25 November 2021, UNESCO Almaty Office in cooperation with the Institute for Information Technologies in Education, Moscow, is organising a presentation of the UNESCO Internet Universality Indicators for Russian-speaking countries.The meeting is aimed at:
- To discuss the relevance of the Internet Universality ROAM principles and Indicators to shape global digital transformation including in the Region.
- To share perspectives and showcase national assessment initiatives, as well as debate the policy recommendations and how to foster Internet policy reforms in the Region.
- To discuss how to make best use of the Dynamic Coalition on Internet Universality ROAM-X indicators, how to engage further Regional stakeholders in the Dynamic Coalition and raise interest from more countries and stakeholders to conduct voluntary assessment of Internet Universality Indicators.
UNESCO has been advocating for a universal Internet for a long time. In 2015, UNESCO’s General Conference endorsed the Internet Universality ROAM-X Principles, which calls for an Internet that is (R) human Rights-based, (O) Open, (A) Accessible by everyone, nurtured by (M) Multi-stakeholder participation and governance, and (X) Inclusive towards women and all groups. The R.O.A.M. principles are articulated in detail through UNESCO’s Internet Universality ROAM-X Indicators.
The set of 303 indicators, including 109 core ones, aims to assess how well national stakeholders, such as governments, companies and civil society, perform in adhering to the R.O.A.M principles and to a number of 79 cross-cutting indicators relating to gender equality, youth, ethical dimensions and sustainable development.
At the national level, these indicators aim to assess the achievement and gaps of Internet development and policies via an inclusive multi-stakeholder methodology. The national assessment process proves to be a holistic approach for individual countries to operationalize the ROAM principles and to achieve evidence-based policy reform and improvement and serves as an evidence-based approach to facilitating digital collaboration at regional and global levels.