EARTHTRENDS DATA TABLES For more information, please consult http://earthtrends.wri.org TECHNICAL NOTES: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT DEFINITIONS AND METHODOLOGY It has been recognized that widespread access to information and communication technology can improve people’s lives and boost economic development. Because of this, it has been identified as a crucial aspect of development and increased proliferation of these technologies has been included as Target 18 of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. World Telecommunications Indicators The Digital Access Index is a composite score, developed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which reflects the ability of each country's population to take advantage of internet communication technologies. It ranges from 1 to 100, where 100 equals the most access. The Index is calculated as a weighted average of 8 variables describing infrastructure, affordability, educational level of the population, quality of information and communication technology (ICT) services, and internet usage. The Digital Access Index provides a tool to help measure progress towards this important goal. For more information see http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/dai/material/DAI_ITUNews_e.pdf. Annual Investment in Telecommunications refers to the expenditure associated with acquiring the ownership of telecommunication equipment infrastructure for use in a particular country. Totals include supporting land, buildings, and intellectual and non-tangible property such as computer software. These include expenditure on initial installations and additions to existing installations. Internet All internet datasets are obtained from the ITU, derived from an annual questionnaire sent out by the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) to telecommunication authorities and operating companies, as well as from reports provided by telecommunication ministries, regulators, and operating companies. Percent of Homes with Personal Computers is the percentage of households that own one or more personal computers. Internet Users (per 1,000 people) measures the number of people per thousand of a country’s population who have used the internet at any point in time during a specific year. The number of internet users is obtained by ITU, who compiles this information from industry associations. The ITU combines its standard telecommunications datasets with population data from the UN Department of International Economic and Social Affairs to calculate internet usage per 100 people. WRI converts these estimates to internet usage per 1,000 people. Number of Subscribers to Broadband Internet is the number of internet subscribers with a modem connecting to the internet via Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology or cable television lines. WRI calculates the number of broadband internet subscribers by combining the number of cable internet and DSL subscribers obtained from ITU. More information is available at http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/publications/world/world.html. Telephones The telephone datasets are also obtained from ITU. Percent of Homes with Telephones is the percentage of households with one or more private telephone lines. Main Telephone Lines (per 1,000 people) is the number of telephone lines, per thousand people, connecting a customer's equipment to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and which have a dedicated port on a telephone exchange. Note that for most countries, main lines also include public payphones. A main line should be differentiated from a subscriber; subscribers, customers who are billed individually, may share the same line (i.e., party line) or use extensions from a private extension. Thus one main line could serve several subscribers. The Mobile Telephone Subscriptions (per 1,000 people) measures the number of people per thousand of a country’s population that subscribe to an automatic public mobile telephone service for portable telephones. This includes analog and digital cellular systems, and excludes non-cellular systems. Also excluded are subscribers to fixed wireless, public mobile data services, radio paging services, and telepoint. ITU combines the data for both the Main Lines and Mobile Telephone Subscriptions with population data obtained from the UN Department of International Economic and Social Affairs to calculate the number per 100 people; WRI converts these estimates to main telephone lines per 1,000 people. Size of Waiting List for Telephone Main Lines refers to the number of unmet applications for connection to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). These data do not include waiting times to other services, e.g., leased lines, mobile communications, or packet switched data communications. More information is available at http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/publications/world/world.html. Traditional Media Television Sets (per 1,000 people) is the ratio of television sets in use by both businesses and households, divided by the county’s population in thousands. Radios (per 1,000 people) is the ratio of the number of radio receivers used for broadcast to the general public, also divided by the country's population thousands. Private radio sets installed in public places are also included as well as communal radio receivers. WRI calculates these ratios by dividing the number of television sets and radios per country by the total population for that given country; this quotient is then multiplied by 1,000 to provide the number of television sets and radios per 1,000 people. All datasets for these calculations were provided by ITU in order to maintain consistency with other ITU indicators; ITU obtains population data from the UN Department of International Economic and Social Affairs. The Number of Newspapers (per 1,000 people) is the number of newspapers circulated per 1,000 people, and refer to those published at least four times a week. Newspapers are defined as periodic publications intended for the general public and mainly designed to be a primary source of written information on current events connected with public affairs, international questions, politics, etc. They may also include articles on literary or other subjects as well as illustrations and advertising. Data on the number of newspapers are obtained from the