Mr Bernard Banda, chair of EGTI, and Ms Linah Ngumba, chair of EGH.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning!
It is my great pleasure to welcome all the participants here present and those online. This is the 14th Meeting of the Expert Group on Telecom/ICT Indicators and the 11th Meeting of the Expert Group on ICT Household Indicators.
This year's meeting include a two-day session on the ICT Development Index - IDI - in response to the Membership's request at the ITU Council meeting in July following our presentation on the progress of developing a new index as per the PP Resolution 131.
The Council requested that an additional meeting be organized ahead of the final consultation of Member States.
This is the basis of this IDI session which offers a final opportunity to elaborate on the methodology and finalise it. You may recall that for the past six years, ITU has not released an IDI.
For some background, on August 4, we shared 'Version 3' of the IDI methodology with all of you. Version 3 is our reference document and the baseline for discussions for the next two days.
This is against the backdrop of trade-offs between measurement depth and geographical breadth, viewpoints from different actors , and the multiple constraints of time, data availability and resources.
We are focused to have a fully inclusive process, with eyes on the objective to create a conceptually relevant and statistically robust tool that can help enrich digital policies.
Following this meeting, the final IDI methodology will be submitted for approval to the Member States in October, and in line with Resolution 131, it will be adopted if 70 per cent of responding Member States approve it.
During this consultation, Member States can opt out from the 2023 edition if the methodology is approved.
Ladies and gentlemen
Now, to look at the big picture of what our collective work on ICT statistics means.
The new paradigm is now around universal and meaningful connectivity. As experts I have no doubt you have interest to see us go beyond mere connectivity. It is of greater interest to seek the possibility for everyone to enjoy a safe, satisfying, enriching and productive online experience at an affordable cost. This is the centre of universal and meaningful connectivity.
This approach provides the foundation for inclusive, sustainable global digital transformation. It is an imperative for global policy agenda, to help generate the impact from connectivity and the possibilities that it presents to the users.
You will be glad to know that we are making progress with the marginal increase of those online.
Our very recent updates of the estimates now suggest 5.4 billion people or 67% percent of the world population is online, but with 2.6 billion people still offline.
The fully updated indicators, Facts and Figures 2023 will be published in November 2023.
We still have much to do to bring more people online, and with your help, we will track every step of our journey, as we strive to ensure no one is excluded from the digital world.
The work of EGTI/EGH is essential for improving the measurement of universal and meaningful connectivity. We not only need more and better data for the existing indicators, but also whole new indicators to measure aspects of UMC that are not adequately captured yet.
I know you have a very busy agenda ahead, but we are confident in the navigation of the leadership to meet the objectives of the meetings.
Please join me in thanking our distinguished chairs: Bernard Banda, the chair of EGTI, and Linah Ngumba, the chair of EGH.
With that let me wish you very productive meeting!
