons why the IDI cannot be calculated and released based on the revised set of indicators. It also lists arguments supporting the recommendation to use the original methodology for publishing the IDI 2019.​