Governments embrace ICT e-strategies

A new ITU-led report released on Wednesday reveals that some 84 percent of the world's economies have fulfilled the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) target of putting a national information and communication (ICT) strategy in place by 2010.

In addition, at least another seven percent are in the process of developing such a strategy, the report confirms.

National e-Strategies for Development: Global Status and Perspectives 2010 was unveiled at the WSIS 2010 Forum in Geneva, five years after the WSIS Tunis Phase and the adoption of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society in 2005.

Its findings confirm global recognition of the critical importance of ICTs to ongoing economic and social development.

"It is very encouraging to see that so many countries recognize the key importance of having a national e-strategy, and I am convinced that ICTs will in the future form an integral part of every government's plans for economic and social development," said ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) Director, Sami Al Basheer Al Morshid.

Prepared in collaboration with the five UN Regional Commissions, the report reveals that a substantial proportion of the UN's 192 Member States have already succeeded in incorporating many WSIS recommendations into their own national policies.

National e-strategies are now being viewed by countries as instruments to stimulate and revitalize economic sectors still suffering from the effects of the 2008/2009 global financial crisis, with many governments integrating ICT strategies into their economic stimulus packages.

In particular, e-business is viewed as having great potential, particularly for economies with a large informal sector (as is the case of many developing countries), or for economies with a significant number of small and medium enterprises, where the adoption of ICTs by the business sector can have a positive economic impact.

But while commending the excellent achievements so far in the development of national e-strategies, the report also identified areas where there is still room for improvement.