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MDG Gap Task Force
Access to New Technologies

Indicators 8.14, 8.15 and 8.16 under Target 8.F provide a measure of penetration of new technology in developing countries, but they do not allow monitoring of global efforts to improve availability of information and communications technology, including the contribution of the private sector. While Target 8.F makes explicit reference to information and communications technology, it contains a more general reference to the availability of “new technology”.

The lack of a numerical target restricts the possibility of monitoring the MDG commitment on technology. Defining a numerical target on information and communications technology is difficult given the fast pace of technological innovation in this sector and the number of supplementary goods and services, mainly software applications, required to gain proper access. Consequently, the issue is how to define a numerical target that captures the specific characteristics of the sector and helps to answer the following question: are countries on track to meet the target of improving access to information and communications technology (ICT)?

 

Commitment/Initiative Target & indicators Gap
New York, Millennium Summit 2000 – MDG-8

Target 8.F: In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications
Indicators:
8.14. Fixed telephone lines per 100 population
8.15. Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 population
8.16. Internet users per 100 population

Lack of numerical targets limits monitoring of global commitments.

Lack of indicators to monitor the contribution of the private sector.

World Summit on the Information Society, December 2003

WSIS indicative targets, to be achieved by 2015:

  1. to connect villages with ICTs and establish community access points
  2. to connect universities, colleges, secondary schools and primary schools with ICTs
  3. to connect scientific and research centres with ICTs
  4. to connect public libraries, cultural centres, museums, post offices and archives with ICTs
  5. to connect health centres and hospitals with ICTs
  6. to connect all local and central government departments and establish websites and email addresses
  7. to adapt all primary and secondary school curricula to meet the challenges of the Information Society, taking into account national circumstances
  8. to ensure that all of the world's population have access to television and radio services
  9. to encourage the development of content and to put in place technical conditions in order to facilitate the presence and use of all world languages on the Internet
  10. to ensure that more than half the world’s inhabitants have access to ICTs within their reach
 Lack of numerical targets and ambiguity in wording prevent proper monitoring.

Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, launched June 2004, indicators adopted in 2005 and revised in 2008

Indicators:1
A1 Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants
A2 Mobile cellular subscribers per 100 inhabitants
A3 Fixed Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants
A4 Fixed broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants
A5 Mobile broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants
A6 International Internet bandwidth per inhabitant
A7 Percentage of population covered by mobile cellular telephony
A8 Fixed broadband Internet access tariffs (per month), in US$, and as a percentage of monthly per capita income
A9 Mobile cellular prepaid ,in US$, and as a percentage of monthly per capita income
A10 Percentage of localities with public Internet access centres (PIACs) by number of inhabitants (rural/urban)

Cost of internet access in low-income countries is unaffordable. Access to internet services is further hampered by lack of electricity in many poor (mainly rural) areas.

Access to fixed broadband services in developing countries is often geographically limited and very expensive.

1 This is a partial list of the core list of ICT indicators developed by the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development and endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in 2007. Please see latest revisions at http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/partnership/material/CoreICTIndicators_e_rev2.pdf

(printable version)

 

 
     
 

 

  
     

 

 

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