The Global Information Society:
                        a Statistical View
                                       PARTNERSHIP ON
                                          MEASURING ICT
                                    FOR DEVELOPMENT
                                                                                                              ECONOMIC          United Nations
                                                                       ESCWA            UNCTAD               COMMISSION
                                                                                                              FOR AFRICA          ESCAP
          The Global Information Society: a Statistical View was prepared by a consultant, Ms Sheridan Roberts, with substantive 
          input from members of the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development. Their contributions are described below.
          Esperanza Magpantay and Vanessa Gray of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) provided general comments 
          as well as data and other information on ICT infrastructure and access, and on use of ICT by households and individuals 
          (Chapters 2 and 3).
          Susan Teltscher, Scarlett Fondeur Gil and Diana Korka of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 
          (UNCTAD) provided comments on the publication, as well as data and other information on business use of ICT, the ICT 
          sector, ICT trade and ICT impacts (chapters 4, 5 and 7).
          Martin Schaaper from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) provided valuable comments on 
          the draft. He also provided information on trade in ICT goods statistics (Chapter 5) and extracted data from the United Nations 
          Industrial Development Organization’s INDSTAT4 database on ICT manufacturing statistics (Chapter 5).
          Claude Akpabie, Georges Boade and Simon Ellis of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s 
          Institute for Statistics (UIS) provided the information used in Chapter 6 and for the section on the impact of ICT in educa-
          tion in Chapter 7.
          The UN regional commissions provided information on their activities in measuring the information society. Thanks are 
          due to Doris Olaya of UNECLAC, Jean-Michel Sadoul from UNESCAP, Mansour Farah from UNESCWA and Makane 
          Faye of UNECA.
          The OECD (Martin Schaaper and Brigitte van Beuzekom) and Eurostat (Albrecht Wirthmann) provided valuable informa-
          tion from their statistical repositories and on the ICT statistics work of their member countries.
          Publications and other output of the Partnership and its members were used extensively and are shown in the Bibliography.
          The publication was funded by the International Development Research Centre of Canada (IDRC) and the European Commission, 
          through the @LIS project. Its production was coordinated by Martin Hilbert of the United Nations Regional Commission for Latin 
          America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC).
          UNECLAC also formatted and printed the publication.
          The views expressed in this document, which has been produced without formal editing or revision, are those of the author and do 
          not necessarily reflect the official opinion of ECLAC, IDRC, the European Commission or the contributors listed above.
          The electronic version of this document can be found at: http://www.eclac.org/SocInfo.
          United Nations Publication
          LC/W.190
          Copyright © United Nations, April 2008. All rights reserved
          Printed in Santiago, Chile – United Nations
          Applications for the right to reproduce this work are welcomed and should be sent to the Secretary of the Publications 
          Board, United Nations Headquarters, New York, N.Y. 10017, U.S.A. Member States and their governmental institutions 
          may reproduce this work without prior authorization, but are requested to mention the source and inform the United Nations 
          of such reproduction.
