Ict Indicators

Measuring ICT Indicators* Background Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is becoming part and parcel of national Development strategies across the globe. ICTs are Instruments to enhance efficiency, quality and productivity as well as ICT -driven growth process. 1 It is well known that the indicators and statistical data are essential to any planning process as also for monitoring and evaluating policies. In the same way, indicators and statistical data on ICTs are essential to design evidence based and result-oriented policies. To this end figures on ‘access to’, ‘use of’, and ‘impact of ICT on the ICT sector’ are particularly important. 2 In order to be useful, ICT statistics needs to be reliable, comparable, and timely. Based on this data policy makers: • • • •

Can determine the level of ICT readiness; for example by measuring the number and type of people that have access to the Internet, and what they use it for; Can formulate policy objectives based on quantitative indicators that can be monitored; Can assess the impact of ICT policies on ICT readiness, or on social or economic development; Can benchmark the results of their ICT policies against those of other countries, and draw lessons from these comparisons

3 The UNSC in its 38th Session presented a “Report of the Partnership on Measuring Information and Communication Technologies for Development: information and communication technology statistics” wherein it noted that “During the last decades, advancements in the access to and usage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been a driving force for changes in business and in society. While ICT diffusion and usage presents an opportunity to developing countries, the digital divide between developed and developing countries persists, posing a new challenge for development.” 4 It has been recognized by Target 18 (part of Goal 8) of the Millennium Development Goals, which states: “In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications”. 5 In this development context, the first phase of the World Summit of the Information Society (WSIS), held in Geneva in 2003, highlighted the importance of benchmarking and measuring progress towards the informatio n society through internationally comparable *

Paper compiled by P. H. Khopkar, Deputy Director General and S. L. Bodat, Additional Director, Computer Centre; and is meant for discussion with the State Directorates of Economics and Statistics in the COCSSO, 10-11 April 2007, New Delhi

statistical indicators. The second phase, held in Tunis in 2005, recognized that the development of ICT indicators is important for measuring the digital divide, and called upon countries and international organizations to allocate appropriate resources for the provision of ICT statistics, and to develop effective measurement methodologies including basic ICT indicators and an analysis of the state of the information society. 6 In response to the issues raised by the Millennium Development Goals and the first phase of WSIS, a number of key stakeholders involved in the statistical measurement of the information society joined to form the Partnership on Measuring Information and Communication Technologies for Deve lopment. Current partners are i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) vii) viii) ix) x) xi)

the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Statistics (UIS) the World Bank the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (UNICT)

7 The main objectives of the Partnership are: (a) to define and analyse internationally comparable statistical ICT indicators and develop methodologies to collect these indicators; (b) to assist in building the statistical capacity in developing countries; and (c) to set up a global database for hosting data on core ICT indicators. 8 The Partnership on Measuring Information and Communication Technologies for Development consolidated a list of core ICT indicators based on regional lists obtained through various National Statistical Offices (NSOs). A final list was discussed, and agreed upon, at the WSIS Thematic Meeting on Measuring the Information Society, held in Geneva from 7 to 9 February 2005. The core list of ICT indicators is given at Annex-I. The core indicators in the list benefit from being based on internationally agreed standards (especially those developed by the ITU, OECD and Eurostat). It is one of the objectives of the Partnership to consolidate standards at the global level, taking into consideration the demands and special circumstances of developing countries. 9 Involving NSOs from both developed and developing countries in all Partnership activities has been of utmost importance to the Partnership since its conception. National statistical offices from developed countries have provided guidance on methodologies and experiences in ICT data collection, analysis and dissemination, primarily through the OECD Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society (WPIIS). National statistical offices from developing countries have voiced their challenges and needs with regards to ICT measurement, making the Partnership a practical forum for exchanging experiences.

