WSIS Parallel Event

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WSIS Parallel Event Partnership on Measuring ICT
for Development Technical Assistance Capacity
Building on Statistics on the Information The
case of Africa
Aida Opoku-Mensah OIC, DISD Economic Commission
for Africa
15 November 2005
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• Content
• Why measure the Information Society?
• SCAN Phase 1 Background
• SCAN Phase 1 Technical Assistance
• SCAN Phase 2
• African Academia Research Network on Indicators
• Challenges

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Why Measure the Information Society?

• Rationale for Africa
• Given the impact of ICTs on the globalised
  economy important for Africa to be part of the
  new and emerging information economy or risk
  marginalized
• Increasing evidence of impact of ICTs in
  socio-economic development, and as tool for
  e-strategy formulation and implementation
• Emphasis laid in ECAs work programme through the
  African Information Society Initiative (AISI) and
  SCAN ICT Project
• Identified in Geneva Plan of Action as area of
  focus leading to Partnership on Measuring ICT4D
  (ECA working on SCAN as part of the partnership)
• Measurement of ICTs in addressing MDGs and PRSs.

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SCAN Phase 1

• Background
• Methodology based on indicators developed by
  IDRC, and on
• thematic areas outlined by the African
  Information Society
• Initiative (AISI).
• These include infrastructure development,
  strategic planning, capacity building, sector
  applications, e-governance, Information Society
  and Information Economy
• Aimed to expand data- collection and analysis and
  to monitor the progress made in the ICT sector by
  the pilot countries
• Scan methodology designed to fine-tune indicators
  to match growing or changing needs of countries,
  and where appropriate new indicators developed
• Launched in 2001 in 6 pilot countries ECA/IDRC
  with support from NORAD EC

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SCAN Phase I Technical Assistance
Country Technical Support
Ethiopia Faculty of Business and Economics, Addis Ababa University (www.aau.edu.et)
Ghana International Institute of Information Technology - INIIT (www.iniit.com)
Morocco Informatique, technologies de linformation et géomatique- ITIGO (www.scanict.marwan.ac.ma)

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SCAN Phase I Technical Assistance
Country Technical Support
Mozambique Centre for Informatics, University of Eduardo Mondlane CIUEM (www.scan-ict.uem.mz)
Senegal Observatoire sur les systèmes dinformation, les réseaux et les inforoutes au Sénégal OSIRIS (www.osiris.sn)
Uganda Uganda National Council for Science and Technology UNCST (www.uncst.go.ug)

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SCAN ICT Phase 2

• Background
• SCAN 2 is within Partnership for Measuring ICT4D
  with financial
• support from IDRC and the Government of Finland.
  Builds on
• Phase 1 based on the following principles
• integration of the IS/ICT4D indicators into
  e-strategy process
• identify and classify the broad types of
  indicators to the phases of the ICT4D process
• facilitate the identification of broad types of
  IS/ICT4D indicators to meet the core indicators
  developed by the international partners
• Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gambia, Mozambique, Niger,
  Rwanda, Tanzania, Swaziland and Ghana
• National Statistical Offices (NSOs) targeted for
  TECHNICAL SUPPORT to carry out activities.

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Academia Research Network

• Information Society Indicators Research Network
• The Network brought together nine (9)
  academics/researchers
• from Tunisia, Morocco and Rwanda to work on
• Reviewing and fine-tuning Information Society
  indicators, benchmarks and methodologies of
  existing initiatives, so as to monitor the
  progress made in the local, national and regional
  context
• Undertaking in-depth analysis on ICT penetration
  and impacts on society by using the data and
  information collected by various indicator
  initiatives
• Build capacity among research institutions and
  researchers
• on Information Society indicators to ensure
  sustainable involvement of African Academia in
  measuring impacts

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Academia Research Network

• Information Society Indicators Research
• Network
• The Network with support from Ford Foundation and
  accomplished
• the following
• Reviewed available outcome of these initiatives
  in real field applications with a special focus
  on African countries
• Developed a Reference Model encompassing the main
  features of the Geneva plan of action, and
  allowed a thorough comparisons of the existing
  initiatives
• The model highlighted the strengths and
  weaknesses of initiatives and ways for
  improvements and also be used to define a
  complete set of reference indicators

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Main Challenges

• Technical Assistance in Policy Arena
• To utilise data effectively in both formulation
  and implementation of policies in building the
  Information Society
• Attention to be paid on mechanisms for data
  utilisation
• Greater support to NSOs on a short, medium and
  long term to ensure that measuring IS is integral
  part of work in cooperation with respective
  national agencies

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Main Challenges

• Technical Assistance in Data Gathering,
  especially
• in
• Identification of appropriate indicators as well
  as internationally agreed methodology for
  comparative analysis by national agencies
• Developing culture of sustainable data collection
  mechanisms at national level rationale for
  involving NSOs
• Ensurin that data collectors are abreast of the
  rapid evolution of IS applications and their
  integration in various socio-economic sectors

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Main Challenges

• Technical Assistance for stakeholders other than
• Government agencies and private researchers
• More involvement of Academic and research
  institutions in this effort
• Encourage CSOs in this area, particularly in
  working on indicators at the community levels
• Greater involvement of private sector
• Multi-stakeholder partnership in data collection
  _at_ the national level could be explored more

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Main Challenges

• Technical Assistance for cross sector utilisation
  of
• data
• Provide data for various sectors of national
  economy such as banks, trade and financial
  institutions, etc
• Better monitoring and evaluation of usage of data
  by different sectors and agencies

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Thank-You !
http//www.uneca.org/aisi/
aisi_at_uneca.org