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Involving civil society in ICT Policy
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Emmanuel Njenga Njuguna
Association for Progressive Communications njenga@apc.org
http://www.apc.org http://africa.rights.apc.org
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Outline
• ICTs and role in Development• ICT Policy and ICT Strategy• Models of policy and strategy
development• Involving civil society in ICT Policy• CS challenges• Conclusions
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Importance of ICT
G8 Okinawa Charter“Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is one of the most potent forces in shaping the
twenty-first century. Its revolutionary impact affects the way people live, learn and work and the
way government interacts with civil society. ICT is fast becoming a vital engine of growth for the
world economy. It is also enabling many enterprising individuals, firms and communities, in all
parts of the globe, to address economic and social challenges with greater efficiency and
imagination. Enormous opportunities are there to be seized and shared by us all.
The essence of the ICT-driven economic and social transformation is its power to
help individuals and societies to use knowledge and ideas. Our vision of an
information society is one that better enable people to fulfil their potential and
realise their aspirations.”
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Role of ICT in Development• ICT plays a great role at both the micro and
national level by increasing the effectiveness and reach of development interventions, enhancing good governance and lowering the costs of service delivery
• The integration of ICT into overall national development strategies can help facilitate implementation, expand the scope and coverage, and increase the results for most of these factors. Moreover, development goals cannot be achieved by government efforts alone.
• The involvement of civil society and the private sector is crucial.
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ICT for empowerment and participation
• Citizens are encouraged to participate in the democratic process through ICT mechanisms such as electronic forums and bulletin boards, which enable participation in public discussions
• ICT can contribute to fostering empowerment and participation and making government processes more efficient and transparent by encouraging communication and information-sharing among people and organizations, and within government. – case studies in India – Andhra Pradesh
• ICT enables solution sharing between local people and communities, providing access to practical information
• Organizations in developing countries also find it increasingly feasible to participate in information-sharing that strengthens governance and collective power, allowing them to influence political and institutional decision-making processes.
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UseProvision AccessParticipation Awareness
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Participation
• Recognition that ICT is a key development enabler not just a technology for use and participation in ICT development should be ensured
• What is an enabler? A means to an end not an end in itself. ICT enables other service provision (eg telemedicine, training, education etc)
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Provision and Access
• PROVISION: The removal of obstacles to the provision of ICT through participation initiatives need to be balanced with protection of community and ensuring confidence in services
• ACCESS: Access to ICT will enable and can be used as leverage towards greater empowerment and a more equitable future for poorer communities
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Use and Awareness
• USE: ICT should be able to be used just like any other medium. However ICT also raises particular issues that need to be addressed (eg new criminal activity, copyright issues)
• AWARENESS: Access to ICT is crucially dependent on education, public awareness, targeted useful technology
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National ICT Policy
• A tool to promote national vision and the basis for the legislation and regulation through which it is implemented – The ICT policy will benefit all citizens– It will encourage wider ownership in all
forms – It will be transparent and therefore
decisions taken are open to scrutiny – Government will consult those most
affected by the policy – The ICT policy will be action-oriented and
make things happen
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Models of Policy and Strategy development
•PROACTIVE: Policy mapping model
–identify important policy issues
–‘map’ policy issues to legislation
•REACTIVE: Legal issues model
–as legal issues arise, develop legislation
•CO-OPERATIVE: Co-operative model
–identify important policy and legal issues
–develop ICT Laws as outputs
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Vietnam ICT Policy
Infrastructure
Human
Resources
Applications
(E-issues)
Manufacturing
Government
Enterprises
Users
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ICT Laws in Vietnam
4 pillars
Infrastructure
Human
Resources
Applications
(E-issues)
ManufacturingICT
LAWS
? How ?
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Thailand Pro-active model
Policy priorities Law outputs
e-Society
e-Education
e-Government
e-Commerce
e-Industry
Electronic Transactions Law
Electronic Signatures Law
Electronic Fund Transfers Law
Computer Crimes Law
Data Protection Law
National Information Infrastructure Law
Information Technology
Laws Development
Project
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Manufacturing and infrastructure
Infrastructure
Manufacturing
Identify policy and
legal issues
Investment environment
Sectoral reform in infrastructure
industries
Others, eg inadequate Intellectual
Property and competition law
protection
Business Enterprise Law
Taxation Laws
Foreign and Domestic Investment Laws
Ordinance on Posts and Telecommunications
Sector reform in broadcasting and print sectors
Intellectual Property Laws
Competition Laws
Others?
Map to legislation
Map to legislation
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Applications
Applications
Identify policy and legal issues
e-Enablement
Rights and protections for society
Map to legislative
issues
Map to legislative
issues
Equivalency of electronic forms
Recognition of digital forms (signatures, electronic funds)
Licensing/Registration for particular uses (eg telemedicine etc)
Controls over certain ICTs (eg online gambling)
Censorship and national security
Computer crimes
Data protection/privacy
Defamation
Liability of ISPs
Intellectual property
Anti-spamming
Policy of development of e-society through e-applications, e-Government, e-commerce
Institutional responsibilities for development of ICT
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Human resources
Human Resources
Identify policy issues
Policy priorities and development
Map to legislative
issues
Recognition and statement
of policy priorities and development
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National ICT Strategies
• ICT as a sector• policies which focus on the development and/or
strengthening of ICT-related industries such as computer hardware, software, telecommunications equipment and ICT-enabled services.
• ICT as an enabler to social-economic development
• the adoption of holistic, cross-sector strategies which aim to harness the uniqueness of ICT to accelerate a wider development process.
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Case Studies
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Producing Vs Use of ICTs
• Focus on use and enablement of ICTs• “For most developed countries, the
contribution of ICT—using sectors is much stronger than the contribution of IT producing sectors.”
• “ICT-using countries tend to benefit more than IT-producing countries, because IT producing countries lose some of the gains through deteriorating terms of trade.”
• “Historical experience suggests the main beneficiaries of technological revolutions have been the users”
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Involving Civil Society In ICT Policy
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National Policy and Strategies
• Three stakeholders involved– Government, Private sector, Civil Society
• Civil Society Involvement– In today’s information society access to ICTs is a
basic human right, a right which should be protected and extended
– A successful policy depends on how people use the new tools that become available to them
• Is there evidence of civil society involvement in ICT decision making processes ?
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Issues and civil society concerns
• Influencing policy (lobbying and advocacy)• Monopolies, competition and universal service• Privacy rights and internet users• Policy implementation and monitoring (linking policy to
legislation and regulatory aspects • Gender and marginalised groups• Content and language• Intellectual property – transformation of IP regimes to
ensure equitable access and stimulate innovation– Open source and free software– Open knowledge sharing
• Freedom of expression and censorship• Privacy and security
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CS Challenges• Internal organization• Representation issues• Limited involvement of CSOs in ICT issues• CSOs that could be involved in ICT policies are
focused on other sectoral issue – public, private, educational and others
• While there are some successes, civil society participation has been ad-hoc and often delivered through individual experts rather than through representative voices of civil society groups.
• No channels exist for civil society participation
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Conclusions
• Exploit existing links - Local, regional and international organizations offering support
• Organization of ICT civil society sector internally through the establishment of a national ICT forum – avoid competition
• Linkage with CSOs with broader development goals in order to build awareness of ICTs
• Increasing understanding of government processes, lobbying and public relations
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