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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT INDICES
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PREFACE
In conjunction with the work programme of the Commission on Science and Technology for
Development (CSTD) for the inter-sessional period 2001–2003 on “Technology development
and capacity-building for competitiveness in a digital society”, UNCTAD reviewed and
evaluated existing work to measure ICT development from different sources, including
academia, the private sector and international organizations (UNDP, UNIDO, OECD and
ITU). On the basis of this earlier work, a theoretical framework has been formulated with a
view to measuring ICT development, including indicators for connectivity, access, usage and
policy. The framework was used to benchmark and analyse the diffusion of ICT capabilities
across 160–200 countries for 1995–2001. This cross-country study compiles data and
calculates ICT Development Indices for the following: connectivity (physical infrastructure
for ICTs, in penetration rates of Internet hosts, PCs, telephone mainlines and mobile phones
per capita); wider access to ICTs (literacy, GDP per capita and cost of local calls, as well as
actual number of Internet users); usage of ICTs (incoming and outgoing telecom traffic, as an
alternative to Internet data traffic flows in the absence of publicly available statistics on
these); and policy environment (a wider policy framework conducive to the adoption and
absorption of ICTs, which can be evaluated in terms of the presence of a domestic Internet
exchange, as well as competition in the local loop, domestic long-distance and ISP markets).
This study analyses country and regional rankings based on these index measurements, and
reviews results over time to identify interesting trends. It also seeks to evaluate the extent
and evolution of the digital divide, using basic measures of hardware equipment and numbers
of Internet users in each country, to determine how the digital divide is evolving over time.
This paper was prepared by Ms. Philippa Biggs under the guidance of Mr. Mongi Hamdi of
the UNCTAD secretariat. Comments were received from Ms. Lorraine Ruffing and Ms.
Dong Wu. Production assistance was provided by Ms. Maria Lourdes Pasinos. The cover
page was designed by Mr. Diego Oyarzun-Reyes.
Comments were also received during the various stages of preparation of the report from
Sanjaya Lall, Calestous Juma, Jean Camp, Alan Porter and Larry Press, as well as from a
number of CSTD members.
United Nations New York and Geneva, 2003 - Conference
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English
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