World Dialogue on Regulation

In his report “Evaluation of e-Readiness Indices in Latin America and the Caribbean”, Michael Minges aims to contribute to a better understanding of the different indices of e-Readiness and their application in LAC countries. The paper includes 18 Latin American and 15 Caribbean countries. All of them have signed the Regional Plan of Action for the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean, eLAC2007.

A remarkable task that Minges face in his paper is the comparison of different e-Readings indices. The exercise gathered valuable information and some surprises: Most of the e-indices were issued on 2005 and the older on 2003. This data shows the momentum that this research theme is reaching.

The report’s methodology is quite accurate. After an overview of the main e-readiness indices and their theoretical frameworks, as well as the central problems of every case.

Although this document is a new release with fresh findings it is not different from others approaches to the indices issue. The reader will find in the text again the used statement: “It is difficult to find a common framework among information and communication technology (ICT) indices (“e-indices”) since most measure different things”.

Nevertheless the reader also could appreciate the comparison between countries among the region and subregions. In five section Minges gives a detailed analysis of each index country by country and a ranking comparison between the four regions of the area (South Cone, Andean, Central and Caribbean)

The sixth and last chapter offers two parts. In the first one, Minges criticizes the main limitations of existing e-indices. In short, the list of problems is the following:

1. Poor at tracking ICT evolution
2. Categorization not consistent
3. Lack of transparency
4. Poor choice of indicators
5. Subjective
6. Exclusive
7. Limited extensibility
8. Applicability to developing countries

The second part of this final chapter is “General Recommendations”. Minges advices not only in general, but also he looks at every particular tool in LAC. He proposes to be alert about the following principles of eventual new e-indices:

1. Harmonization. Literally: “The categories that make up the structure of the index should be consistent with what the index is measuring”.
2. Longevity. “There should be resources available to ensure that it will be reproduced over time”.
3. Inclusive. “The index should aspire to incorporate as many countries as possible”. 
4. Objectivity. “Any data used in the index should stand up to independent testing and verification”. 
5. Transparency. “The sources of all the data used in the index should be identified” 
6. Data correctness. 
7. Indicators. “Effort should be devoted to the selection of a few key indicators that are credible proxies for what is being measured”. 
8. Documentation: All indices should provide sufficient information about their methodology and include the indicators used to allow users to reconstruct the index.

Finally in the annexes we can find the strong statistical support that the author used in the analysis. Almost half of the paper is occupied with this data, an essential component of the study.

About the author:

Michael Minges is head of the Telecommunications Data and Statistics Unit in the Development Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union.

Prior to coming to the ITU, Mr. Minges worked at the International Monetary Fund for ten years where he held a variety of positions in information technology and statistics. He has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from George Washington University (United States).

Mr. Minges is responsible for analyzing worldwide developments in the telecommunication industry. He has written numerous articles and makes frequent presentations around the world on telecommunications progress in emerging countries.

He is the co-author of several books including a principal industry publication, the World Telecommunication Development Report as well as Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Indicators.

The paper Minges, Michael: “Evaluation of e-Readiness Indices in Latin America and the Caribbean”  has been prepared by the author, under the direction of Martin Hilbert and Marcio Wohlers from the United Nation’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The date of this publication is December 2005.