This new framework for international cooperation to promote sustainable development between 2015 and 2030 is composed of 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 Targets. The new agenda, which succeeds the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), was defined through a Member State-led process with broad participation from major groups and civil society stakeholders.
In March 2015, at its 46th session, the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) created an Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDGs (IAEG-SDGs), composed of Member States and including regional and international agencies as observers, to provide a proposal of a global indicator framework (and associated global and universal indicators).
In March 2016, at its 47th session, the UNSC agreed on the global indicator framework, which will help monitor progress, identify challenges, and guide policy makers. The data for the 231 indicators included in this framework will be an essential part in the ambitious plan to eliminate poverty and hunger, protect the planet, combat inequalities and build peaceful, just and inclusive societies over the next 15 years. The data will also provide the basis for an annual UN progress report. The Commission agreed that this framework would be a practical starting point and that the indicators included in the framework would require further technical refinements.
ICTs and the SDGs
While none of the SDGs is specifically about ICTs, several targets make references to ICTs and technology. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development also recognizes that “The spread of information and communication technology and global interconnectedness has great potential to accelerate human progress, to bridge the digital divide and to develop knowledge societies". ITU has made a concerted effort to highlight the role that ICTs will play in achieving the SDGs. It is actively participating in the discussions on the indicators that will be used to track the SDGs:
ITU includes the following 7 ICT indicators covering 6 targets under Goals 4, 5, 9, and 17. (The organization indicated in brackets tracks the indicator at the international level).
Target 4a: Proportion of schools with access to the Internet for pedagogical purposes (UIS)
Target 4a: Proportion of schools with access to computers for pedagogical purposes (UIS)
Target 4.4: Proportion of youth/adults with ICT skills, by type of skills (ITU)
Target 5b: Proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone, by sex (ITU)
Target 9c: Percentage of the population covered by a mobile network, broken down by technology (ITU)
Target 17.6: Fixed Internet broadband subscriptions, broken down by speed (ITU)
Target 17.8: Proportion of individuals using the Internet (ITU)