Bangkok--18 Feb--UN
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 (http://measuring-ict.unctad.org). 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 ( http://new.unctad.org/default600.aspx ). 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.
UN-APCICT
The Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology (APCICT) is a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), established with a membership identical to that of ESCAP and is located in Incheon, Republic of Korea.
APCICT aims to strengthen the efforts of the member countries of ESCAP to use ICT in their socio-economic development through building human and institutional capacity for ICT.
UNCTAD
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) promotes the development-friendly integration of developing countries into the world economy. UNCTAD has progressively evolved into an authoritative knowledge-based institution whose work aims to help shape current policy debates and thinking on development, with a particular focus on ensuring that domestic policies and international action are mutually supportive in bringing about sustainable development.
UNSIAP
The Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) is a statistical training centre for developing countries in Asia and the Pacific region.
The Institute aims to strengthen the capability of developing countries in the region to collect, analyze and disseminate statistics as well as produce timely and high-quality statistics that can be utilized for economic and social development planning, and to assist those developing countries in establishing or strengthening their statistical training capability.
For a full list of APCICT activities, please refer to: http://www.unapcict.org
For further information, please contact:
UN-APCICT, Ms. Hyeun-Suk Rhee, Director
Incheon, Republic of Korea
Tel: +(82) 032 245 1700
Email: [email protected]
ESCAP, Mr. Ari Gaitanis, UN Information Services Bangkok,
Tel: +(66-2) 288 1862 Fax: +(66-2) 288 1502
Email: [email protected]
UNCTAD, Ms. Susan Teltscher, Chief, ICT Policy and Analysis Unit
Science, Technology and ICT Branch
Tel. +(41) 22 917 5591
Email: [email protected]
UNSIAP
3-2-2 Wakaba, Mihama-Ku, Chiba, Japan
Tel: (81-43)299- 9782
Fax: (81-43)299-9780/299-2521
E-mail: [email protected]