DESA News

Volume 14, No.7 - July 2010

Trends and analysis

Discussing ICT developments, trends and challenges

International Seminar on Information and Communication Technology Statistics will be held in Seoul, Republic of Korea from 19-21 July

Statistics on information and communication technologies (ICTs) have received increasing attention in recent years, highlighting the need for reliable data on new technologies that have impacted all aspects of economic and social life. Especially since the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), there has been much progress on the production of ICT statistics.

At the same time, the ICT area continues to evolve rapidly and statistical standards and definitions need to be revised and adapted continuously. As the main data collectors, national statistical agencies are crucial players in ensuring sustainable and internationally comparable ICT statistics.

The Seminar takes place at the half-way point between the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and 2015, when the United Nations General Assembly will review progress towards achieving the WSIS targets, in line with the MDGs. As such, this Seminar presents a timely opportunity for statistical agencies and other relevant stakeholders to discuss new developments, trends and challenges related to ICT statistics.

The Seminar will in particular facilitate the exchange of experiences, discuss progress on ICT statistics and policy making, measuring the information society and information economy as well as measurement issues related to households ICT surveys.

DESA’s Statistics Division, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Statistical Office of the Republic of Korea (Statistics Korea) in cooperation with the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, are organizing this seminar.

More information: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/ict

Presenting MDG eCenter

GAID Preparatory Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals Electronic Center (MDG eCenter) will be held from 26-27 July in New York

Members of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) together with representatives from member states, the private sector, key civil society actors and other leading development organizations including major UN agencies will convene an action-oriented forum focused on the development of the GAID Millennium Development Goal Electronic Center.

The main purpose of the meeting is to present the concept of the MDGs eCenter, including environment, mission, objectives, status of development, timetable for finalization of the two core components (Matrix of ICT Solutions for MDGs Advancement and Computer-Aided Strategic Planner) and to report on the results of on-line and physical consultations on the structure and functionalities of the Portal.

The forum’s discussion will focus on actions needed to organize the development and population of the Matrix and the finalization of the Strategic Planner. Furthermore, interest and commitment to participate and contribute content and/or resources will be discussed.

More information: http://un-gaid.ning.com/

Accelerating attainment of MDGs

The establishment of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development in 2010 comes five years after the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), and ten years after the launch of the MDGs

The key aim of the commission is to accelerate attainment of those goals by the target date of 2015, through the introduction of ubiquitous access to broadband. Global leaders in government, business, civil society and international organizations have been invited to serve on the Broadband Commission as commissioners by the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), with the strong support of the United Nations Secretary-General.

Given the Under-Secretary-General’s role as a commissioner of the Broadband Commission, DESA will provide input to both the Report to the UN Secretary-General and the Background Report to the Broadband Commission. The focus of DESA’s inputs will be on e-government, including ICT and promoting broadband for public service and government operations to be more efficient, effective, transparent and accountable.

The draft Report to the UN Secretary-General will be debated and finalized at a meeting of the Commissioners of the Broadband Commission to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, 11 July 2010. The Broadband Commission will report its findings to the Secretary-General in September 2010, immediately before the MDG high-level event to review work on achieving the Millennium Development Goals by the target date of 2015.

For further information: http://www.broadbandcommission.org/