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MEETINGS
Capacity-Building Workshop on Information Society Measurements: Household and Business Surveys, Cairo, 20-21 June 2007
Background
Within the implementation framework of the recommendations of the
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the Arab Group
adopted a "Regional Initiative for Capacity building on Measuring
ICT Indicators". It was one of the initiatives adopted in the Arab
declaration "Towards the Activation of the Geneva Plan of Action,
2005", and one of the major initiatives in the regional plan of
action for building the Information Society launched by ESCWA in
2004. In addition, this initiative is one of five Arab initiatives
led by and supported by the International Telecommunication Union
and sponsored by Egypt. The support of Arab institutions, regional
and international organizations depicted the important role that the
Information and Communication Technology indicators can play in
building the information society, as well as highlighted the need
for capacity building in the Arab region , in particular with
respect to defining, developing and measuring ICT indicators.
In addition, within the framework of the "Partnership on measuring
ICT for development", ESCWA and the Arab Regional Office of ITU in
collaboration with national and regional partners carried out two
capacity-building workshops for ESCWA and the Arab states. The first
was held in Beirut, Lebanon from 7 to 10 June 2005. The second was
held in Amman, Jordan from 10 to 12 December 2006. They focused on
capacity building planning, insofar as determining the critical
elements for capacity building and recommended actions for
stakeholders in order to promote the adoption and collection of core
ICT indicators. Particular interest was directed towards developing
a list of core ICT indicators, including usage and impact
indicators, for the Arab Region, and building the capacity of
national statistical offices (NSOs) and ICT ministries and agencies
to facilitate the collection of data for those indicators.
The 38th session of the United Nations Statistical Commission, held
in New York from 27 February to 2 March 2007, endorsed the Core list
of ICT indicators proposed by the Partnership on Measuring ICT for
Development, in order to encourage countries to use the core list in
their data collection programmes. It also encouraged the Partnership
to continue its work on improving and updating the list of
indicators for measuring use of ICT in education, in government, the
contribution of ICT in economic growth and social development, as
well as assist countries in their capacity building effort for the
collection of data for the ICT indicators.
The team responsible for molding the Arab strategy on ICT in the
League of Arab States has recently updated the "Arab Strategy on ICT
- building the Information Society 2007-2012". It is currently
developing the operational plan of action which includes targets and
indicators of measurement for the strategys assessment.
Objective
This workshop will focus on the technical and methodological aspects
of capacity building on measuring the information society, as well
as the use of surveys for the collection and presentation of data
for core indicators on access by, and use of, ICT by households, and
use of ICT in businesses. The workshop will include presentations
that will examine the actual surveys and databases used to measure
the information society.
Moreover, this workshop will explore the Arab Strategy for ICT,
outline its objectives and its indicators of measurement. It will
also include a presentation on the regional initiative for ICT
indicators in order to highlight the progress made towards its
implementation.
Topics
The main topics to be covered in the present workshop are as
follows:
Household/individual and business data sources
ICT topics in housing censuses and economic surveys
Sampling and sample frames
ICT infrastructure surveys
ICT household and individual surveys
ICT business surveys
Regional initiative on capacity-building on measuring ICT
indicators
Arab Strategy on ICT: Objectives, work areas and measurement
indicators
Country experiences and best practices
Organization
The workshop will be held under the patronage of the Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology in Egypt, the Information
Technology Industry Development Agency and the League for Arab
States. The workshop is organized by the United Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA), United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Arab Regional Office
of the International Telecommunication Union, and the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The workshop is
hosted by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
of Egypt, and will be held in Cairo, from 20 to 21 June 2007.
Participants
The workshop targets statisticians and ICT experts concerned with
the various dimensions of the collection of ICT data for households
and businesses at the national, regional, and international levels.
Fellowships
A limited number of fellowships are available to participants from
qualified countries through ITU and UNCTAD. Please contact the focal
points below for further information and application.
Language
The workshop will be carried out in English and Arabic. Simultaneous
translation from English to Arabic and vice-versa will be provided.
Additional Information
Any inquiries and requests for additional information regarding
participation and substantive matters should be addressed to:
Ms. Nagwa
El-Shenawy
Director Strategic Planning Department
Information Technology Industry Development Agency
Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
Phone: +20-2-534-5121
Fax: +20-2-534-5102
Email: nagwash@mcit.gov.eg
Mr. Khalil
Aburizik
ITU Regional Officer
ITU Arab Regional Office
International Telecommunication Union
Phone: 20-2-262-6620
Fax: 20-2-2-622247
Email:
khalil.aburizik@itu.int
Mr. Mansour
Farah
ICT Policies Team Leader
ICT Division
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
Phone: +961-1-978538
Fax: +961-1-981510
Email: farah14@un.org
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