World Bank Development Indicators online. Education and Literacy The Secondary Net Enrollment is a ratio of the number of enrolled students of the official age-group for secondary school divided by the total population for that same age group and multiplied by 100 to produce the final indicator, a percentage. The theoretical maximum value is 100%. A high NER demotes a high degree of participation of the official school-age population. If the NER is below 100%, users should not assume that the remaining school-aged population is not enrolled in any school; they could be enrolled in school at other grade levels. Secondary Education is defined by the International Standard Classification of Education(ISCED) as the "full implementation of basic skills and the foundation for lifelong learning" and includes courses taught by teachers in their fields of specialization. Programs are typically three years long and represent the end of compulsory education in many countries. This indicator is obtained from UNESCO, who collects enrollment data from national governments through a series of electronic questionnaires, available on-line at http://www.uis.unesco.org/ev.php?ID=5619_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC. When data from national governments are not available or are of inferior quality, UNESCO will estimate gross enrollment ratios. Population data used in calculations were obtained from the United Nations Population Division. The Adult Literacy Rate is usually defined as the percentage of the population aged 15 years and over who can both read and write, with understanding, a short, simple statement on their everyday life. This indicator can be used to measure the achievement of literacy programs and the effectiveness of primary education. According to UNESCO, "literacy represents a potential for further intellectual growth and contribution to economic-socio-cultural development of society." Adult literacy correlates with GNP per capita, life expectancy, fertility rates, infant mortality, and urbanization. Most literacy data are collected during national population censuses. Typically, censuses are held only once in a decade, so UNESCO supplements these data with household surveys, labor force surveys, employment surveys, industry surveys, and agricultural surveys when they are available. Standards for the measurement of literacy vary from country to country. For information on how different national census bureau's define literacy, see the UNESCO website at http://www.uis.unesco.org/. FREQUENCY OF UPDATE BY DATA PROVIDERS All data is updated by annually except for the Digital Access Index which was last released by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in November, 2003. DATA RELIABILITY AND CAUTIONARY NOTES: World Telecommunications Indicators These data are from a number of reputable sources including ITU's quarterly survey of information and communication technologies around the world and are considered to be the most accurate global dataset available on this topic. However, complete accuracy is difficult to ensure, and the data are often very rough approximations. While the data can illustrate very general trends, rigid comparisons among countries are discouraged. Secondary Net Enrollment While UNESCO keeps the most complete global data set on enrollment levels, problems do remain. The availability and quality of national school enrollment statistics vary widely, particularly for developing countries. Even though UNESCO has applied the same methodology to analyze all of the country data, definitions of "schooling" and "enrollment" are not strictly comparable among countries. Difficulties also arise when a substantial proportion of students begin school earlier than the prescribed age, or when the reference date for entry into secondary education does not coincide with the birthdays of all eligible students. In 1998, UNESCO began using the ISCED97 model for collecting and calculating education data. Users wishing to construct time series using pre-1998 data should do so with caution as they are not necessarily comparable with the 1998-2002 data found here. Adult Literacy Rate The availability and quality of national statistics on literacy varies widely, particularly for developing countries. When census and survey data are not available for a particular country, estimates need to be made based on neighboring countries. Even when census and survey data are available they are typically collected only once every decade. In addition, many industrialized countries have stopped collecting literacy data in recent years, based on the sometimes incorrect assumption that universal primary education means universal literacy. Even though UNESCO has applied the same methodology to analyze all of the country data, actual definitions of adult literacy are not strictly comparable among countries. Some countries equate persons with no schooling for illiteracy, or change definitions between censuses. In addition, UNESCO's definition of literacy does not include people who, though familiar with the basics of reading and writing, do not have the skills to function at a reasonable level in their own society. Practices for identifying literacy and illiteracy during actual census enumeration may also vary, and errors in literacy self-declaration can affect data reliability. Therefore, users should exercise caution when making cross-country comparisons. SOURCES The Digital Access Index International Telecommunications Union (ITU), 2003. World Telecommunication Development Report. Digital Access Index obtained online at http://www.itu.int/newsarchive/press_releases/2003/30.html. World Telecommunications Indicators International Telecommunications Union (ITU). 2004. World Telecommunications Indicators 2004 (available on-line at http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/publications/world/world.html). Geneva: ITU. Number of Newspapers Development Data Group, The World Bank. 2004. World Development Indicators 2004 online (see http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=631625) Washington, D.C.: The World Bank. Education and Literacy Indicators United Nations Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics. 2002. World Education Indicators . Paris: UNESCO. Data are provided to WRI directly from UNESCO. UNESCO will make these data publicly available in mid-2002 at http://www.uis.unesco.org/en/stats/stats0.htm