                                                      Contents
                                                Preface	 	                           	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	               5
                                                Chapter	1 .	Introduction	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                              7
                                                	           1 .	       Objectives	of	The	Global	Information	Society:	a	Statistical	View	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                                                                          7
                                                	           2 .	       Statistical	standards	for	measuring	the	information	society	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                                                                8
                                                	           3 .	       The	Partnership	on	Measuring	ICT	for	Development	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                                                            9
                                                	           	          3 .1	         History	and	major	achievements	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                               9
                                                	           	          3 .2	         Objectives	of	the	Partnership	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                    11
                                                	           	          3 .3	         Structure	of	the	Partnership	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                  12
                                                	           	          3 .4	         Global	stocktaking	exercise	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                   12
                                                	           	          3 .5	         Core	list	of	ICT	indicators	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                12
                                                	           	          3 .6	         Capacity-building	and	training	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                         14
                                                	           4 .	       Regional	measurement	initiatives	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                            17
                                                	           	          4 .1	         Africa	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                     17
                                                	           	          4 .2	         Asia-Pacific	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                              17
                                                	           	          4 .3	         Latin	America	and	the	Caribbean	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                              18
                                                	           	          4 .4	         Western	Asia	and	the	Arab	region	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                             18
                                                Chapter	2 .	ICT	infrastructure	and	access	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                                    21
                                                	           1 .	       Introduction	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                             21
                                                	           2 .	       Measurement	status	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                         23
                                                	           3 .	       Statistical	summary	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                        24
                                                	           	          3 .1	         Infrastructure	and	access	statistics	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                         24
                                                	           	          3 .2	         Regional	analysis	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                     28
                                                Chapter	3 .	Access	to,	and	use	of,	ICT	by	households		and	individuals 	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                                                                            31
                                                	           1 .	       Introduction	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                             31
                                                	           2 .	       Measurement	status	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                         33
                                                	           3 .	       Statistical	summary	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                        35
                                                	           	          3 .1	         Household	access	to	ICT		 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                   35
                                                	           	          3 .2	         Individual	use	of	ICT	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                          41
                                                	           	          3 .3	         Regional	analysis	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                     47
                                                Chapter	4 .	Use	of	ICT	by	businesses	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                                51
                                                	           1 .	       Introduction	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                             51
                                                	           2 .	       Measurement	status	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                         53
                                                	           3 .	       Statistical	summary	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                        55
                                                	           	          3 .1	         Business	ICT	use	statistics	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                55
                                                	           	          3 .2	         Regional	analysis	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                     61
                                            Chapter	5 .	The	ICT-producing	sector	and	international	trade	in	ICT	goods	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                                                             65
                                            	          1 .	      Introduction	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	          65
                                            	          2 .	      Measurement	status	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                      68
                                            	          	         2 .1	        The	ICT	sector	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                68
                                            	          	         2 .2	        Trade	in	ICT	goods	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                        70
                                            	          3 .	      Statistical	summary	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                     71
                                            	          	         3 .1	        The	ICT	sector	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                71
                                            	          	         3 .2	        Trade	in	ICT	goods	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                        73
                                            	          	         3 .3	        Regional	analysis	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                   75
                                            Chapter	6 .	ICT	in	education	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                              79
                                            	          1 .	      Introduction	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	          79
                                            	          2 .	      Measurement	status	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                      82
                                            	          3 .	      Statistical	summary	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                     84
                                            	          4 .	      Regional	activities	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                  87
                                            Chapter	7 .	Measuring	the	impact	of	ICT	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                 89
                                            	          1 .	      Introduction	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	          89
                                            	          2 .	      Statistical	work	on	measuring	the	impact	of	ICT	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                              90
                                            	          3 .	      The	impact	of	ICT	in	education 	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                       93
                                            Chapter	8 .	Conclusions	and	future	work	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                              95
                                            	          1 .	      Conclusions	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	           95
                                            	          	         1 .1	        The	state	of	the	information	society	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                             95
                                            	          	         1 .2	        Data	gaps	and	deficiencies	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                               96
                                            	          	         1 .3	        Recommendations	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                        97
                                            	          2 .	      Future	work	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	           99
                                            	          	         2 .1	        Creation	of	an	ICT	indicators	database	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                 99
                                            	          	         2 .2	        Development	of	e-government	indicators	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                       99
                                            	          	         2 .3	        Regional	plans	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	              100
                                            Bibliography	 	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	            103
                                            Annexes
                                            Annex	1 .	Availability	of	core	ICT	indicators	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                  109
                                            Annex	2 .	Core	indicators	on	ICT	infrastructure	and	access	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                                      135
                                            Annex	3 .	Core	indicators	on	access	to,	and	use	of,	ICT	by	households	and	individuals	 .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                                                                             139
                                            Annex	4 .	Core	indicators	on	the	use	of	ICT	by	businesses	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                                    145
                                            Annex	5 .	Core	indicators	for	the	ICT	sector	and	trade	in	ICT	goods	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                                                  151
                                            Annex	6 .	OECD	list	of	ICT	goods	(2003)	 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 	                                                  153