This is the second edition of the Manual for the Production of Statistics on the Information Economy.
The Manual is a tool for staff of national statistical organizations responsible for measuring the information economy. It is intended to guide statisticians from developing countries in all steps involved in the production and dissemination of business ICT statistics.
Producing statistics on the information society is an important component of the work of national statistical organizations.
- Demand for ICT statistics has increased as more countries seek to design, monitor and review national policies and strategies to take advantage of the rapid advances in information technology.
- Business communities require information about access to, and use of, ICTs by various consumer groups, as well as information about the impact of ICTs.
This is a particular challenge for the developing countries, many of which are just starting their statistical work on measuring the information society.
At the international level, comparable ICT indicators are critical to cross-country comparisons of ICT development, to monitoring the global digital divide and to establishing policy-relevant benchmarks.
UNCTAD is a founding member of the global Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, which promotes the measurement of the information society at the international level.
One of the key achievements of the Partnership is the development of a core list of ICT indicators for the production of internationally comparable statistics, which was endorsed by the United Nations Statistical Commission at its 38th session in March 2007.
The UN Statistical Commission encouraged countries to use that list in their data collection programmes and a first version of the Manual was published at the end of 2007.
To reflect the evolving nature of many ICTs, the core list of ICT indicators was revised in late 2008. UNCTAD and the UN Statistics Division (UNSD) collaborated to subject the Manual to an extensive consultation process. The process was supported by members of the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development and an expert group meeting was held in Geneva in May 2008.
This second edition of the Manual is a valuable tool in our common efforts towards enhancing the availability of internationally comparable indicators of the information economy.
