The Interdependence of Information Society Measurements and Policies

1
The Interdependence of Information
SocietyMeasurements and Policies

• Presented at the 2008 Global Event on
• Measuring the Information Society
• George Sciadas
• Statistics Canada
• Geneva, May 27, 2008

2

• Are Information Society measurements becoming of
  age?
• Overview of national and international
  experiences
• Official and other measurements
• Survey measurements and statistical aggregations
• A brief look through a cross-section of
  experiences
• - in different areas
• - over time
• - across countries

3
Percent of U.S. Computer Households with a Modem
Source Falling Through the Net, 1995
4
In 1997, a range a policies followed -
e-rate (for schools and libraries) - Lifeline
and Link Up (support for low income) - Rural
Health Care (affordable access) - High Cost
(rural rates reasonably comparable to those in
urban areas).
5
Business Use of ICTs, Canada
Source Survey of Electronic Commerce and
Technology, 1999

• In 2000, the provincial government of Quebec
  instituted policies for transactional and secure
  Web sites.- Several national policies followed
  (promotion, privacy etc.).

6

• Many other cases of parallel developments
• between ICT measurements and policies
• - Early quantification of the ICT sector and the
  Nordic Council of Ministers (Scandinavia)
• Detailed S. Korean household measurements
• and broadband policies
• Measurements of people, businesses and farms in
  Australia, government re-organisation and
  policies
• ICTs in schools and Chiles ICTs in education
  policies

7
Following eEurope 2005, the European Commission
launched i2010. Three policy priorities
i) create open and competitive single market for
information society and media services, and
support technological convergence with policy
convergence
ii) increase EU investment in research on ICT by
80. Europe lags behind, investing only 80 per
head as compared to 350 in Japan and 400 in the
US
iii) promote an inclusive European information
society and close the digital divide
8
The Information Society Benchmarking Report
2005 - provides the first overview of results
since i2010 was adopted - checks on progress
since the launch of eEurope 2005 - analyzes the
situation in Member States that joined in 2004.
Source Eurostat- Community Survey on ICT Usage
in Enterprises
9
Source Eurostat - Community Survey on ICT Usage
in Enterprises
10
Main trends identified in The Information
Society Benchmarking Report 2005 Broadband
roll-out is a success story. From limited
availability in 2002 access is now available
nearly to all citizensthere are exceptions in
new members and sparsely populated regions.
Little evidence of the roll-out of new networks
from the 2004 surveys, the PC remained the
dominant access device. Disparities across
Member States had not reduced between the start
of eEurope and 2004. Connectivity of
enterprises is high throughout EU25 and there has
been some catch-up by SMEsbut business use of
ICT by business has grown slowly and Europe lags
behind in advanced e-business applications.
Availability of online public services has
continued to grow All Member States are
confronted with the challenge of extending the
information society to people with little or no
formal education, unemployed, and older people.
11
Infostates and the Digital Divide
Source From the Digital Divide to Digital
Opportunities, Orbicom-ITU,
2005
12

• Monitoring the Digital Divide
  internationally-numerous national policies to
  address the digital divide have been instituted
  in Asia, Africa and LAC-also donor initiatives
  for community access
• (e.g. telecentres in Brazil and Bangladesh,
  Global Libraries - Biblioredes in Chile etc.)
• ITU data used extensively (even when other data
  would be appropriate - but do not yet exist)

Quantifying the Digital Divide was not meant to
prove its existence - that was known (for
something to be measurable, it must be
there) its magnitude and evolution are
important to customize policies and then monitor
progress
13
Measuring telephone use among the poor
(bottom of the pyramid)
Source LIRNEasia.net, 2006
- high use, low ownership - Prevented
contemplated policy on luxury tax in Sri Lanka
14
Linkages between measurements and policies
are complex rather than linear Measurements
can- provide support and underpinning to
policies- lead to policies- monitor and
evaluate effectiveness of policies- prevent
policies from happening
15
The need for statistical measurements -
reliable and timely euro area economic, monetary
and financial statistics are of paramount
importance for the ECBs decision-making...
European policy-makers need to have at their
disposal a wide array of timely, high-quality
statistics on which to base their decisions. -
communication with the general public and
financial markets is crucial for any central
bank because it helps to enhance the
effectiveness of monetary policy. Euro area
statistics play an important role in the ECBs
communication Source Jean-Claude Trichet,
President of the ECB, April 2008
Monetary policy has a long historyThe area of
Information Society is much newer and definitely
needs statistics to shed light on brand new,
cross-cutting and evolving phenomena. Moreover,
ready linkages exist for synthesis between ICTs
and broader ST and innovation policies
16
Thank You George.Sciadas_at_statcan.ca