I’ve been working on some substantial posts about WCIT-12, but have been sidetracked by statistics. They’re shorter, display nicely in graphs, and don’t require as many words to be written about them. So until I finish my other articles, enjoy these numbers:

WCIT-12 document statistics

As of 2 pm Dubai time:

Notes on the above:

• There are 3 Informational documents, but they are numbered 2 through to 4. A week into WCIT-12, INF1 is still a placeholder for a document “be posted in due time”.
• Contribution C3 is a  tangle of Revisions, Addendum and Corrigendum, so I may not have the total number of Contribution documents and variations correct. To explain my confusion, here are the C3 documents currently listed:
  • Addendum 3
  • Addendum 2
  • Revision 2
  • Revision 2 Corrigendum 1
  • Revision 2 Corrigendum 2
  • Addendum 1 Revision 1

What can we learn from the large numbers of documents in each category above? When combined with the punishing schedule of Ad Hoc Group, Working Group, Delegation, Committee and Plenary sessions, it’s easy to see why delegates are getting confused about what document is under discussion at any given point in time.

Gender breakdown of WCIT-12 attendees

Using the ITU document ADM4, which in its current incarnation lists all WCIT-12 delegates who had arrived onsite as of 6 December, we have:

Let’s look at that in pie chart form, shall we?

Member State delegates at WCIT-12 are disproportionately male.

Given three-quarters of the government delegations are male, I now understand why “Chairman” and “Vice-chairman” are the standard currency at the meeting. I do wonder why 49 of the women felt it necessary to inform the world that they are married given there is no way to differentiate between the married and unmarried men at WCIT-12. I prefer how the Internet Governance Forum registration list works: you’re either a “Mr” or a “Ms”.