1. 1 1 “MEASURING THE INFORMATION SOCIETY” Geneva, February 7-9 2005 GUIDE TO INFORMATION SOCIETY MEASUREMENT Andrew Wyckoff OECD

2. 2 2 Introduction The OECD’s Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society (WPIIS) was officially formed in 1999 –but had been effectively operating since 1997. Its brief was "to establish a set of definitions and methodologies to facilitate the compilation of internationally comparable data for measuring various aspects of the information society, the information economy and electronic commerce”.

3. 3 3 WPIIS output WPIIS has produced the following statistical standards since its establishment in 1997: –an activity-based ICT sector definition (1998) –narrower and broader definitions of electronic commerce transactions (2000) –model survey of ICT use and e-commerce – businesses (2001) –model survey of ICT use and e-commerce – households/individuals (2002) –an ICT goods classification (2003).

4. 4 4 The Guide The Guide is a compilation of concepts, definitions, classifications and methods for Information Society measurement and analysis. It brings together the work of the WPIIS in an easily accessible form, with the goals of –helping to consolidate Information Society measurement in OECD member countries –sharing best practice with newly participating countries; and, –assisting those countries to start or extend develop measurement programs in this area.

5. 5 5 Audience for the Guide Official statisticians measuring the Information Society Analysts who interpret their statistical output Other users –policymakers –businesses –researchers –international organisations.

6. 6 6 Scope of the Guide The Guide details the statistical standards developed by the WPIIS… –but is somewhat broader than that. It follows a broad conceptual view of the Information Society and includes: –work in progress (such as a classification of ICT services) –work being done outside the OECD - in other international organisations and in NSOs of members and non-members. The Guide deals primarily with official statistics.

7. 7 7 Structure of the Guide – Chapters ICT products ICT infrastructure ICT supply ICT demand Electronic content Domestic and global factors The road ahead

8. 8 8 Structure of the Guide – Annexes WPIIS standards for Information Society statistics OECD output on the Information Society –including how to construct ICT indicators –a special article on measuring the digital divide. OECD member countries –metadata on ICT statistics collections of member countries. Non-member activities –activities of regional ICT measurement networks –international organisations –individual countries.

9. 9 9 Timeframe OECD will present a complete draft of the Guide to the April 2005 WPIIS meeting. Comments and updates following from that meeting will be incorporated. The Guide will be published before the Tunis meeting in November this year. It will be available on the OECD Web site.