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01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 2020 suriname ict vision 2020 

 Suriname ict vision  2020 

 A sectorial approach to optimally benefit from the Digital Age 

        

June 2015     

ICT Associatie Suriname  

 

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Content List of abbreviations ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Executive summary ....................................................................................................................................... 5

1. National vision on ICT ............................................................................................................................... 6

2. Situational analysis .................................................................................................................................... 8

Strengths and weaknesses ........................................................................................................................ 8

Opportunities and threats ......................................................................................................................... 15

3. Industry insights & recommendations ..................................................................................................... 18

Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 18

Organizational design .............................................................................................................................. 18

Educational impulses ............................................................................................................................... 21

Legislation ................................................................................................................................................ 23

IT infrastructure ........................................................................................................................................ 25

Funding .................................................................................................................................................... 26

4. Benchmarking in National ICT development ........................................................................................... 29

5. Recommendations for a National ICT Strategy Plan .............................................................................. 35

6. ICT Association Suriname’s Vision 2020 ................................................................................................ 39

7. Business Model for the ICT sector .......................................................................................................... 40

General .................................................................................................................................................... 40

Customer Segments and Customer Relationships .................................................................................. 40

Channels .................................................................................................................................................. 41

Value propositions ................................................................................................................................... 41

Key Activities ............................................................................................................................................ 42

Key Resources ......................................................................................................................................... 42

Key Partners ............................................................................................................................................ 43

Cost Structure .......................................................................................................................................... 45

Revenue Streams .................................................................................................................................... 46

8. Roadmap ................................................................................................................................................. 47

9. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 50

Appendix 1: Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 51

Appendix 2 - Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 53

Appendix 3 – List of interviews with stakeholders ....................................................................................... 54

Appendix 4: Overview of the implementation of WSIS Action Lines ........................................................... 55

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List of abbreviations Please find below the frequently used abbreviations, definitions and key terms with the explanation of the

definitions used:

ABS - General Bureau for Statistics of Suriname

ADEKUS - Anton de Kom University of Suriname

ATM - Ministry of Labour, Technological Development and environment (as of April

2015 renamed to Ministry of Labour)

BPM - Business Process Management

BIIPAC - Broadband Infrastructure Inventory and Public Awareness within the Caribbean

CBvS - Central Bank of Suriname

CUS - Competitiveness Unit Suriname, work force of the Cabinet of the Vice President

EBS - ‘Energie Bedrijven Suriname’, Suriname’s public power utility

GDP - Gross Domestic Product

HI - Ministry of Trade and Industry

HIPCAR - Harmonization of ICT Policies, Legislation and Regulatory Procedures in the

Caribbean

IDB - Inter-American Development Bank

ICT - Information Communication Technology1 refers to all the technology used to

handle telecommunications, broadcast media, intelligent building management

systems, audiovisual processing and transmission systems, and network-based

control and monitoring functions. Although ICT is often considered an extended

synonym for information technology (IT), its scope is broader. ICT has more

recently been used to describe the convergence of several technologies and the

use of common transmission lines carrying very diverse data and communication

types and formats. In this document the abbreviations ICT and IT are

interchangeable.

ICT4D - ICT4D (Information and Communications Technologies for Development) is an

initiative aimed at bridging the digital divide (the disparity between technological

"have" and "have not" geographic locations or demographic groups) and aiding

economic development by ensuring equitable access to up-to-date

communications technologies. The United Nations, through its UN Development

Programme, actively promotes ICT4D as a powerful tool for economic and social

development around the world.

1 Source: http://www.techopedia.com/definition/24152/information-and-communications-technology-ict

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ICT-AS - ICT Association Suriname

IDB - Inter-American Development Bank

IMIT - Institute of Management and Information Technology

IP - Intellectual Property

IPv6 - Internet Protocol version 6

ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network

ISO - International Standards Organization

ITU - International Telecommunications Union

IXP - Internet eXchange Point

KKF - Chamber of Commerce of Suriname

KPIs - Key Performance Indicators

LAN - Local Area Networks

MINOV - Ministry of Education and Community Development (as of April 2015 renamed to

Ministry of Education, Science and Culture)

NATIN - Senior secondary vocational education (‘Natuurtechnisch Instituut’)

NAICS - North American Industry Classification System

NOB - National Development Bank (‘Nationale Ontwikkelingsbank’)

NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology

OAS Organization of American States

PTC - Polytechnic College – Bachelor degrees studies

R&D - Research and Development

SBDC - Suriname Business Development Center

SME - Small and Medium Sized Entities

SMP - Small and Medium Sized Practices

STI - Sustainable Technology Development & Innovation

VSB - Association of Surinamese Business

TAS - Telecommunication Authority Suriname

TCT - Ministry of Tourism, Communication and Technology

UNASUR - Union of South American Nations

VoIP - Voice over Internet Protocol

WAN - Wide Area Network

WEF - World Economic Forum

WiFi - Wireless Internet

Wimax - Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

WSIS - World Summit on Information Society

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Executive summary The ICT Vision 2020 envisions the ICT Association of Suriname’s perspective of the role of the ICT sector in the development of the Republic of Suriname and its impact on the Surinamese economy. Inspired by researches in the ICT industry of Suriname combined with insights of relevant stakeholders, the discussion paper ‘ICT Vision 2020’ aspires to guide the potential growth of the ICT sector in an effective manner and addresses the preconditions and recommendations to policy makers. The first chapter describes the National vision on ICT, which is based on the National Development Plan 2012-2016. The Government of Suriname states to provide full support to the ICT sector and recognizes the role of ICT in the development of Suriname. The recommendations for the preparation of a National ICT Strategy Plan is described based on the benchmark with other jurisdictions and based on national researches and recommendations of from the World Summit Information Society Programme (WSIS) for establishing an ‘information society’. In order to describe a future outlook, the situational analysis will provide a basic understanding of the environment, of which the local ICT sector derives from. Industry insights and recommendations from Industry leaders and relevant stakeholders will help to define the road map for the ICT sector. These recommendations are conveniently structured in the following themes:

Organizational design;

Educational impulses;

Legislation;

IT infrastructure;

Funding.

Based on the situational analysis, insights & recommendations, benchmarking and results from prior

researches, the ICT Association Suriname’s Vision is rephrased into:

‘‘ICT-AS shapes the ICT sector to benefit from becoming an Information Society and a significant pillar of the Surinamese economy’.

In order to reach this ambition the nine building blocks of the Business Model Canvas have been used to

reflect on a feasible business case for the sector.

The roadmap for the period 2015-2020 concludes with the high priority targets, responsibilities and key

performance indicators (output) to measure the progress of the ambition of the ICT sector.

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1. National vision on ICT Introduction

According to Bain & Company2 less than 30 percent of IT projects are successful, often due to the lack of

alignment with business needs and priorities. Business alignment is at the core of realizing the full

potential from IT:

Business strategy and business initiatives must drive the direction and priorities for IT

investments;

IT capability must enable innovative business strategies and business capabilities.

Business alignment is required in companies across all industries and is critical in those where IT plays a

central role in business operations.

Above statement also applies to a country’s IT strategy ensuring that the Country Development Strategy

and National Initiatives are driving the direction and priorities for IT investments. IT capabilities must

enable innovative development strategies and capabilities. This can be illustrated by the following IT

business alignment wheel:

Source: Bain & Company Germany

Suriname’s vision on ICT has been described in the National Development Plan 2012-2016 of the

Government of Suriname, which is conveniently summarized and analyzed hereafter.

Education & ICT

Education is aimed to provide in graduates with practical knowledge and competences which fulfill the

labour market needs and support the country’s development goals. Science, researches and Information

and Communication Technology (ICT) should have a special place in education, on which modern society

is more and more based on.

2 Source: http://www.bain.de/en/managementkompetenzen/informationstechnologie/it-diagnostic.aspx

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Information Society

The Government of Suriname aims to develop an ‘Information Society’, which give every citizen equal

access to adequate and qualitative ICT infrastructure. An optimal use of ICT is therefore stimulated by

the Government.

National ICT Policy

In accordance to the National Development Plan 2012-2016, the most important policy activities are:

Modernizing legislation:

Laws and regulation are important for a sound competitive environment, a fair level playing field

and to stimulate adoption of new technologies. With regards to harmonization within the region,

the “Harmonization of ICT Policies, Legislation and Regulatory Procedures in the Caribbean”

(HIPCAR)-project3 will be implemented.

Improving communication infrastructure and geographical spread:

The Telecommunication Authority Suriname (TAS), as regulator of the telecommunication sector, will stimulate telecommunication companies to expand their IT infrastructure and improve connectivity by providing fixed telephone, mobile and internet services.

Improving frequency management and frequency distribution by introducing digital television;

Drafting a National ICT Strategy:

In order to harmonize the ICT policy with the region, the Government of Suriname will integrate

the region’s ICT for Development Strategy Plan (‘ICT4D strategy’) in its own National ICT Strategy

Plan. Based on the National ICT Strategy Plan a National Institute should be established to

monitor the implementation of the development goals. As part of the National ICT Strategy is an

e-Government Strategy, which will organize, simplify and digitalize the governmental services to

society with use of ICT. This should lead to strengthen and improve the relationship between

consumer, the government and business.

As stated in the National Development Plan 2012-2016, the Government of Suriname confirmed to be

aware of the vital role of ICT and aims to give ICT a prominent place in the development of the

Surinamese economy.

Concluding on the National ICT vision

It is encouraging that the Surinamese Government fully supports the ICT sector and recognizes the role

of ICT in the development of Suriname.

The next chapter will describe a situational analysis, followed by insights of industry leaders and relevant

stakeholders in the ICT, which will help to formulate a future outlook and roadmap for the ICT sector.

3 Source: Harmonization of ICT Policies, Legislation and Regulatory Procedures in the Caribbean’

(HIPCAR) – Electronic Transactions: Assessment report ; by ACP, EU, Caricom, CTU and ITU; 2011.

8

2. Situational analysis General In order to formulate the ICT vision 2020, the following SWOT analysis will help to understand the current ICT market in Suriname.

Strengths and weaknesses Lack of ICT statistics The Board of the ICT Association Suriname is convinced that the ICT sector could become a multibillion dollar business. However, in order to measure the performance of the sector reliable ICT statistics are needed. As presented below, the General Bureau of Statistics currently does not have a separate designated part for the ICT sector in the statistics of Suriname, in terms of contribution to the Gross Domestic Product:

Source: www.cbvs.sr; Gross Domestic Product by Economic Activity at Current Prices in Millions of SRD; Rebased Series (Base Year 2007, SNA 1993 compliant).

9

In general companies are not willing to disclose revenue information. The earning capacity of the ICT industry is mentioned per individual registered company at the Chamber of Commerce and included in the totals of the other above mentioned industries. With reference to ‘Industry Canada, Canadian ICT Statistical overview”, the following information could give a better insight in the economic performance of the ICT sector in Suriname:

Population spread: o Companies by ICT sub-sector (in % of total population): Software & computer services,

ICT wholesaling, ICT manufacturing and Communications Services;

Employment ratios: o Companies by Employee size (in % of total population); o ICT sector employment 2015-2020 (in amounts and in % of total); o Employment by ICT sub-sector (in % of total population); o Percentage of workers with a university degree by major ICT industry; o Average annual salaries by major ICT industry;

Earnings ratios: o ICT sub-sector revenues 2015-2020 in million dollars; o Revenues by ICT sub-sector (in % of total revenues); o ICT sector GDP 2015-2020 in million dollars and as percentage of total GDP; o GDP by ICT Sub-sector;

R&D Expenditures by ICT Industry:

Return on Investment of ICT projects on industries listed by the General Bureau for Statistics;

Export ratios: o Exports of ICT goods by product group (in % of total population); o Export of ICT goods by region (in % of total population); o Exports, imports and trade balance of ICT goods 2015-2020.

The Global IT report 2015, including Suriname In contrary to above, surprisingly, the World Economic Forum was able to derive information on the ICT sector in its ‘Global Information Technology Report 2015: ICTs for Inclusive Growth’, which was published in April 2015. The first section of the Country Profile presents the economy’s performance in the overall Networked Readiness Index (NRI), the four main components and the 10 pillars. For each of these dimensions, the economy’s rank (out of 143 economies) and score (on a 1-to 7 scale) are reported. A score of 1 corresponds with the worst outcome and a score of 7 with the best possible outcome. The second section represents the Networked Readiness Index in detail. Analyzing the results from the Country Profile, Suriname ranks at a poor country position of 114 of 143 countries, with an NRI index score of 3.2. Strengths have been noted in the ‘Readiness subindex’ in the field of Infrastructure (score of 4.5) and Skills (score of 4.8). However, Affordability of the infrastructure has a poor score of 3.4, which ranks Suriname on 119 of the 143 countries. Weaknesses have been identified in the ‘Impact subindex’

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on Economic impacts (score of 2.7) and Social Impacts (2.6), which indicates a low adaption level of global ICT trends. The main findings of the Country Profile of Suriname are summarized in the page hereafter.

11

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Global Competitiveness of Suriname

The following spider graph visualizes Suriname’s score in competitiveness factors:

In the Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015, Suriname is classified as an efficiency driven economy.

The next step is to transform into an innovation-driven economy, focusing on factors such as business

sophistication and innovation, which factors are also key for the ICT sector. The strengths and

weaknesses are detailed below:

Suriname decreased 4 places to 110 (of a total of 148) in the country ranking. There is a small change in

the overall score from 3.8 to 3.7. As shown above, Suriname still has a long way to go especially in terms

of innovation of business sophistication.

Strenghts Weaknesses

• Health and Primary Education (5.7/7) • Market Size (2.1/7)

• Macroeconomic Environment (4.8/7) • Innovation (2.6/7)

• Labour Market Efficiency (3.7/7) • Business Sophistication (3.4/7)

• Technological Readiness (3.7/7) • Institutions (3.4/7)

• Infrastructure (3.6/7)

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The World Economic Forum, further states that government bureaucracy and corruption remain a major

issue for doing business in Suriname. Business process management (BPM) with effective use of ICT

could lead to significant reduction of bureaucracy and corruption, when pursuing a more systematic

approach to making the governmental organization's workflow more effective, more efficient and more

capable of adapting to an ever-changing environment.

Furthermore, the market size shows the opportunity of exporting future 'fruits' of the Surinamese information society with a well-developed community of generic and specialized educated ICT professionals. ICT Market Suriname historically did not have an active governmental program to increase the potential of the ICT sector. Quoting from an interview with the Suriname Business Development Centre, “when you promote supermarkets, you will get an economy consisting of predominantly supermarkets’. The actual ICT sector could be nuanced as follows. The current ICT market in Suriname consists of mainly small and medium size ICT companies, which are struggling for survival in a highly competitive market. Instead of fiercely competing each other, ICT companies could collaborate in order to be able to gain access to large ICT projects at the government. Entrepreneurs experience a noticeable preference of the Government of Suriname for large foreign ICT companies above the local entrepreneurs. The cause of this preference might be found in the low commercial presence in the media and scientific publications, but also the lack of public knowledge of available local ICT resources and expertise. ICT business’ needs The Surinamese business landscape consists of more than 95% of small and medium-sized entities, which

mostly consist of family-owned companies and sole entrepreneurships.

ICT solutions for companies are considered as hands-on tools for communication, business processes

enabling tools. The difference of the ICT maturity level between companies is extensive. ICT for micro

and smaller and medium sized entities is considered in the lower maturity level. Although companies

should continuously invest in ICT, this often conflicts in the vision of doing business by the former

generation.

ICT awareness amongst entrepreneurs should be raised to emphasize the benefits for the micro and SME

companies, while also raising the level of services provided by ICT providers. A mirror should be held in

front of entrepreneurs in order to raise the quality of the ICT services provided by third parties and to

measure internal ICT performance. When properly used, ICT could enable business improvements.

Before capitalizing benefits, ICT should be more tangible and practical: ICT should be noticeable in the

front of the value chain. Examples of business improvements in the agriculture are increased production

due to more efficient growth monitoring and harvesting planning, while decreasing monitoring costs of

crops and less labor incentive activities.

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Lack of ICT legislation

In order to safely benefit from the fast pacing ICT trends, ICT awareness on IT security will be needed.

The ease of doing business will improve by utilizing mobile devices for example for mobile payments.

However, in order to profit from these comforting ICT trends, legislation will be a precondition, relating

to electronic payments and to electronic transactions in general.

Reliable and available national power supply

In order to develop the ICT sector to its full potential, there is a desperate need for reliable and available

power supply. The growth rate of Suriname’s electricity demand is averaging 6.8 percent annually over

the past 5 years. Energie Bedrijven Suriname (EBS), Suriname’s public power utility, has a transmission

and distribution infrastructure, which currently struggles to cope with a steadily rising energy demand,

and the replacement of several aged components will allow for no delays, so as to prevent energy

shortages and reduced quality of service.

In December 2014, the Inter-American Development Bank4 (IDB) has approved a loan of USD 33 million

to provide financial support for EBS. The overall objective of this investment loan is to contribute to the

sustainability of the power sector in Suriname through strengthening EBS’s operational procedures and

corporate performance by financing improvements in information technology and by upgrading and

retrofitting critical infrastructure in the National Power System.

Connectivity

The internet penetration rate is estimated to be 8% for 2015 (excluding mobile internet), which means

that a small portion of the population can profit from the ICT innovation through cloud solutions. After

inclusion of mobile internet connectivity the penetration rate for 2015 could be between 25% - 30%

based on estimates of the Telecommunication Authority of Suriname.

The price-quality relation of broadband internet could be improved, but is deemed reasonable for business purposes. The next chapter describes the opportunities and threats for the ICT sector of Suriname.

4 Source: News release from the Inter-American Development Bank of 18 December 2014:

http://www.iadb.org/en/news/news-releases/2014-12-18/suriname-power-sector,11034.html.

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Opportunities and threats ICT trends In its annual global trend watch dated January 2015, Gartner identified the following categories of ICT trends:

Merging the Real World and the Virtual World: o Computing Everywhere; o The Internet of Things; o 3D Printing;

Intelligence Everywhere: o Smart Machines; o Advanced, Pervasive and Invisible Analytics; o Context-Rich Systems;

The IT Reality Emerges: o Web-scale IT; o Software-defined Applications and Infrastructure; o Risk-based Security; o Cloud/client computing.

The ICT trends can be visualized as follows:

The business community should be proactive towards ICT trends and trigger the government on the

necessary preconditions (including IT security and legislation) to shape the ICT environment.

16

The adaption capacity of Surinamese companies to latest ICT developments is deemed favorable. For

example, a telecommunication company in collaboration with a security company provides home

security services to clients to monitor activities in their home environment through cameras.

In order to benefit from ICT trends, the possibility of electronic payments could lower the threshold for

consumers to buy mobile apps developed by Surinamese entrepreneurs. For example, legislation is

necessary in able to connect to Google e-Wallet. Also see earlier mentioned remarks noted in the

paragraph ‘Lack of ICT legislation’.

It is not expected that the ICT industry will significantly contribute in the manufacturing of innovative ICT products. However, the ICT sector could be adaptive to such trends and subsequently improve their ICT services and profit from innovative solutions to clients. The successful deployment of innovative solutions on the Surinamese market and whether the ICT sector will profit from the trends as producer/IT service provider rather than as mass consumers of IT products, will depend on the factors as listed below. Integrated approach: ICT as part of a business concept /government policy ICT should be more integrated into business’ and government’s activities and is a key factor for success. In order to make ICT interesting for policy makers, entrepreneurs and citizens, ICT solutions should be made more practical rather than abstract. ICT awareness programs could further engage the public and private sector to acknowledge that ICT is an enabler for their personal growth, better public services and adaptive business concept. By raising awareness the actual ICT needs of the public and private sector could be detailed in specific IT plans, which is aligned with the company’s/government’s strategic plan. ICT will be considered less as mandatory investments and more as profitable, when ICT is a logical part the business concept of the management. Education The current generation of students is likely to be more adaptive and interested in the possibilities of

smart devices, such as smart phones, smart wearables and tablets. Smart devices could be incorporated

as learning tools in the education systems. From a technological perspective, the ICT environment and

tools are readily available. The transformation process is yet to be made, which include training of basic

ICT skills (also for lecturers), widely availability of broadband internet and the development of e-learning

based materials.

Insourcing opportunities Suriname could be the next location for Google, besides Serbia or Poland, to base their data center,

taken into account the strategic location of Suriname, which is free from large natural disasters.

Suriname already has a modest industry for call centers, insourced accounting services and IT test

activities from the Netherlands.

17

Each of these IT service providers will be highly dependent of its uptime and should have business

continuity solutions which could be costly, unless facilitated by a shared service center providing

redundancy and a secondary recovery site. The Government of Suriname is planning to facilitate local

business with a Paranam Industrial Park, which could be designed as an e-Business park with shared high

automated processing capacity and business continuity solutions.

Key success factors will be a.o. ICT specific education and the ability to provide sound & qualitative high

level of services from IT engineers and IT professionals. The Government will also have an important role

in improving the IT infrastructure by promoting connectivity.

Chamber of Commerce’s ambition to facilitate e-services for business solutions

In its policy paper 2015-2020 the Chamber of Commerce envisions itself as an independent organization

for business in Suriname to fundamentally contribute to the economy of Suriname.

In order to realize this ambition the Chamber aims to upgrade to a professional ICT environment, where

entrepreneurs can easily publish their financial statements in accordance to the Trade law (‘Wetboek

van Koophandel’), but also retrieve financial statements from other companies and sector specific

information. A combination of cloud solutions as internet accounting, standardization of accounting and

ICT practices and practical training should provide in said ambition.

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3. Industry insights & recommendations

Introduction After a situational analysis using a SWOT analysis of the ICT industry, we interviewed a selection of champions in the ICT industry and relevant stakeholders, to list insights and recommendations to optimally benefit from ICT trends and defend ourselves against cyber threats. The recommendations are conveniently structured in the following themes:

Organizational design;

Educational impulses;

Legislation;

IT infrastructure;

Funding.

Organizational design

ICT & government

ICT policymaking

The National ICT policy is not formally defined and clearly communicated. From an organizational

perspective, ICT policy is spread in at least three Ministries:

Ministry of Tourism, Communication and Transport (TCT);

Ministry of Labour, Technological Development and Environment (ATM); and

Ministry of the Interior (‘Ministerie van Binnenlandse zaken’).

As of April 2015 the Ministry of ATM is changed into Ministry of Labour, which Ministry acknowledges

that Technological Development was not in effect and Environment is transferred to the Ministry of the

Interior. The Ministry of TCT interprets ‘Communication’ as ‘Telecommunication’ for the country, under

which supervision the Telecommunication Authority Suriname operates. The result of described situation

is a lack of ownership for ICT policymaking for strengthening the ICT sector as a significant economic

pillar for Suriname.

As mentioned in the chapter ‘National vision on ICT’, the Government of Suriname aims to establish a

National Institute to monitor the implementation of the development goals from the National ICT

Strategy plan. In 2013 a ‘Directorate e-Government’ has been established (not operational yet), directly

under supervision and control of the Cabinet of the Vice President. The scope of the Directorate does

not fully cover the task of monitoring the progress of national ICT development goals, but is more

focused on the implementation of e-government activities.

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e-Government

Before establishment of the Directorate e-Government, the e-Government Commission has been

installed in 2011 as work force of the Cabinet of the Vice President of the Government of Suriname. The

e-Government Commission aims to improve transparency, active participation, public responsibility,

effectiveness and cohesion. This governmental workforce initiated and prepared the implementation of

GovGrid, software and hardware protocol, drafting of a Governmental ICT Policy, Citizen care, drafting of

an Electronic Transactions Act, Governmental web application for e-services.

Although the preparation and implementation of the backbone for the e-government activities are in a

near-to-completion phase, citizens do not experience the benefits of government to citizens (G2C)

e-transactions yet, since the governmental web application is yet to be launched. Also the much

anticipated Electronic Transactions Act is yet to be enacted.

It is strongly recommended to structure these initiatives into a future-proof master plan for not only the

ICT of the Government itself, but also further translated into a strategy document how ICT could be

aligned and could contribute to the country’s economic development. More specific a National ICT

strategy plan could be designed to diversify the economy, including the ICT sector as a significant pillar

contributing to the Country’s economy.

National ICT strategy plan

Ten years ago, at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in its two phases (Geneva 2003, &

Tunis 2005), representatives of the world adopted a common vision on the Information Society,

identifying its main principles and challenges towards a people-centered inclusive and development-

oriented Information Society. The WSIS principles and recommendations are currently not integrated in

a formal national ICT strategy plan. Although the national ICT strategy plan is not formalized yet,

Suriname already participates in regional ICT initiatives such as the Caricom activities for a better

connectivity (‘CARICOM ICT single space’). Also the e-Government Commission prepared an e-

Government Strategy Plan, which should be part of the National ICT strategy plan. The e-Government

Strategy Plan addresses Government-to-Business, Government-to-Citizens and Government-to-

Government e-activities.

After defining the country’s ICT vision, ambition, strategy and ICT policy, it is highly recommended to

appoint the execution of the ICT strategy plan to a National Institute for a more effective progress

monitoring of the implementation of the planned activities to effectively improve the Nation’s state of

ICT operations. This recommendation is in conformity with Suriname National Development Plan 2012-

2016.

20

Governmental ICT promotional schemes

Duty free import of ICT hardware

The government of Suriname has implemented duty free import of ICT hardware. A research could be

conducted to evaluate the actual price deducting effect on ICT goods in Suriname. In spite of this

governmental ICT promotional scheme, the ICT manufacturing industry activities are still low to

insignificant.

Tax incentives needed for insourcing and offshoring activities

As mentioned in the chapter ‘Opportunities and Threats’ insourcing and offshoring of IT services are one

of the fast growing markets in the ICT sector, providing flexible and tailor-made, cost-effective solutions

for companies abroad. Although the opportunities of insourcing IT services are well-known and

recognized by interviewed stakeholders, there are no specific tax incentives identified, which could

stimulate and facilitate the ICT sector in this respect.

Improving Internet inclusiveness by tax incentives

In order to improve the internet inclusiveness in the interior, governmental support such as tax

incentives, tax exemption for ICT investments for the inlands or government grants, could stimulate ICT

companies and especially telecommunication companies to invest in connectivity and ICT services in the

inlands. Without government support, ICT investments in the inlands are not deemed financial feasible.

ICT public awareness campaigns

There is currently no publicly known ICT awareness campaign by neither the government, nor the ICT

sector, although adoption of good practices of ICT security is considered as a precondition to facilitate

innovative ICT products and services. A joint effort between the governmental institutions involving ICT

security and the ICT sector through ICT public awareness campaigns, could be most beneficial to create a

firm basis for implementation of innovative ICT solutions. As in many change management efforts, the

‘tone at the top’ relating to ICT security will define the success of its implementation and effectiveness in

the public and private sector, which means close involvement of senior management from government

and leading industries.

The annual ICT Summit by the ICT Association Suriname is one of the largest national initiative for

knowledge sharing and networking, which contributes to ICT awareness in Suriname.

The ‘Hour of Code’ is another example of an annual initiative from the ICT sector to raise ICT awareness,

which exposed an increased interest from youth in ICT since its introduction. In order to further feed the

interest in ICT in an early stage of development, it is recommended to integrate ICT as educational tools,

but also raise the basic ICT skills of educators. Also see recommendations and insights in the paragraph

on ‘Educational Impulses’.

21

Identification of business’ ICT needs

Besides ICT awareness for citizens, ICT awareness campaigns should also be aimed at entrepreneurs. The

transformation from consumer to producer of ICT products and services is yet to be made in order to

fully benefit from global ICT trends.

Currently, Surinamese companies do not have adequate ICT governance policies formalized and

effectively in place to adopt fast moving ICT trends and innovative solutions. Entrepreneurs should be

more willing to make the financial offers and necessary ICT investments. When barriers are identified,

the Government could facilitate to overcome those barriers to further shape the industry. As mentioned

in the ‘Situational analysis’, there are no ICT statistics available on historical ICT expenditure and

budgeted R&D investments made by the public and private sector, which information could be relevant

for ICT policymaking.

Educational impulses

ICT educational needs ICT Education should be aligned with the business needs, specifying the need for ICT professionals. The Human Resource needs should be reflected in the National ICT strategy plan to stimulate educational initiatives in order to improve the population of ICT professionals and ICT engineers. ICT Research and development

As part of the National ICT strategy plan, the government could dedicate programs to stimulate ICT

research and development activities by facilitating research departments at the university and other

educational institutions.

ICT is not publicly recognized yet as one of the fundamental tools for technical development, while other

sectors of the economy as agriculture and transportation could be improved with effective use of ICT.

Greenhouse agriculture, food processing and animal husbandry could be more effective with use of

applied ICT tools, needing less labour force and less land for cultivation.

Quality of ICT education The private sector is reasonably content with the quality of IT education provided by private educational institutions as PTC, IMIT, UNASAT and Janssen & Partners, which provides in the need of graduated ICT engineers on a bachelor’s degree level. NATIN also provides practical ICT knowledge on a senior secondary vocational level5. The Ministry of Education is in the process of valuing ICT diplomas and certificates in an accreditation process. Most of the private educational institutions have partnerships with foreign accredited educational bodies, who are providing internationally accredited diplomas. More publicity could be provided on the renowned ICT educational bodies in Suriname. A clear shortage of lecturers with a PhD degree in ICT has been identified, who should be able to lecture on a master’s degree level. The ‘Anton de Kom’ University of Suriname (ADEKUS) has no ICT faculty at

5 Source: ‘Nuffic, Landenmodule: waardering van buitenlande getuigschriften in Nederland’; NUFFIC,

2014

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this moment. Further research is recommended to identify the shortage of ICT professionals in order to execute the national ICT strategy plan and to further shape the ICT industry. It is publicly not well-known that private educational institutions, such as Suriname College of Accountancy and Didacticum, provide specialized professional education in Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI). Scholarships and study grants In order to stimulate students to specialize or to promote on a PhD level, it is highly recommended to facilitate scholarships and study grants to high potential graduates from earlier mentioned educational institutions. The study grants of the Government are currently limited to mainly studies from the ADEKUS University. The Government is investigating whether the Fund for Scholarships and Study Grants (as facilitated by the National Development Bank, NOB) could be utilized also for other educational institutions, including those specialized in ICT education. The private sector should also increase their willingness to invest in human capital for specialized ICT security and ICT governance functions to facilitate growth of their business from innovative solutions. Affordable high speed internet for educational purposes

By comparison6, the proportion of schools with Internet connectivity is relatively low in most countries in

Latin America and the Caribbean. In fact, the proportion of schools with Internet connectivity was less

than 15 per cent in a number of South and Central American countries, including Dominican Republic (12

per cent) in 2013, Guyana (4 per cent), Nicaragua (6 per cent) and Paraguay (9 per cent) in 2010 and

Suriname (6 per cent) in 2009. Also see below graphical overview:

6 Source: Partnership on measuring ICT for development: Final WSIS targets review - Achievements,

challenges and The way forward; ITU, 2014.

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ICT provisions such as high speed internet should be made affordable by Government for education

purposes. This will create more possibilities to integrate smart devices and cloud educational software in

the educational program.

Possible use of smart devices integrated in the educational program

Students should be given the opportunities to discover and learn. Suriname’s education system is

traditionally more directive towards students, creating a passive attitude.

Primary education is mainly limited to the interaction during plenary class sessions. Students and

lecturers should also be able to interact after school hours. An upgrade of the basic ICT skills of lecturers

is needed to transform from the traditional way of lecturing to the future form of education.

The time between travelling from the capital city, Paramaribo, and the inlands is getting shorter due to

better roads infrastructure. However, educators are still reserved to be based in the inlands or to travel

the relative long distance from Paramaribo to other populated destinations. Modern educational

facilities such as high-speed internet connection, laptops, beamers and high quality cameras will bridge

the distance between the capital city and other districts. Distance learning is well-adopted in other

jurisdictions and could be a feasible solution for low-dense populated areas in the districts.

Legislation It is deemed challenging for the ICT sector, the public sector and the private sector in general, to start

with business activities without proper ICT legislation, but also risking the loss of momentum to

competitors in other jurisdictions, while waiting for local lawmakers.

The research paper drafted by ACP, EU, Caricom, CTU and ITU on ‘Harmonization of ICT Policies,

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Legislation and Regulatory Procedures in the Caribbean’ (HIPCAR, 2011), identified the following ICT trends and key e-Commerce activities which should be included in ICT legislation:

Definition of Key Concepts;

Legal Effect of Electronic Transactions;

Legal Requirements for the Validity of Electronic Documents;

Formation of Contracts;

Electronic Signatures;

Consumer Protection (including protection of privacy);

Intermediaries and Telecommunications Providers. Above recommendations made by HIPCAR have been translated into a Surinamese Electronic

Transactions Act (ETA), which has been offered to the Vice President and Cabinet in 2012.

In addition to the ETA, an Electronic Payments Act has been initiated by the CBvS, which was part of the

Financial Reform Program. Both acts should facilitate financial transactions through the Internet and also

the need for mobile payments through smart devices. Another relevant draft law for the ICT sector is

facilitated by the Competitiveness Unit Suriname (CUS), which is the law on Intellectual Properties. This

law will protect the uniqueness of products and services of inventors and creators.

An urgent appeal is made to the Government of Suriname to enact above laws, which are vital for future

development of business in the ICT sector.

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IT infrastructure General Internet connectivity is deemed the oxygen for country development and establishment of an Information Society. As stated by WSIS7: “In order to leverage the transformational power of ICTs -and broadband in particular- to maximize the social, economic and environmental benefits of the Information Society, governments need to continue to create a trustworthy, predictable, pro-competitive, supportive, transparent and non-discriminatory, legal, regulatory and policy environment that enables innovation, entrepreneurship, investment and growth.” BIIPAC project

On a regional level, Suriname participates in the ‘Regional broadband strategy: Broadband Infrastructure

Inventory and Public Awareness within the Caribbean (BIIPAC)’ project. This initiative started in 2013 by

CANTO and will be performed by governments and the private sector. The objective of the BIIPAC project

is to support the design of national broadband strategies in the Caribbean and to identify the regional

aspects that need to be incorporated into these strategies to support the Caribbean region, as it evolves

towards universality in broadband access and service, regardless of the location or social strata of our

fellow Caribbean citizens.

UNASUR optic fiber mega-ring

In order to improve the Internet connectivity, Suriname currently participates in a project from the

Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). UNASUR has approved plans for an optic fiber mega-ring

which will break its members’ dependence on the USA, and provide a safer and cheaper means of

communication. The fiber optic ring will become part of a ten-year plan to physically integrate all 12

UNASUR member states. The line will reach up to 10,000 kilometers long and will be managed by state

enterprises from each country it crosses. It is expected to interconnect South America through higher

coverage and cheaper Internet connections. The optic fiber mega-ring will be implemented in the

following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru,

Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Connectivity As mentioned earlier in the ‘Situational analysis’, the current Internet speed is reasonable for doing business in Suriname. However an overall penetration rate of 25%-30% is hardly sufficient to build a business case for the Surinamese market based on web applications and cloud services. The Telecommunication Authority Suriname (TAS)8 aims to have an Internet penetration rate of more than 50% by 2020. Also in alignment with ITU’s vision, the ambition of the TAS is to lower the cost of broadband services to no more than 5% of average monthly income by 2020. Reference is made to the chapter ‘Business Model for the ICT Sector’ for action lines to improve connectivity.

7 Source: WSIS+10 Outcome Documents; ITU; June 2014

8 Source: Strategy Policy Plan 2015-2019; Telecommunication Auhority Suriname, February 2015.

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Funding

Traditional funding methods For Surinamese entrepreneurs it is still challenging to have sufficient access to funds for their ICT projects. In order to have access to bank loans and to the Surinamese stock exchange, companies should have a business plan, which is scrutinized for its financial feasibility, supported by underlying documents such as recent audited financial statements. Much is said about the absence of a Financial Statements Act (which is currently drafted and sent in 2014 to the Vice President and Cabinet for processing), but also the corporate responsibility is lacking at entrepreneurs to provide transparency in their financial performance through annual financial statements and a quantification of their ideas in a feasible business plan (including cash flow forecasts). Donor funds

The World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank sponsored several programs to provide technical

assistance in accounting for small and medium sized entities (SMEs) and also in conditions to improve

access to finance for SMEs.

A multi donor sponsored program is also available for innovative projects in the ‘Compete Caribbean’

program, for which companies can apply at the Ministry of Finance, which acts as focal point.

Crowdfunding

Source: www.kickstarter.com

An alternative form of funding great ideas is crowdfunding, which have been introduced in Suriname by

Apura Networks and Crowdfunding Suriname, several years ago.

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Crowdfunding9 is the use of small amounts of capital from a large number of individuals to finance a new

business venture. Crowdfunding makes use of the easy accessibility of vast networks of friends, family

and colleagues through social media websites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to get the word out

about a new business and attract investors. Crowdfunding has the potential to increase

entrepreneurship by expanding the pool of investors from whom funds can be raised beyond the

traditional circle of owners, relatives and venture capitalists.

The potential of crowdfunding in Suriname has not been fully reached yet, having a current focus on

social responsibility projects and having a reputation of charity funds.

Crowdfunding could be an alternative source for funding of ICT projects, after revamping and informing

potential investors of the ground rules of crowdfunding. The Brooklyn based, crowdfunding organization,

Kickstarter follows the next basic principles:

Each project is independently created: inventors have complete control over and responsibility

over their projects;

All-or-nothing funding: project creators set a funding goal and deadline. Investors do not have to

deposit funds until the funding goal is met;

Creators keep 100% ownership of their work.

In order to show the potential of crowdfunding for Suriname, Kickstarter have reached an impressive

44% success rate of their funding goals. Since their launch in 2009, 8.4 million people have pledged more

than USD 1.7 billion, funding 82,000 creative projects10.

Other alternative financing methods

Secured transactions could also be an important part of the law and economy of Suriname. By enabling

lenders to take a security interest in collateral (that is, the assets of debtors), the law of secured

transactions provides lenders with assurance of legal relief in case of default by the borrower. The

Secured transactions Act has been drafted and presented to the Vice President and Cabinet.

Loans provided by third parties (not only financial institutions) will be included in a National Register for

Secured transactions. It is worth mentioning that a Contingency Fund (‘Garantiefonds’) is currently

effective for start-up companies and available at the National Development Bank (NOB Bank). Start-up

companies with financial feasible business plan, but insufficient securities could be eligible for

government guarantee for their bank loans.

9 Source: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/crowdfunding.asp#ixzz3cUbqivlo

10

Source: www.kickstarter.com

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Concluding remarks on funding A public awareness campaign through business organizations or the Chamber of Commerce is strongly recommended for entrepreneurs to gain better access to finance. Further investigation is recommended to have an overview of the currently available investment funds via government agencies, donor funds and other local funding initiatives.

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4. Benchmarking in National ICT development

General

As mentioned in prior chapters, Suriname does not have a National ICT Strategy Plan developed yet. This contribution could provide inspiring insights for future design of a National ICT Plan for Suriname by benchmarking with:

The National ICT Plan 2014-2018 of the Government of Trinidad & Tobago;

Vision 2030 of the Government of Jamaica, including an ICT Sector Plan 2009-2030, Strategic Framework and Action plan;

Vision 2020 of Digital Europe, the voice of the European digital economy.

Trinidad & Tobago Introduction The Government of Trinidad & Tobago, prepared the National ICT Plan 2014-2018 against the backdrop of boosting national development, bridging deficiencies in access to and usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), as well as improving Trinidad and Tobago’s ranking on critical ICT performance indicators. Trinidad & Tobago’s National ICT Vision The National ICT Vision of Trinidad and Tobago is to create: “A dynamic knowledge-based society, driven by the innovative use of ICTs to enhance the social, economic and cultural development of the people of Trinidad and Tobago” The National ICT Plan 2014 – 2018 is grounded in this Vision. The Plan has been named smarTT to draw urgent attention to the need to make more intelligent use of the country’s financial, human, and other resources towards the creation of lasting prosperity. Features in the National ICT Plan The core of the Plan features the following five thematic areas:

1. Innovation and Human Capital Development; 2. Access and Digital Inclusion; 3. e-Business and ICT Sector Development; 4. Infrastructure Development, and 5. e-Government.

Ad 1. Innovation and Human Capital Development Innovation and Human Capital Development focuses on fostering a creative e-Ready society as a catalyst for ICT advancement. This thematic area is the main driver of smarTT and emphasizes the inculcation of ICT skills and competencies among citizens. This reflects a progression from the previous National ICT Plan, which focused primarily on infrastructure development and connectivity. The Key Imperatives identified under this thematic area include: Building an e-Ready Society through ICT Enriched Learning; Creating and Promoting Local Digital Content; and Establishing a Culture of Research and Development.

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Ad 2. Access and Digital Inclusion Access and Digital Inclusion focuses on bridging the digital divide both within and between the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. This thematic area brings to the fore efforts to increase ICT availability among underserved communities and the digitally excluded. The Key Imperatives associated with this thematic area include: Providing ICT Services for Digital Inclusion; Increasing the Accessibility and Affordability of Technologies; Increasing ICT Learning and Awareness; and Facilitating Research and Development (R&D) Focused on Bridging the Digital Divide. Ad 3. e-Business and ICT Sector Development e-Business and ICT Sector Development focuses on building a pro e-Enterprise environment within Trinidad and Tobago and highlights the importance of increasing e-Business and e-Commerce adoption both in the Business-to-Business as well as Business-to-Consumer realms. The Key Imperatives under this thematic area include: Stimulating ICT Demand to encourage e-Commerce Adoption; Developing e-Business Capacity; Enabling the Production, Distribution and Promotion of Local ICT Products and Services; Enabling Other Sectors through ICT; and Facilitating Leadership and Coordination of Efforts among Key Stakeholders. Ad 4. Infrastructure Development Infrastructure Development focuses on enhancing accessibility, usage and governance by addressing gaps in the underlying national hardware and software infrastructure, particularly with respect to telecommunications and broadband infrastructure. The Key Imperatives include: Enhancing Infrastructure, Access, ICT Policies and Regulatory Oversight to Facilitate Sustainability; Instituting Appropriate Governance Structures for ICT Planning and Development, and Building Information Society Capacity to Ensure Availability of Internet Resources and Viability of the Internet Economy. Ad 5. e-Government e-Government focuses on working as an integrated Government and seeks to improve the Government’s operational efficiency and customer service delivery. The Key Imperatives associated with this thematic area include: Migrating to Transactional e-services and Collaborating to Implement Shared ICT Systems and Processes. Pillars for Sustainable Development

These earlier mentioned thematic areas have been strategically developed to align to six of the seven

Interconnected Pillars for Sustainable Development, as illustrated below:

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ICT Governance Defining a national ICT Governance Model is vital for the successful implementation of the Plan, which will guide decision-making. A National ICT Steering Committee will drive the development and adoption of major ICT projects within Government, ICT projects requiring cross-ministry participation, and ICT projects with nation-wide impact. A smarTT Secretariat will be established, which coordinates and integrates efforts across the various programmes of the National ICT Plan, and ensure alignment with other national development efforts. Funding Two types of funding arrangements for smarTT are proposed:

• a central fund for cross-agency ICT projects, • and a Public Private Partnership (PPP) fund.

Performance management The National ICT Plan, furthermore, includes a five-year implementation roadmap for smarTT, along with the Performance Management and Reporting Framework, inclusive of annual outputs and outcomes. Jamaica Introduction In 2009, The Government of Jamaica prepared the Vision 2030: ICT Sector Plan. This Sector Plan for ICT is one of the strategic priority areas of the Vision 2030 Jamaica - National Development Plan. It is one of the thirty-one sector plans that form the foundation for Vision 2030 Jamaica – a 21-year plan based on a fundamental vision to make ‘Jamaica the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business,’ and on guiding principles which put the Jamaican people at the center of the nation’s transformation. Sector goals and outcomes Derived from the Strategic framework and action plan from Vision 2030 Jamaica: ICT Sector Plan, are the following sector goals and outcomes:

1. Sector goal: A strong and competitive ICT sector, which have the following outcomes: a. A business environment which is conducive to the development of the ICT sector; b. Jamaica is established as a regional investment center for ICT companies and ICT reliant

service industries; c. ICT becomes a major contributor to the country’s GDP;

2. Sector Goal: Jamaica’s national development is advanced by widespread adoption and application of ICT. This could have the following outcomes:

a. Universal and open access to ICTs; b. A populace that knows and values the capability of ICTs and their potential impact on

economic and social life; c. An educated and trained workforce and citizenry that can function optimally in a

knowledge –based society; d. Widely accessible, affordable and efficient ICT networks; e. E-government services are widely provided by government and used by citizens; f. Enabling environment for research and innovation in ICT; g. Culture and creative industries enhanced by application of ICT; h. A national ICT policy and legal framework which promotes the use of ICTs for the benefit

of the entire society.

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Europe

Introduction

Leading ICT companies and National Trade Associations are united in ‘Digital Europe’, which organization

prepared a white paper ‘Vision 2020’ in 2009 to draw together a wide range of expert opinion. Bringing

together research and analysis from many different sources, Digital Europe provides a new and

compelling action plan to ensure a successful and competitive future for Europe in the ‘Digital Age’. The

research-based White Paper, is aimed to provide European policymakers with essential tools and

information about Europe’s digital future and what it requires to compete in a globalized world.

The transformational power of digital technologies

The Europe 2020 strategy is rightly focused on competitiveness as the essential condition for economic

growth and job-creation in the global 21st century economy. Digital technologies will increasingly drive

productivity, sustainable growth, innovation and employment throughout the European economy in a

myriad of ways. These are best demonstrated at the disaggregated levels of industry sectors, individual

organizations and individual empowerment. European trends, and success factors from the following six

sectors help to create a wider vision of productive, innovative digital Europe by 2020.

Energy

Europe’s three long-term energy policy objectives – greater energy independence, reduced greenhouse-

gas emissions and a competitive, continental scale Single Market – are squarely predicated on the power

of digital technologies to transform, starting with our grid infrastructures and extending to consumer

control over consumption.

Manufacturing/Automotive

The transformation in all manufacturing sectors to customer-driven innovation based on the sustainable

use of resources and integrated manufacturing cycles will depend on the pervasive penetration and use

of digital technologies.

Transportation and logistics

Transport and logistics companies are evolving from forwarding and warehouse-managing companies to

highly industrialized, ICT-driven supply-chain providers. Services based on a mobile ‘Internet of Things’

hold particular strategic importance for the sector, as do digital solutions for traffic congestion,

emissions reduction and intermodal transport.

Small-and medium-sized enterprises

Entrepreneurial activity represents 99% of an estimated 23 million enterprises in Europe, providing two

thirds of private sector jobs (75 million), and more importantly around 80% of new jobs created over the

past five years. Enterprises need access to digital tools on-demand, which will help eliminate distance,

assist in delivery of services on-demand, virtual organizations and enhance networked innovation.

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Healthcare

The traditional healthcare delivery model, built around dealing with acute episodes, will no longer be

sustainable as European society ages. Harnessing the transformational power of digital technologies is

the key for moving to a “continuum of care”, while improving quality and productivity, as the practice

and delivery of care continues to evolve.

Individual empowerment

Democratic societies will embrace and respond to the collective and individual voices of their people as

they express themselves via digital platforms. Individual empowerment is at the core of the

transformational power of digital technologies throughout our economy and society. As the power of

digital technologies grows, so will individual empowerment.

The future of the ICT sector in Europe

Europe must be both host and home to a dynamic ICT sector that is tightly interwoven with the

manufacturing, environmental, cultural, and political fabric. Home-grown ICT is indispensable and

nothing less than central to this newborn Digital Age.

Next Generation Networks & Mobile Broadband

A vast global market for Mobile Broadband lies ahead, an area in which existing European leadership

must be carefully nurtured and exploited as Europe faces the fierce competition set to arrive from low-

cost new entrants, particularly Asia.

Software

The innovation necessary to create economic growth, drive societal change and address environmental

challenges relies on ICT, at the heart of which is software. But software is undergoing major changes as it

moves from being used and perceived as a product to a service. This paradigm shift challenges all current

market players and offers huge opportunities for Europe’s software industry. This is a new world, with

new rules, and Europe must compete.

Future Internet

Many, if not most of these software-driven opportunities will arise from the continuous development of

the Internet as the primary communications infrastructure of the Digital Age. Key in this respect will be

the ‘Internet of Things’ and the ‘Internet of Services’. Exploiting the limitless opportunities created by

the ‘Future Internet of Things and Services’ will become the central growth engine in all knowledge-

based societies.

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Building blocks for the future

Achieving the digital vision for Europe set out in earlier demands a concerted effort, starting to put in

place the following seven essential building blocks:

1. Digital Infrastructure/Next-Generation Networks:

Europe is strongly positioned for digital infrastructure, but aims to stay at the leading-edge of

technology development and implementation to provide ‘ubiquitous participation’.

2. Future Internet/Next-Generation Services: ‘The Future Internet’ will drive innovation in almost all

industries and will shape the future of the service-based economy.

3. Digital Single Market: Online channels for internal trade in the very same goods and services

may run into severe internal market fragmentation due to diverse national regulation of on-line

activity.

4. ICT Research & Development: A renewed and concerted effort across Europe is needed to secure

productive, leading edge ICT research and development, competitive at the global level.

5. e-Skills: Europe needs to both grow its ICT sector and drive the development of individuals with

the necessary understanding and skills at all levels of the value chain. At present the outlook is

alarming. To exploit the opportunities of the Digital Age, Europe should change the trend.

6. Online Trust & Security: A trusted and safe online environment is a prerequisite for the further

development of Europe’s digital economy and Digital Single Market. As reliance on the Internet

grows, so do concerns about its security and safety for all categories of users – private

individuals (including children), business and governments. The foreseeable explosion in digital

services will reinforce demand for robust and secure networks, including a framework for secure

online payments.

7. Trade Policy: To be successful and competitive on the global stage, the European digital

technology industry needs to take advantage of the opportunities offered by international trade.

ICT products often comprise hundreds of components that come from a variety of countries and

suppliers. Those products can and should be sold to customers world-wide. To ensure

international access to innovation, the highest quality, the lowest prices and the largest market,

there is a need for a liberal trade environment.

Conclusion on benchmarks

Above overview of National ICT development plans includes insights of other jurisdictions on future

opportunities, prerequisites and building blocks to optimally benefit from the Digital Age.

The next chapter describes ICT researches performed in Suriname, which are still considered important

and relevant for policymakers in their future efforts of drafting a National ICT Strategy Plan.

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5. Recommendations for a National ICT Strategy Plan General As mentioned in prior chapters, there is no clear National ICT Strategy Plan yet in Suriname. The relevant recommendations from prior researches are conveniently summarized below to contribute in determining a National ICT Plan for Suriname. The last ten years Suriname was subject of researches focused on ICT development and implementation. Latest and important studies are from the Government of India (Chatterjee, 2006), Government of South Korea (2012) and the Organization of American States (OAS, started in 2014 and is still pending). The results of last two mentioned research papers have not been shared yet with the general public and ICT sector in specific. Furthermore, the Ministry of Labour, Technological Development and Environment with technical cooperation of the Inter-American Development Bank, published a policy document and action plan “Suriname National Technology Project” (2007), which recommendations are still relevant for the ICT sector. Suriname also committed itself through membership of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to contribute in becoming an ‘Information Society’ by implementing recommendations and principles from the World Summit Information Society Programme (WSIS), which are also listed in this chapter to be adopted in the National ICT Strategy Plan. Please note that a National ICT Strategy Plan goes beyond the scope of the current e-Government Strategy Plan, covering the Nation’s ambition and development goals to contribute in the growth of the economy and improvement of the quality of life of its citizens. For more detailed information, also see Appendix 4 “Overview of the implementation of WSIS Action Lines”. Two other relevant researches are not included in this chapter, since these reports are not publicly available. For future reference, the e-Government report (prepared by IBM) and the ICT research paper by the OAS (currently in progress as mentioned earlier) could benefit in drafting a National ICT Strategy Plan for Suriname. The three earlier mentioned research papers and its recommendations, which are still relevant for the ICT sector are explained below. Road Map to ICT Policy of Suriname (2006) The ‘Road Map to ICT Policy of Suriname’ of Dr. Sandip Chatterjee on behalf of the Government of India is still deemed applicable as an eye-opener for room of improvements in the field of ICT in Suriname.

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The major and relevant findings of this research are conveniently summarized below:

Organizational perspective: o The Government of Suriname has realized that Information Communication Technology

(ICT) is an area, which could expedite the growth of its economy and improve the quality of life of its citizen in a faster pace.

o However, government policy, mission and vision are missing towards an overall development of ICT. A coordinated and centralized effort is needed to expedite the process further and to build a center of excellence in ICT area.

Education: o The possible reason of slow ICT development in Suriname is the lack of ICT education

and lack of people’s awareness.

o The course content in 2006 in primary, secondary and university level was unable to provide adequate ICT awareness for its youth. During the period of research Suriname had no bachelor, master or doctorate degree courses in Computer Science or Telecommunication, therefore, students, who are interested to pursue such courses, leave the country. Therefore, local industry is either recruiting foreign manpower at higher cost or trains the local semi-skilled manpower and is incurring higher project cost.

IT infrastructure: o The growth of ICT sector in Suriname is also struggling due to its low ICT penetration,

lack of government promotional scheme for local ICT industry especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Suriname National Technology Project (2007) Interesting and still relevant recommendations for improvements from the Suriname National

Technology Project are summarized below in the following phases:

1. Catching-up:

a. Raising awareness of the importance of Sustainable technology development &

Innovation;

b. Promotion of quality standards and assurance by quality catch-up, export quality,

standards and certification;

2. Outreach:

a. Utilizing technology to contribute to poverty reduction, meeting basic needs, in order to

bring the benefits of technology to all citizens;

3. Balanced approach:

a. Achieving equilibrium, taking into account human resources and the impact on the

environment;

b. Balancing technology stages, by adaptation of technology development and diffusion of

existing technologies;

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4. Productivity and Innovation:

a. Promoting enterprise creation, productivity and innovation as tools for wealth creation;

5. