Handbook on Measuring Digital Trade, Version 1 by OECD
In response to growing demand for coherent and comparable data on digital trade, in 2017 the Inter-Agency Task Force on International Trade Statistics created an Expert Group, drawn from international organisations, national statistics agencies and central banks, to develop a Handbook that provided:
- A conceptual framework to define digital trade, around which national efforts could be targeted; and
- A mechanism to bring together and share existing national and international efforts on measuring digital trade and/or dimensions of it, that could be used to identify and develop best practice.
The Handbook reflects the outcome to date of the Expert Group’s efforts. It shows that in many areas work is still very much in its infancy and in some respects (for example as regards the measurement and valuation of many data forms) can best be described as embryonic.
At the same time, progress continues to be made in frontier issues surrounding the measurement of digital trade. It is hoped, not least by highlighting the importance of such issues, that the current Handbook will help to accelerate and assist in those efforts. Recognising that significant work remains to be done, and, at the same time that the structure and impact of the digital economy is evolving rapidly and unpredictably, this Handbook cannot be the final word on the subject, rather it should be viewed from the outset as a living document designed to be updated on a continuous basis as new national and international experiences emerge.
Download and comment the Handbook