History of the ICT Development Index (IDI)

The ICT Development Index (IDI) is a composite index that until 2017 combined 11 indicators into one benchmark measure. It is used to monitor and compare developments in information and communication technology (ICT) between countries and over time. The IDI was published annually between 2009 and 2017. 

In 2017, the IDI with 11 indicators ​was published for the last time in the Measuring the Information Society Report 2017. 

In March 2017, an Extraordinary Meeting of the Expert Group on ICT Household Indicators (EGH) and Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI) was held in Geneva. The main objective of the Extraordinary Meeting was to discuss, debate and agree on a revised set of indicators to be included in the IDI, based on the two input documents prepared by the sub-group and an independent group of experts. The Extraordinary Meeting adopted a total of 14 indicators to be included in the IDI compared to the previous list of 11 indicators. The ICT Development Index (IDI): Methodology, indicators and definitions presents the 14 indicators and its definitions. 

However, following the shift from 11 to 14 indicators, countries were facing challenges in collecting and submitting quality data. This was despite the fact that following the adoption of the new list of indicators, ITU organized and ran capacity building workshops in all the regions. For the calculation of the 2018 IDI, only 42 per cent of all data points required to calculate the would be based on data submitted by countries, requiring ITU to estimate 58 per cent of data points. Furthermore, only 112 countries were able to submit data for more than half of the IDI indicators. The data collection also revealed that some of the data submitted by countries were not in line with ITU’s agreed methodology resulting in the data not being sufficiently harmonized. Finally, while the extraordinary meeting in 2017 agreed on a revised list of indicators to be included in the IDI, it did not engage in the other methodological steps required for the development and calculation of a composite index (imputation of missing data, statistical analysis, sensitivity analysis, etc.). When the ITU Secretariat undertook this rather technical work, several flaws appeared with respect to some of the new indicators included in the IDI, which prevented the index from reflecting the true ICT development in countries. 

For these reasons, the Secretary General of the ITU decided to postpone the publication of the IDI until 2019, which was communicated in Circular SG/BDT/010 of 5 December 2018, and presented by the ITU Secretariat during the 16th World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS), which took place from 10 to 12 December 2018. 

In 2019, after completing the data collection for the IDI and verifying the data received from countries, it was found that, despite two rounds of capacity building workshops in all regions, the data situation had not improved sufficiently to warrant the calculation of the IDI for 2019 based on the revised set of indicators. The flaws related to the selection of indicators also persisted. For these reasons, the ITU Secretariat was not in a position to publish the IDI using the revised set of indicators. This was communicated in Circular/BDT/DKH/IDA/026 of 3 October 2019, which also detailed the reasons why the revised IDI could not be calculated. 

As a temporary measure for 2019, the ITU proposed to resume the publication of the IDI based on the original methodology and set of 11 indicators. During the meetings of the EGTI and EGH, held from 17 to 20 September 2019, several countries expressed concerns about publishing the IDI 2019 using the original methodology, while other countries supported this proposal. The BDT Director therefore decided to consult with all Member States on this matter. The consultation was also announced in Circular/BDT/DKH/IDA/026 of 3 October 2019. 

Out of the 193 ITU Members, a response was received from 76 administrations: 49 were in favour of using the methodology used until 2017, 17 were against, and 10 had no preference. This meant there was no clear consensus, and the decision was taken that the IDI would not be published again in 2019. This was announced in Circular/BDT/DKH/IDA/027 of 16 October 2019. The Circular Letter also announced that going forward, BDT, in collaboration with the membership and internationally recognized experts, would continue to work on a more transparent, robust, and reliable methodology with a view to publishing an index in 2020, taking into consideration Plenipotentiary Conference (PP) Resolution 131 (rev. Dubai 2018) and World Telecommunication Development  Conference (WTDC) Resolution 8 (Rev. Buenos Aires 2017). 

Accordingly, the Secretariat worked on a proposal for a new index that would link digital technologies to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). On 10 February 2020, it convened an Expert Group Meeting on the ITU Index to present the proposal to ITU Member States. A Background Document was circulated ahead of the meeting. As highlighted in the Summary Report, participants at the meeting widely welcomed the proposal of the ITU Secretariat to develop and publish a new ITU index that is based on the SDG framework.  

In preparation of the Telecommunication Development Advisory Group (TDAG), a virtual TDAG Web Dialogue on the new ITU index was organised on 25 March 2020, which presented progress in the development of the SDG index and engage in a discussion with Member States. Participants agreed that the index represented a positive step towards creating a new index and acknowledged the progress made. Several points were raised concerning the scope of the index the methodology, the data, and the governance process, as summarized in the Report of the Web Dialogue event. 

On 17 April 2020, a fully virtual Second Expert Group Meeting on an ITU index was organised, with as objective to continue the discussion on the SDG index. Although the overall approach received broad support, many delegates raised questions and concerns about indicator selection, data sources, the process of developing the index, as well as the status of the IDI, as highlighted in the Summary Report. 

The meetings revealed the diversity of views, positions and expectations of Member States regarding the process that should guide the development of a new index. PP Resolution 131 (rev. Dubai, 2018) does not provide for a mechanism to address this lack of consensus. Therefore, as suggested by some Member States during the second Expert Group Meeting and in accordance with PP Resolution 131, the BDT Director decided to seek guidance from Council on the way forward, which was communicated in Circular/BDT/DKH/IDA/043 of 28 May 2020. 

Because the 2020 physical session of the Council was postponed until a later date, ITU held a virtual consultation of councillors in June 2020 where the ITU index was discussed. The Secretariat submitted Document C20/62 that provided an overview of the recent developments. The document was complemented by information document 17 that provided background information and facts about the ICT Development Index, in particular the reasons why the revised IDI based on the revised set of 14 indicators could not be computed. 

As reported in the Summary record of the fourth and last meeting of the Virtual consultation for councillors, the Chairman took it that the virtual consultation  wished to propose to the next physical meeting of the Council that it consider the issues raised in those documents and advise on the way forward on the development of an ITU index. In the meantime, it encouraged the Secretariat to continue to work with the expert group on the development of an index based on a robust, sound and scientifically proven methodology, and with a view to publishing an accurate index as soon as possible taking into account PP Resolution 131 (Rev. Dubai, 2018). ​