New ICT Topics United Nations Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses

1. New ICT Topics United Nations Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses

2. Purpose The purpose of the presentation is to introduce the new ICT topics approved for inclusion in the United Nations Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses, 2nd Revision.

3. Outline • Why Population and Housing Census? • GlobalCensus2010 • ESCWA Initiative • Recommended ICT Topics: Availability of ICT Devices and Access to the Internet in Households • Recommended Classification • A Perspective on Methodology • Recommended Tabulations

4. Eight ESCWA member countries are scheduling population and housing censuses in the next five years: Egypt [2006], Palestine [2008], and the GCCcountries [2010]. Why Population and Housing Censuses? Population and housing censuses are the primary source of information on the social, demographic, and economic characteristics of its population. These censuses provide critical statistical information on the population and housing situation at the smallest administrative levels, thus enabling evidence-based decision making. This makes censuses an essential tool for data collection for measuring the information society.

5. ICT data is socioeconomic data ICT data is socioeconomic data when paired with relevant data of other classificatory variables. Data for the classificatory variables is usually collected as part of the survey, census, or included in administrative registries.

6. Sources of Data Four main classes of data sources can be used to compile data to compute indicators: • Administrative records.. • Demographic surveillance systems.. • Surveys.. • Censuses..

7. Indicators in Policy Management: United Nations Development Group, 2005.

8. ........... The main advantage of censuses is that, at least in design, every one/unit is included, and hence provide a comprehensive picture of population characteristics. Censuses also generate a sampling frame for future household surveys while also providing the denominator for the calculation of many indicators that are beyond the scope of censuses themselves.

9. GlobalCensus2010 The United Nations Statistical Commission, at its 36th session in March 2005, approved the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses and established the Expert Group on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses. This Expert Group proposed the formation of working groups and technical subgroups to carry out its mandate in regard to the revision and update of the United Nations Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses.

10. ESCWA Initiative ESCWA on behalf of its member countries and in cooperation with the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development submitted to Expert Group on GlobalCensus2010 in its meeting in New York during 22 – 26 August 2005 to include new ICT topics in the new revision of the United Nations Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses.

11. ........... The Expert Group approved in its meeting in New York during 10 - 14 July 2006 to include as a core topic the Availability of ICT Devices and Access to the Internet in Householdsin the new revision of the United Nations Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses. The inclusion of the new ICT topics in the United Nations Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses provides an international mandate for the national statistical offices worldwide to collect data related to the included topics in accord with a unified methodology.

12. Availability of ICT devices and Access to the Internet in Households The importance of availability of ICT devices is increasing significantly in the contemporary society. These devices provide a set of services that are changing the structure and pattern of major social and economic phenomena. The housing census provides an outstanding opportunity to assess the availability of these devices to the household. The choice of topics should be sufficient for understanding the place of ICTs in the household, as well as for use for planning purposes by government and private sector to enable wider and improved delivery of services, and to assess their impact on the society.

13. A3: Computers per 100 inhabitants HH5: Proportion of households with a computer HH6: Proportion of individuals who used a computer from any location in the last 12 months Recommended classification • Household having radio • Household having television set • Household having fixed line telephone • Household having mobile cellular telephone(s) • Household having personal computer(s) • Household accessing the Internet from home • Household accessing the Internet from elsewhere other than home • Household without access to the Internet

14. A Perspective on Methodology In the case of ICT topics, census designers have many options to consider. A sensible approach for presenting questions in a census is to group topics into categories by technology, theme, and/or objective, in order to give census designers the utmost flexibility in choosing the set of questions that best matches their national policy plans: • Internet and PCs.. • Access path and devices.. • …

15. Internet and PCs The category would be concerned with determining the status of access to the Internet and PCs by households for a country, in relation to other socioeconomic or geographic classificatory variables.

16. Access Path and Devices The category would be concerned with determining the households with the means for electronic communication (fixed line and mobile cellular telephones) and the equipment that provides the interface between the user and the network (PCs) in relation to other socioeconomic or geographic classificatory variables.

17. ........... In designing the questions, census designers should differentiate between two distinct viewpoints: • Availability of ICTs to the household.. • Access to ICTs by members of the household..

18. ........... The distinction is important, since households need not own, but still have access to PCs and the Internet through school/university, public access centers, and/or other households. The rational for adopting either viewpoint, or even a combination of both, is not necessarily only technical, but rests more on the prevailing conditions in the society, and/or on how the information will be used to characterize the socioeconomic profile of households of a country.

19. ........... The tabulation recommended tabulates statistics concerned with the availability of ICT devices. Usage statistics, including the intensity (frequency) of use and the range of activities performed, are preferably obtained using household surveys based on sample frames established by the housing census.

20. Recommended Tabulations • RecH19a. Households in housing units, by type of housing unit, cross-classified by ICT devices and access to Internet (Recommended) • RecH19b. Occupants of housing units, by type of housing unit, cross-classified by ICT devices and access to Internet (Recommended)

22. نشكر لكم حسن الإصغاء د. هشام عبد الملك عودة رئيس فريق عمل تطبيقات تكنولوجيا المعلومات والاتصالات إدارة تكنولوجيا المعلومات والاتصالات - الإسكوا