Although some countries in the Asian and Pacific region have become global leaders in several areas of ICT development and application, ICT indicators of most of the countries in the Asian and Pacific region, measured in terms of the number of fixed and mobile telecommunication subscribers, the number of internet hosts, the number of internet users, remain low compared to the world average, and costs to access to ICT are still considerably high in many countries.

The major barrier in the development and application of ICT is the lack of awareness and capacity among policy makers and ICT professionals in planning and implementing ICT policies and programmes, along with low level of ICT infrastructure that may be caused by the lack of awareness among policy makers of the importance of ICT in socio-economic development to allocate resources to infrastructure development.

The Plan of Action of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) states that "each person should have the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge in order to understand, participate actively in, and benefit fully from, the Information Society and the knowledge economy". It further called for international and regional cooperation in the field of capacity building, with an emphasis on creating a critical mass of qualified and skilled ICT professionals and experts. Recognizing the importance of capacity building in ICT, APCICT has been established to build capacity of policymakers, project managers and trainers and conduct research on human resource development in the field of ICT that will support the training programme. The ultimate goal of the centre is to reduce the digital divide in the region.

The modalities for achieving this include:
Providing programmes for the training of trainers and exchange of trainers and experts.
Providing advisory services on ICT-related human resources development to UNESCAP members and associate members.

Undertaking analytical studies related to human resources development in ICT, including identifying training needs and sharing good practice in human resources development programmes and training methods.