9th Meeting of the ITU Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI) & 6th Meeting of the Expert Group on ICT Household Indicators (EGH)
16-19 October 2018, Geneva, Switzerland
Welcome Remarks by
Brahima Sanou
Director, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning.
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the 9th Meeting of the ITU Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI) and the 6th Meeting of the Expert Group on ICT Household Indicators (EGH).
Ladies and gentlemen,
ICTs are an essential enabler for development. They are crucial to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. We are now in an era of digital transformation that is fundamentally changing our economies and societies and improving service delivery in many sectors of life.
This year's meetings come only two weeks before the Plenipotentiary Conference, ITU's highest policy-making body, which will take place in Dubai. Among the topics to be discussed will be the importance of ICT indicators in the work of ITU. The work of the two expert groups has a huge impact on the statistical work of the ITU and that of countries, in identifying and defining indicators that are important for policymaking and international benchmarking.
In 2016, we established a process for reviewing the indicators used in calculating the ICT Development Index (IDI). The IDI is a benchmarking tool that aims to help member states evaluate their achievements while at the same time learning from one another, sharing and adopting best practices to boost the development of the ICT sector. The extraordinary meeting of the Expert Groups in March 2017 reviewed the indicators in light of developments in the sector. The meeting adopted 14 indicators, instead of the 11 currently used. The 2018 IDI will thus be calculated on the basis of these 14 indicators.
To help us implement the changes that will be required after this revision we hired a consultant, who prepared the imputation method for missing data and the methodology to calculate the new IDI. The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission then performed a statistical audit of the results. All of this will be presented during the joint EGTI-EGH session tomorrow.
At these meetings we will also be discussing topics related to indicators for wireless spectrum allocation, quality of service (QoS), 5G, IoT availability and indicators on convergence (e.g. fixed-mobile bundles), measurement of ICT skills, e-waste and cybersecurity. This innovative approach makes us more relevant to our membership.
In order to undertake the demanding statistical work that lies ahead, the most valuable asset we have is the diversity, expertise and commitment of the EGTI and EGH membership. I am pleased to inform you that membership of EGTI has grown from 800 to 975 members, while the EGH has grown from 500 to 650 members. This rapid growth is enough evidence that the work being done by the two experts groups is highly regarded.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The outcome of your the discussions will be presented at the 16th World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS) which will be held here in Geneva, from 10 to 12 December 2018. I invite all of you to join us at WTIS-18 and contribute to the discussions on how to use data for assessing the economic and social impacts of ICT and better understanding the digital economy. Your active participation is essential to provide strategic guidance on future work priorities related to information society measurements.
Finally, let me thank the EGTI Chair, João Noronha, and the EGH Chair, Candido Astrologo, for their outstanding work. Let me also acknowledge the contribution of the EGH Vice-Chair, Linah Ngumba, and the EGTI Vice-Chairs, Mansour AlShehry and Bernard Banda, whose support has been important for the functioning of the expert groups.
Without further ado, let me wish you a productive meeting.
