The aim of Measuring the Digital Transformation: A Roadmap for the Future is not to “rank” countries or develop composite indicators. Instead, its objective is to provide policy makers and analysts with key indicators for each of the dimensions of the Going Digital integrated policy framework but also additional indicators providing detail and nuance, and link to relevant policy levers, to give analysts, stakeholders and policy makers deeper insights into how their economies are performing along those dimensions. The publication draws upon the wealth of data available at the OECD, as well as other international organisations and private data providers.

A forward-looking measurement roadmap develops nine actions that, if prioritised and implemented, would substantially advance the capacity of countries to monitor the digital transformation and its impacts. The first four overarching actions are directed towards building the next generation of data and indicators capable of dealing with the challenges of the digital transformation: make the digital economy visible in economic statistics, understand the economic impacts of the digital transformation, measure well-being in the digital age, and design new and interdisciplinary approaches to data collection. Five further actions target specific areas identified as requiring attention: transformative technologies, data and data flows, skills in the digital era, trust in online environments, and governments’ digital strengths. The actions build on 19 roadmap pages, spread throughout the publication, that identify policy needs for measurement, discuss the challenges and propose options for international action.