The United Nations organizes a regional training course which opens today in Incheon, Republic of Korea, bringing together national statisticians to discuss the production and dissemination of ICT statistics. This is the first time this course is being held in the Asia-Pacific region for Asia-Pacific participants. Twenty-four participants from sixteen countries of the Asia-Pacific region are participating in the week-long training.
Press Release No. G/04/2008
Bangkok (United Nations Information Services), 18 February 2008 – The demand for reliable and comparable statistics on information and communications technology (ICT) and their impact on development has increased exponentially in recent years as a result of the rapid advances in ICT. This poses a major challenge to national statistical organizations in many developing countries.
In response, the United Nations has organized a regional training course which opens today in Incheon, Republic of Korea, bringing together national statisticians to discuss the production and dissemination of ICT statistics.
More than twenty participants from sixteen countries of the Asia and Pacific region will are participating in the week-long training.
The programme is a joint collaboration between the United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT), the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) – both subsidiary bodies of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) – and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The course material, which has been developed by UNCTAD, is based on the Manual for the Production of Statistics on the Information Economy. It is delivered for the first time in the Asia and Pacific Region.
The training course contributes to international efforts to harmonize ICT indicators and produce comparable ICT statistics. Both ESCAP and UNCTAD are members of the global Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development. The training also seeks to contribute to the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit on the Information Society which called for periodic evaluation based on appropriate indicators and benchmarking, and using an agreed methodology.
Related links
UNCTAD's Manual for the Production of Statistics on the Information Economy
United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
