Development Assistance and the Way Forward: A World Bank Perspective

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Development Assistance and the Way ForwardA
World Bank Perspective

• WSIS Parallel Event Financing and Measuring the
  Information Society
• Tunis, November 15
• Pierre Guislain
• Global ICT Department
• World Bank Group

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Outline of presentation

• The need for good ICT statistics
• World Bank assistance programs for statistical
  capacity building
• Trust Funds/STATCAP/International Household
  Survey Network
• World Bank Lending projects with ICT ME
  component
• International databases
• The way forward

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The need for good ICT Statistics
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Who need good statistics?

• Good quality national ICT statistics are needed
  to manage for results
• Developing countries ? manage their ICT
  development strategies and report progress to
  their citizens
• Development partners ? increase the effectiveness
  of their ICT aid programs
• Researchersanalysis for impartial intellectual
  input to policy making
• Civil society ? increase accountability of public
  agencies
• The private sector ? plan ICT investments and
  make markets work

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Why need good statistics?

• Poor quality data offers an incomplete picture of
  ICT development goals that could be misleading
  for policymakers and development experts
• Good quality data is good guidance and can be
  linked to action-oriented indicators that can be
  pursued in future ICT projects
• Many internationally agreed ICT indicators are
  still very broad as statistical capacity
  improves, indicators should become more defined
  and specific, easier to measure, and easier to
  apply in policy making

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Africa has Highest Connectivity Costs in the World
Cost of Leasing an E1 Half Circuit (2MB) (US)
Price of 20 hours of Dial-up Internet (US)
Source World Bank analysis based on TRAI and
Telegeography research, September 2005
Source World Development Indicators, 2003
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Overall statistics capacity is still low in
developing countries.
Snapshot of statistical capacity measures
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But, sustainable statistical capacity is possible
in low income countries
WB stat cap index
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Existing World Bank Assistance Programs
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Trust Funds

• WB supports preparation of National Strategies
  for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) through
  Paris21 and the Trust Fund for Statistical
  Capacity Building (TFSCB).
• In countries where improvements in ICT measures
  are a priority, the NSDS should reflect that.

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promoting strategic planning andincrease
financing

• Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building
  (TFSCB)mainly to fund NSDS which sets priorities
  in the national statistical system. Agencies that
  measure ICTs need to participate in the countrys
  process of setting statistical priorities
• STATCAPA new lending program to support more
  efficient and effective statistical systems in
  developing countriescan be used for overall
  statistical improvement or for the ICT statistics
  if a countrys national statistical system deems
  it a priority area

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WB ICT Lending Projects strengthening ICT
statistical capabilities (1/3)

• Tunisia ICT Development Project (2004)
• Overall Project Objective
• Support ICT institutional and sector reforms
• Develop e-Government applications and improving
  e-security
• Promote the development of the private sector
• ME Approach
• Ministry of Communication Technologies and
  Transport established a ME department whose
  functions extend beyond this WB project
• Strengthened the capacity of the Statistical and
  Economic Unit including the ability to identify
  key indicators for the ICT sector
• Key Indicators (examples)
• Number of new licenses in the VSAT and data
  transmission segments
• Increased requests by private sector and citizens
  submitted through the new e-government services

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WB ICT Lending Projects strengthening ICT
statistical capabilities (2/3)

• Vietnam E-Government Project (2005)
• Overall Project Objectives
• Strengthen ICT technical and regulatory capacity
• Enhance ICT awareness and usage in the private
  sector
• Build sustainable and replicable models for
  online public service delivery and communications
  through e-applications
• ME Approach
• Modernization of the General Statistical Office
  (GSO) for general statistical capacity building
• A major component devoted to a comprehensive ME
  system of the National ICT Strategy
• Key Indicators (examples)
• GSO linked to provincial offices for data
  collection, flow and dissemination
• Launch of e-services and lowered administrative
  transaction costs
• Evidence of user satisfaction and visits to local
  government websites

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WB ICT Lending Projects strengthening ICT
statistical capabilities (3/3)

• e-Ghana Project (2006)
• Overall Project Objective
• Generate increased employment in IT-Enabled
  Services (BPO) sector
• Enhance efficiency, transparency and
  accountability in government
• Improve access to e-capabilities for citizens and
  businesses
• ME Approach
• Participatory and results based
• Integrated multi-donor ME approach using
  compatible methodologies
• Key Indicators (examples)
• Annual increase in employment generated in the
  ICT sector
• Time and cost savings by citizens accessing
  e-government applications online
• Percent of rural population in targeted
  districts have access to and uses e-services

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International DatabasesWorld Bank Country-level
ICT Database

• Over 500 indicators from sources including the
  ITU, UN, UPU, WEF and the World Bank
• Many are time-series data starting from around
  1975
• Over 40 ICT sector structure indicators including
  level of competition in mobile and Internet
  service provider
• Data are displayed in ICT at-a-glance country
  tables available on the World Bank website
• Database currently has limited ICT survey data
  that would give more insight to ICT usage and
  impacts

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International DatabasesHousehold Survey Network

• Coordination of survey planningweb-based
  information system on planned surveys
• Harmonization of concepts and methodsharmonize
  or develop new questionnaire modules
• Central survey catalogueWB to host maintain
• Searchable to find surveys with ICT questions
• Survey Data Dissemination Toolkit
  HandbookParis21s How to notes OECD
  Handbook on metadata reporting
• Website at www.surveynetwork.org

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The way forward
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World Bank stands ready to increase support

• World Bank recognizes the relevance and
  importance of ICT statistics in its results
  measurement agenda
• Support through grants (TFs), investment projects
  and advisory services
• Instruments can be used together to support
  public-private partnerships

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to improve ICT data and capacity

• Actions
• 1. Continue to raise awareness among policy
  makers on the importance of statistical
  indicators for monitoring ICT policies and
  carrying out impact analysis.  
• 2. Conduct technical workshops at the regional
  level to exchange national experiences and
  discuss methodologies, definitions, survey
  vehicles and data collection efforts in the area
  of ICT. 
• 3. Assist statistical agencies in developing
  countries in their ICT data collection, analysis
  and dissemination efforts, including the
  development of national databases to store and
  analyze survey results.
• 4. In collaboration with partners, continue
  development of a global database of ICT
  indicators and make it available on the World
  Wide Web.

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Development Assistance and the Way ForwardA
World Bank Perspective

• Thank you.
• Pierre Guislain
• Global ICT Department
• World Bank Group