Global stakeholders who deal with ICT statistics will converge on the Gaborone International Convention Centre next week to debate new and emerging issues regarding their generality as Botswana hosts the ITU event that brings them together.

ICT ministers, heads of national telecom/ICT regulatory authorities and national statistical offices, heads of international organisations, CEOs of private companies, and statistical experts from around the world will participate in the 14th World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium from 21 to 23 November 2016.

Though first held in 1996, the event has been held annually since 2005 as a main global forum for telecommunication and information society measurements through high-level debates that address key questions about ICT policy and data. Participants' deliberations help provide strategic guidance to the international community on information society trends and future monitoring. They also help develop standards and methodologies for producing high-quality data and statistical indicators.

In his letter of invitation to the expected 300 to 400 delegates, the Director of the ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau which is organising the event, Brahima Sanou, notes that the debates will include a Ministerial Roundtable which will examine innovative policies on how to deliver the benefits of ICTs to all citizens and the opportunities of ICTs to accelerate progress towards the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.

He writes that there will also be a Leaders' Dialogue where the impact of ICTs in areas such as economic growth, employment and security, will be discussed to address data needs and new data sources.

Other sessions will focus on measurement issues related to cybersecurity, e-commerce, and big data and address developments in monitoring the price and affordability of ICT services.

There is a one-fellowship-per-country opportunity for participants from countries with a GDP per capita of less than US$2000 who may need such support.

The results of the work of the Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI) and the Expert Group on Household indicators (EGH) will be presented for adoption during the event and the ITU will release the ICT Development Index (IDI), the global benchmarking tool that tracks the progress of countries in the development of their information societies.

The IDI 2016 will rank around 160 economies globally based on official, internationally comparable ICT statistics.