Measuring ICT for social and economic development: Executive summary

This is the eighth edition of ITU's World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report. The 2006 edition's theme is "Measuring ICT for social and economic development" and was specifically prepared for the World Telecommunication Development Conference in March 2006. Besides looking at the progress made in measuring the impact of ICT on social and economic development, the report provides the latest telecommunication/ICT indicators for some 180 economies wordwide.

The importance of ICTs, and the way they are transforming the world, were confirmed with the UN’s decision to hold the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The resounding success of both phases of the Summit (December 2003 in Geneva and November 2005 in Tunis) further highlighted the magnitude of the topic. The final WSIS outcome documents – the Tunis Commitment and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society – highlight the potential of ICTs in "improving the socio-economic development of all human beings". They also point to the "growing importance of the role of ICTs, not only as a medium of communication, but also as a development enabler, and as a tool for the achievement of the internationally-agreed development goals and objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)". Through this report, the ITU is reaffirming its leading role in measuring the Information Society by addressing an area where little international data and even fewer indicators are available: the impact of ICTs on economic and social development. Besides responding to an obvious need to go beyond access to, and use of, ICTs this report is also a direct response to the WSIS request to "track global progress in the use of ICTs to achieve internationally-agreed development goals and objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals".

This new edition of the World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report will show that most work carried out in the area of impact measurement and indicators is still at a nascent stage, and often restricted to developed countries. Although there is a growing body of evidence that ICTs have an important macroeconomic impact – an area where a number of countries have carried out studies – it is not clear to what extent and how exactly ICTs have helped to directly reduce major development concerns, particularly those linked to the MDGs, such as poverty, hunger or sickness. The main objective of this report is to help measure the difference that ICTs are making. The report has six chapters. The first provides an overview of global telecommunication/ICT developments, with major trends in each region. The second chapter highlights the statistical divide, current efforts to overcome this divide, and the need to go beyond indicators on access to, and use of, ICTs. Chapter three looks at measuring the impact of the ICT sector on the economy, including a number of studies that have been carried out in this area. Chapter four examines the broader economic impact of ICTs, for example on productivity and employment, including in the public and private sector. Chapter five proposes a scheme to identify possible indicators for measuring the impact of ICTs on the achievement
of the MDGs, based on concrete examples and case studies. Chapter six summarizes the report's main findings.

Full report can be ordered (100 CHF) at http://www.itu.int/publ/D-IND-WTDR-2006/en and is also available in French.