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Jordan ‘good candidate’ for Internet Universality Indicators pilot project

By Mohammad Ghazal - Oct 29,2017 - Last updated at Oct 29,2017

UNESCO Director for Freedom of Expression and Media Development Director Guy Berger speaks during a consultation session on the Internet Universality Indicators in Amman recently (Photo courtesy UNESCO)

AMMAN — UNESCO is eyeing Jordan as one of the pilot countries to implement the Internet Universality Indicators, which aims to develop indicators for governments and other stakeholders to measure Internet development at the national level and promote the norms and values based on the ROAM principles (Rights, Openness, Accessibility and Multi-stakeholder participation).

“We hope that Jordan will not only be a partner in helping towards shaping these indicators, but also be a pilot country to test these indicators,” UNESCO Director for Freedom of Expression and Media Development Director Guy Berger said in a recent interview with The Jordan Times following two consultation sessions on the Internet Universality Indicators at the Jordan Media Institute.

The sessions saw the attendance of over 20 Internet experts including government officials, private sector representatives, data protection advocates, privacy experts, academia, and members of civil society and educational institutions.

“The consultations we had in Jordan were very effective and productive and are greatly contributing to the indicators,” Berger added.

Implementing and adopting these indicators will help Jordan in its efforts to reach a digital economy and to further increase its strength in the digital economy sector by following these standards, he continued.

“When implemented, these indicators will help countries that adopt them to measure points of strength and build on them… Some of the consultations that we had in Jordan covered issues related to equality of use of the Internet among gender and these were good ideas,” Berger said, voicing hope that Jordan will be among the countries to adopt these indicators.

The indicators resulting from this project will not address every aspect of the Internet, but will instead focus on the four ROAM principles and cross-cutting issues including the impact of the Internet on gender issues and on children and young people. 

They will help governments and other stakeholders assess their Internet environments against those principles and will include both quantitative and qualitative indicators, enabling a comprehensive view to be taken of progress in countries with different experiences and different characteristics. 

Special attention will be paid in their development to the gender dimension and the impact of the Internet on children and young people.

 

The final indicators will be presented in 2018 and will be submitted to the UNESCO Member States of the International Programme for the Development of Communication for endorsement.

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