Working Group on Measuring E-commerce and the Digital Economy, First Meeting

The Working Group aims to advance cooperation on measuring e-commerce and the digital economy and enhance the availability, quality, comparability, usability and relevance of statistics concerning e-commerce and the digital economy, with a view to supporting evidence-based policymaking, especially in developing countries.

In June 2018, following a recommendation from the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on E-Commerce and the Digital Economy, the sixty-fifth session of the Trade and Development Board decided to establish the Working Group on Measuring E-commerce and the Digital Economy, in line with the concept note contained in document TD/B/EDE/2/3.

In April 2019, the third session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts adopted the terms of reference for the Working Group, and agreed on the following topics for its first meeting:

• Revision of the UNCTAD Manual for the Production of Statistics on the Information Economy.

• Measuring domestic and cross-border electronic commerce (e-commerce).

The results of the Working Group will be reported to the fourth session of the Intergovernmental group of Experts on E-Commerce and the Digital Economy in April of 2020.

Written contributions

To facilitate deliberations and the exchange of experiences on the topics to be discussed, member States and observers are requested to submit written contributions to the UNCTAD secretariat.

Contributions that share examples of good practices and lessons learned in the production of statistics on e-commerce and the digital economy are welcome, to inform the revision of the Manual. Contributions regarding national experiences in the measurement of domestic and cross-border e-commerce are also highly welcome.

All contributions will be made available for consideration by the Working Group, in their original languages, unless requested otherwise.

The deadline to submit inputs is 1 November 2019.

Participation

This meeting is open to all member States of UNCTAD. Member State representatives wishing to attend are requested to provide their credentials to UNCTAD by 1 November 2019. They should have relevant expertise in producing official ICT statistics (for example from National Statistical Offices or Government Ministries).

Other organizations that could be invited include: (i) international organizations involved in ICT measurement; (ii) expert organizations and research networks in the digital economy; and (iii) specialists from civil society, the private sector and academia, as appropriate. These are requested to inform the UNCTAD secretariat of the names of their representatives by the same date.

Online registration is mandatory. Registration requires uploading an official letter of nomination to represent an organization at this meeting. For government representatives, a note verbale or an email from the permanent mission in Geneva will suffice.