The Expert Meeting provided a forum for exploring the impact of ICTs on economic performance in developing countries. Organized jointly by UNCTAD, OECD and ILO, the meeting supported the implementation and follow-up of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Participants also reflected on how to use ICTs to achieve poverty reduction and decent-employment creation.

ICT experts came from ministries and agencies involved in technology and trade, as well as from academia, industry, regional and international organizations and civil society, and it examined the latest empirical evidence on the benefits of ICTs for development.

A central message was that promoting ICT investment, production and diffusion only pays off when ICTs are used in truly innovative ways and in an effective manner. Examples from developing countries showed that new technologies have a larger impact on productivity and growth when ICT policies address the large majority of the population and try to overcome existing socio-economic divides.

Experts reaffirmed that good data quality and coverage are essential to setting, implementing and evaluating national ICT policies. In this context, the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development provides a solution as to how developing countries can improve the quality and comparability of their data.