At the end of November 2018, the UNESCO International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) approved Internet Universality indicators reflected in a document “UNESCO’s Internet Universality Indicators. A Framework for Assessing Internet Development”. The Framework is designed to help governments and other stakeholders to assess national Internet environments and develop policies aimed at promotion of these principles.
On 28 November 2018, Tatyana Murovana, UNESCO IITE programme specialist, presented the UNESCO’s Internet Universality Indicators at the round table on freedom of expression in the digital environment organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in partnership with the International Information Agency “Russia Today” and the Russian Committee of the UNESCO Information for All Programme. Later on, she told more in detail about the UNESCO project on the development of Internet Universality indicators during the 2nd International Symposium on the Communication Research History, which was held at the National Research University Higher School of Economics and organized by the University’s Faculty of Communications, Media and Design on 8 December 2018.
The UNESCO project on the development of Internet Universality indicators is based on the concept of Internet Universality, which was endorsed in 2015 and is rooted in four fundamental principles, including human rights, openness, accessibility and multistakeholder participation. Based on these principles and cross-cutting indicators such as gender and the needs of children and young people, sustainable development, trust and security, and legal and ethical aspects of the Internet, 303 indicators, divided into 25 themes and 124 questions, were developed. For more than two years, the project was implemented by UNESCO with the support of a consortium led by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). It included two rounds of online consultations in six UN official languages, face-to-face consultative meetings and workshops in 13 countries, and a presentation and discussion at the International Internet Governance Forum held in November 2018 in Paris. In total, over two thousand experts from around the world were involved in the work on the development of Internet Universality indicators.
UNESCO IITE participated in two consultative meetings held within the framework of this project in Russia and Jamaica, and in the first round of online consultations. In addition, the UNESCO IITE contributed to processing of the respondent feedback sent in Russian as part of the first round of online consultations.
The document “UNESCO’s Internet Universality Indicators. A Framework for Assessing Internet Development” is available in English at the UNESCO official website.