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10 A number of countries have already integrated the proposed list of core ICT indicators in their existing household and business surveys. Members of the Partnership are providing assistance to this process. ICT Indicators in India 11 Twenty years ago, India faced tremendous challenges when it set on its ICT journey. The PC revolution was yet to encompass the country, the telecom infrastructure was low and there was virtually no indigenous software or hardware development to talk about. The ICT industry, at a very nascent stage, appeared far behind its Western counterpart. Today, in 2005, the scenario has undergone an amazing transformation. The Indian ICT industry, in particular the IT software and services and ITES sectors, have not only managed to catch up with their more technology savvy global leaders, but they are also being actively sought by companies worldwide for their onsite, offshore expertise and wealth of manpower resources. Indian ICT organizations are now counted among the well known and reputed ICT solutions and services providers across the world and scores of global ICT leaders have invested in India, making the country their hub for software development, offshore outsourcing and R&D. 12

Information Technology Development 12.1

Use of Personal Computers has tremendously increased from 5.4 million PCs in 2001 to 14.5 million in 2005. As on today, only every hundredth person has a personal computer, which is much less compared with any developed country.

12.2

Internet Users per 100 populations. Though we have a rapid positive trend for this indicator, compared to the developed countries, we are at the infant stage. Even the 200th person is not at internet subscriber in India. However, every 35th person is using internet in India. PC population and in use per 100 population Year (March Ending PC population (in million) PC in use per 100 population

2001 5.40 0.53

2002 6.00 0.58

2003 8.00 0.77

2004 11.00 1.04

Source: Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

Status of Internet Subscribers As on 13-3-1999 31-03-2000 31-03-2001 31-03-2002 31-03-2003 31-03-2004 31-03-2005 31-06-2005

Internet Subscribers (million) 0.230 0.943 2.909 3.239 3.500 4.050 5.300 5.556

Source: Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

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2005 14.5 1.34

12.3

Indian ITES-BPO sector industry continues to grow from strength to strength, witnessing high levels of activity - both onshore as well as offshore. the export revenues from ITES-BPO grew from US $ 2.5 billion in year 2002-03 to US $5.1 billion in the year 2004-05. The ITES-BPO sector has become the biggest employment generator amongst young college graduates with the number of jobs almost doubling each year. the number of professionals employed in India by IT and ITES sectors has grown from 284,000 in 1999-2000 to 1.05 million in 200405, growing by over 200,000 in the last year alone. the pace of recruitment picked up for IT serves; while ITES-BPO companies were recruiting in large numbers through the year. It is estimates that the ITES-BPO sector hired 400 personnel every working day of the year.

12.4

The Government vision is to use Information Technology as a tool for raising the living standards of the common man and enriching their lives. Towards this end an ambitious programme of PC and Internet penetration to the rural and under served urban areas has been taken up. The Department of Informatio n Technology has initiated a programme of establish State Wide Area Network (SWAN) upto the block level with a minimum Bandwidth of 2 MBPS to provide reliable backbone connectivity for E-Governance. Further, in order to bring about a substantially increased proliferation of IN Internet domain name, a new .IN policy framework and implementation plan has been formulated and announced in October 2004. It aims to put in place a more liberal, efficient and market friendly domain name registration system. It aims to ensure that the internet traffic, which originates within India and also has destination in India, remains within the country, resulting in improved traffic, reduced cost and better security.

12.5

The National Policy of the government recognizes the potential of E-Governance not only to improve governance but also to facilitate people's access to government services. We are working on a National E-Governance action plan that seeks to lay the foundation and provide impetus for a far more pervasive spread of E-Governance to reach the Common man particularly in far- flung areas. Seeking to do so we are putting together various elements that are needed for leveraging the enormous power of ICT for the economic development of our country and enable the common man to access Government services in an efficient, convenient and cost effective manner.

12.6

To bridge the imbalance between urban and non-urban areas, provide connectivity at grass-root level, and to facilitate the spread of benefits of Information and Communication Technology to all and to accelerate the socioeconomic development of these areas, the Department has set up Community Information Centres (CICs) in hilly, far- flung areas of North-East and J&K. It is also proposed to set up CICs in other hilly, far- flung areas of the country.

12.7

Broadband services greatly contribute in the growth of GDP through applications including e-education, e-health, tele marketing, e-governance, entertainment, etc. However, the current level of Internet and broadband access in India is abysmally low. In the Broadband Policy announced in October, 2004, the broadband connectivity has been defined as "an always on" data connection that is able to support interactive services including internet access with a minimum download

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speed of 256 kbps to an individual subscriber. The policy visualizes creation of infrastructure through various access technologies for providing broadband services. It is expected that the number of broadband subscribers would be 3 million by 2005, 9 million by 2007 and 20 million by 2010". 12.8

Other initiatives taken by the Government in the IT Sector include announcement of the Information Technology Act 2000 for copyright protection, the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) Policy permission to private ISPs to set up international gateways and internet access through cable TV infrastructure among others.

Collecting Information on ICT Indicators 13

International requirements

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) have developed questionnaires for collecting official statistical data on the “Access to, and use of ICT by households and individuals in developing countries” and “ICT usage by Enterprises and on the ICT Sector” respectively. The questionnaires are designed to gather information for assessing progress made in ICT usage apart from international comparability. The brief contents of the questionnaire are given below: a)

ITU Questionnaire (Individuals & Households) 1a

ICT Access Indicators HH1 Proportion of households with a radio HH2 Proportion of households with a television HH3 Proportion of households with a fixed line telephone HH4 Proportion of households with a mobile cellular telephone HH5 Proportion of households with a computer HH7 Proportion of households with Internet access at home HH12 Proportion of households with access to the Internet by type of access HHR1b Proportion of households with electricity

1b

ICT usage indicators – Age & Gender HH6 Proportion of individuals who used a computer (from any location) in the last 12 months HH8 Proportion of individuals who used the Internet (from any location) in the last 12 months HH9 Location of individual use of the Internet in the last 12 months HH10 Internet activities undertaken by individuals in the last 12 months: HH11 Proportion of individuals with use of a mobile telephone HH13 Frequency of individual access to the Internet in the last 12 months (from any location)

1c

ICT usage indicator – Education HH6 Proportion of individuals who used a computer (from any location) in the last 12 months

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HH8 HH9 HH10 HH11 HH13

b)

1d

ICT usage indicator – Employme nt Status HH10 Internet activities undertaken by individuals in the last 12 months: HH11 Proportion of individuals with use of a mobile telephone HH13 Frequency of individual access to the Internet in the last 12 months (from any location)

1e

ICT usage indicator – Individuals with disabilities HH6 Proportion of individuals who used a computer (from any location) in the last 12 months HH8 Proportion of individuals who used the Internet (from any location) in the last 12 months HH9 Location of individual use of the Internet in the last 12 months HH10 Internet activities undertaken by individuals in the last 12 months: HH11 Proportion of individuals with use of a mobile telephone HH13 Frequency of individual access to the Internet in the last 12 months (from any location)

UNCTAD Questionnaire (for Enterprises) 1a

ICT Usage Indicators (by size) B1 Proportion of businesses using computers B2 Proportion of employees using computers

1b

ICT Usage Indicators (by Urban/Rural) B1 Proportion of businesses using computers B2 Proportion of employees using computers ICT Usage Indicators (by Industrial Classification) B1 Proportion of businesses using computers B2 Proportion of employees using computers

1c

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Proportion of individuals who used the Internet (from any location) in the last 12 months Location of individual use of the Internet in the last 12 months Internet activities undertaken by individuals in the last 12 months: Proportion of individuals with use of a mobile telephone Frequency of individual access to the Internet in the last 12 months (from any location)

Present National Scenario and Issues

As could be seen from the contents of above mentioned questionnaires that the ITU questionnaire relates to individuals and households while UNCTAD questionnaire pertains to enterprises. In order to collect information on ICT indicators it is pertinent that there is need for incorporating suitable modifications in the questionnaire canvassed during sample surveys/censuses. It is also important that the scope of coverage, of administrative data, needs to be increased to cover service providers in the field of ICT like telephony (including mobile), communication, ISPs, Radio, TV etc.

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15 In order to fulfill obligation for providing information to International agencies, specifically, to respond to the questionnaires referred above, the Ministry has taken steps for collection of information on ICT usage from enterprises by way of modifying the schedule of the Annual Survey of Industries in 2000-01. 16 In line with international comparison, it is also important that the comparison of ICT indicators is made at state level for assessing areas of our strengths and weaknesses in order to take corrective measures for overall improvements. To strengthen the database of indicators on ICT, it is needless to say that the mechanism at the state level be looked into for incorporating necessary changes for gathering information on ICT indicators.

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Annex I List of core information and communication technology indicators Core indicators on information and communication technology infrastructure and access A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 A10 A11 A12

Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants Mobile cellular subscribers per 100 inhabitants Computers per 100 inhabitants Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants Broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants International Internet bandwidth per inhabitant Percentage of population covered by mobile cellular telephony Internet access tariffs (20 hours per month), in US$, and as a percentage of per capita income Mobile cellular tariffs (100 minutes of use per month), in US$, and as a percentage of per capita income Percentage of localities with public Internet access centres (PIACs) by number of inhabitants (rural/urban) Radio sets per 100 inhabitants Television sets per 100 inhabitants

Core indicators on access to, and use of, information and communication technology by households and individuals HH1 HH2 HH3 HH4 HH5 HH6

Proportion of households with a radio Proportion of households with a television Proportion of households with a fixed line telephone Proportion of households with a mobile cellular telephone Proportion of households with a computer Proportion of individuals who used a computer (from any location) in the last 12 months HH7 Proportion of households with Internet access at home HH8 Proportion of individuals who used the Internet (from any location) in the last 12 months HH9 Location of individual use of the Internet in the last 12 months • At home • At work • Place of education • At another person’s home • Community Internet access facility (specific denomination depends on national practices) • Commercial Internet access facility (specific denomination depends on national practices) • Others HH10 Internet activities undertaken by individuals in the last 12 months: • Getting information O About goods or services O Related to health or health services 8

O From government organizations/public authorities via websites or e-mail O Other information or general Web browsing • Communicating • Purchasing or ordering goods or services • Internet banking • Formal education or training activities • Dealing with government organizations/public authorities • Leisure activities o Playing/downloading video or computer games o Downloading movies, music or software o Reading/downloading electronic books, newspapers or magazines o Other leisure activities HH11 Proportion of individuals with use of a mobile telephone HH12 Proportion of households with access to the Internet by type of access • Categories allow an aggregation to narrowband and broadband, where broadband excludes slower speed technologies, such as dial- up modem, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) and most 2G (second generation) mobile phone access. Broadband will usually have an advertised download speed of at least 256 kilobits per second. HH13 Frequency of individual access to the Internet in the last 12 months (from any location) • At least once a day • At least once a week but not every day • At least once a month but not every week • Less than once a month Reference indicator HHR1b Proportion of households with electricity Core indicators on use of information and communication technology by businesses B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9

B10 B11 B12

Proportion of businesses using computers Proportion of employees using computers Proportion of businesses using the Internet Proportion of employees using the Internet Proportion of businesses with a Web presence Proportion of businesses with an intranet Proportion of businesses receiving orders over the Internet Proportion of businesses placing orders over the Internet Proportion of businesses using the Internet by type of access • Categories allow an aggregation to narrowband and broadband, where broadband excludes slower speed technologies, such as dial- up modem, ISDN and most 2G mobile phone access. Broadband will usually have an advertised download speed of at least 256 kilobits per second. Proportion of businesses with a local area network (LAN) Proportion of businesses with an extranet Proportion of businesses using the Internet by type of activity • Sending and receiving e- mail • Getting information O About goods or services

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O O • • • •

From government organizations/public authorities via websites or e-mail Other information searches or research activities Performing Internet banking or accessing other financial services Dealing with government organizations/public authorities Providing customer services Delivering products online

Core indicators on the information and communication technology sector and trade in information and communication technology goods ICT1 ICT2 ICT3 ICT4

Proportion of total business sector workforce involved in the ICT sector Value added in the ICT sector (as a percentage of total business sector value added) ICT goods imports as a percentage of total imports ICT goods exports as a percentage of total exports

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Bibliography 1.

UN Economic and Social Council (E/CN.3/2007/5): Report of the Partnership on Measuring Information and Communication Technology for Development: Information and Communication Technology Statistics

2

ITU: Questionnaire on access to and usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) by households and individuals

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UNCTAD: Questionnaire on ICT usage by Enterprises and on the ICT Sector

4

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation: Millennium Development Goals India Country Report 2005

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