05 January 2009
MUSCAT -- Information Technology Authority (ITA) of Oman, in association with the Ministry of National Economy, launched the ICT Business indicators survey yesterday on the ministry premises under the patronage of Dr Salim Al Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA.
The launch was followed by a full day workshop on the proposed ICT in Business indicators.
Saber Al Harbi of the Directorate-General of Economic Statistics gave the opening speech followed by Saleh Al Habsi of ITA, who explained the background for launching this survey.
The need to gather ICT statistics, both at the national and global level, was stressed during the first Word Summit on Information Society WSIS 2003 in Geneva.
According to this Declaration of Principles, "Comparable ICT statistics are critical for formulating policies and strategies and measuring ICT-enabled growth for social inclusion and cohesion and for monitoring and evaluating the impact of ICTs on economic and social developments".
During the second WSIS in 2005 in Tunis, a list of ICT Core Indicators was released for all UN member countries to start collecting these standardised indicators in the socio-economic sectors.
The UN framework for measuring the information society recognises measuring the digital divide as the main objective of compiling the proposed ICT indicators.
ITA had undertaken the task of compiling a questionnaire for collecting data from both the households and businesses. Based on these, the standard ICT indicators will be compiled to provide the policymakers with a detailed account of ICT penetration within a country, which would help understand different aspects of the digital divide and also for international comparisons.
The main purpose of the survey is to gather data pertaining to ICT at the national level and these are divided into four groups namely: Core Indicators on Infrastructure and Access, Core Indicators on Access to and Use of ICT by Households and Individuals, Core Indicators on Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Business and Core Indicators on ICT Sector and Trade in ICT Goods.
The project launched yesterday aims at compiling Core Indicators on Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Business. It also measures the dispersion of Omani and non-Omani ICT professionals and also collects this data based on gender. These indicators will be useful for effective planning of training, development and Omanisation programmes in this sector.
Key data collected include penetration and usage of computer, Internet, intranet and website and are classified as core indicators and extended core indicators in line with the UN framework of recommendations. The survey also aims at exploring the usage of IT by Omani businesses for the purpose of email, information search, procurement, banking and electronic payments, research, public sector liaison, customer service and provision of products or services online. The key challenge in this project is the compilation of data from different sources, which requires a well-coordinated effort for ensuring exhaustiveness without duplication. This survey will commence immediately and is expected to be completed in about two months.
MUSCAT -- Information Technology Authority (ITA) of Oman, in association with the Ministry of National Economy, launched the ICT Business indicators survey yesterday on the ministry premises under the patronage of Dr Salim Al Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA.
The launch was followed by a full day workshop on the proposed ICT in Business indicators.
Saber Al Harbi of the Directorate-General of Economic Statistics gave the opening speech followed by Saleh Al Habsi of ITA, who explained the background for launching this survey.
The need to gather ICT statistics, both at the national and global level, was stressed during the first Word Summit on Information Society WSIS 2003 in Geneva.
According to this Declaration of Principles, "Comparable ICT statistics are critical for formulating policies and strategies and measuring ICT-enabled growth for social inclusion and cohesion and for monitoring and evaluating the impact of ICTs on economic and social developments".
During the second WSIS in 2005 in Tunis, a list of ICT Core Indicators was released for all UN member countries to start collecting these standardised indicators in the socio-economic sectors.
The UN framework for measuring the information society recognises measuring the digital divide as the main objective of compiling the proposed ICT indicators.
ITA had undertaken the task of compiling a questionnaire for collecting data from both the households and businesses. Based on these, the standard ICT indicators will be compiled to provide the policymakers with a detailed account of ICT penetration within a country, which would help understand different aspects of the digital divide and also for international comparisons.
The main purpose of the survey is to gather data pertaining to ICT at the national level and these are divided into four groups namely: Core Indicators on Infrastructure and Access, Core Indicators on Access to and Use of ICT by Households and Individuals, Core Indicators on Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Business and Core Indicators on ICT Sector and Trade in ICT Goods.
The project launched yesterday aims at compiling Core Indicators on Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Business. It also measures the dispersion of Omani and non-Omani ICT professionals and also collects this data based on gender. These indicators will be useful for effective planning of training, development and Omanisation programmes in this sector.
Key data collected include penetration and usage of computer, Internet, intranet and website and are classified as core indicators and extended core indicators in line with the UN framework of recommendations. The survey also aims at exploring the usage of IT by Omani businesses for the purpose of email, information search, procurement, banking and electronic payments, research, public sector liaison, customer service and provision of products or services online. The key challenge in this project is the compilation of data from different sources, which requires a well-coordinated effort for ensuring exhaustiveness without duplication. This survey will commence immediately and is expected to be completed in about two months.
© Times of Oman 2009
