Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones

World leaders demand more timely and unified data on ICTs access and affordability at global level

The ITU leads the efforts to increase data collection capabilities through new associations with technology companies and government agencies

Mexico City, 6th December 2013 – The delegates of the Telecommunication Indicators/World ICTs Symposium (WTIS), celebrated this week in Mexico City (December 4 6), confirmed the need to strengthen and adapt the mechanisms to collect IT and communication data (ICT) to better respond to the needs of the fast-evolving current environment.

Reliable data on indicators such as network access, service affordability and connection speed are increasingly acknowledged as indispensable elements of every country’s plans to promote social development and economic growth.

This three-day symposium is the most important annual meeting of ICT data experts around the world. Organized by the ITU and hosted this year by the Mexican regulatory body, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT), the event gathered more than 300 delegates, including Ministers, industry Executive Officers and heads of national/international statistics organizations.

"The ICT sector is evolving faster than any other sector in the history of humanity. The objective of this annual symposium is to respond to the challenge of measuring the accelerated evolution of the sector and seeing that ICT data, statistics and indicators are globally unified and internationally comparable" affirmed this afternoon Dr. Hamadoun I. Touré, Secretary General of the ITU, during the closing ceremony. "This is the only way we can create a clear, impartial – and most importantly – universal landscape that will help us make useful comparisons and follow-up the evolution of the ICT ecosystem."

The ITU effort to collect and analyze world ICT statistics, which are trustworthy for politicians around the world, is mentioned by publications of other influential institutions, among which we can find the entire family of UN organizations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Economic Forum, and also stimulates the actions of an increasing community of international investors.

This year, the event featured, for the first time, a top level inauguration day with three key discussions about future development frameworks after 2015, the role of monitoring the development of the future information society, the strategies to improve the dialogue between all the stakeholders, and the national coordination of data collection.

It gathered expert speakers and panelists, who exchanged points of view and best practices, highlighted the importance of making ICTs become one of the main cornerstones of the development agenda after 2015, as catalysts of the overall social and economic development.

"This WTIS meeting had a record number of attendants, which shows the growing acknowledgement of the importance of data and statistics in the ICT sector. We expect an even larger participation next year,” said Brahima Sanou, Director of the Telecomm Development Office of the ITU.

International Telecommunication Union

www.itu.int/newsroom • pressinfo@itu.int • +41 22 730 6039 • twitter.com/ITU

“The ITU continues to be committed to this process, and we expect to keep working with the global community in this area, as we progress.”

Among his initial remarks during the conference at the beginning of this week, the Chairman of WTIS and Chief of the Regulation and Prospective Unit of the IFT, Luis Lucatero, said: "The worst enemy of investment is information asymmetry. An ICT regulating body is like an architect who builds a strong and robust market to ultimately serve as a platform for national growth in every business sector. The global debate promoted by this event is unparalleled and will help all the stakeholders – industry, government and regulatory bodies – fulfill the main objective of addressing the ICT consumer needs."

This year, the symposium included two special simultaneous events: the first one, organized by Costa Rica, was about a national approach of data collection in association with ICT operators; and the second one, organized by Iran, was about developing and implementing a new data measurement system.

The event also included a special tour organized by the IFT to visit an ICT community centre developed by the Learning and Innovation Network (Red de Información y Aprendizaje, RIA), that the Fundación Proacceso created to offer disadvantaged communities access to technologic learning. The tour was headed by its young cofounder, Jorge Camil Starr, and the power of ICTs has reached more than 425,000 children and young people of 95 different schools in the Mexico City area.

Speeches, pictures and additional information are available at WTIS press room:

http://www.itu.int/en/newsroom/Pages/wtis13.aspx.

To review the complete speakers program go to:

www.itu.int/en/newsroom/Pages/wtis13.aspx.

Follow WTIS event in Twitter: #ITUdata

WTIS speeches, pictures, videos and reports of the debates are available at WTIS press room: http://www.itu.int/en/newsroom/Pages/wtis13.aspx

You can review an Executive Summary of ITU’s MIS 2013 Report at:

www.itu.int/go/mis2013

Journalists who want a free PDF copy of the complete MIS 2013 Report, please contact Sarah Parkes at the ITU press office: sarah.parkes@itu.int.

Download the MIS 2013 infographics at: www.itu.int/go/mis2013

Download the PowerPoint presentation of the MIS 2013 from: www.itu.int/go/mis2013

Download WTIS pictures from:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/itupictures/sets/72157638302188344/

If you need additional information go to the event’s website or contact:

Sarah Parkes

ITU Media Relations and Public Data Manager, email: sarah.parkes@itu.int

Tel.: +41 79 599 1439

Angelina Mejia

Communications Unit, IFT email:

angelina.mejia@ift.org.mx Tel: +52

55 5015 4012

Follow the ITU at Facebook: www.itu.int/facebook

* Notes to Editors:

ITU gathers ICT statistics for 200 economies and more than 100 indicators in association with the administrations of its 193 Member States, more than 700 Members of the Sector, more than 60 members of the academic community and the I+D.

Besides publishing the most comprehensive global database in the world, the ITU reference statistics report for the ICT industry, Medición de la Sociedad de la Información (MIS), includes a unique classification known as the ICT Development Index - IDI.

To review a complete series of ITU statistics go to: www.itu.int/en/ITUD/statistics

About ITU

The ITU is the most important UN organization in regards to information and communication technologies. For almost 150 years, the ITU has coordinated the world partake of the radio electric spectrum, has promoted international cooperation to assign satellite orbits, has worked hard to improve telecomm infrastructure in developing countries and has set the global standards to guarantee the continuous interconnection of a wide-range of communication systems. From broadband technologies to the latest generations of wireless technologies, aeronautic and maritime navigation, radio astronomy, satellite meteorology and the convergence of fixed and mobile telephone services, Internet and broadcasting technologies, the ITU is committed to connecting the world. www.itu.int