Information society profiles

The move towards the information society constitutes a major challenge for developing countries. As the digital divide between them and developed countries widens, their productive and economic capacity become increasingly vulnerable. 

The biennial Regional Profile of the Information Society in the Arab Region, produced by ESCWA, has provided essential updated information on the status of the information society in member countries since 2003. National Profiles of the Information Society review the status of each member State in the light of WSIS parameters and serve as input for the regional profile publication.

The main goal of the profiling exercise of ESCWA is to assist decision-makers and researchers with analysis and planning. The results allow national authorities to compare the status of their information society with that of other countries in the region and the world, thereby promoting opportunities for cooperation and regional integration.

Science, technology and innovation profiles

Measuring indicators and indexes to produce a global picture of technology needs in the region is vital. Generating innovation scoreboards and ICT profiles is thus a key priority for the Technology for Development Division (TDD) at ESCWA. The information society profiling exercise that started in 2003 with the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) will be reformulated in the post-2015 development agenda to focus on science, technology and innovation (STI) for development, as well as on the digital economy and the peaceful use of outer space.

The European Investment Bank (EIB), with a leading role in the Centre for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) Innovation Capacity programme, the ESCWA Technology Centre, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have joined forces to help Arab countries to initiate and develop an innovation scoreboard in Arab countries.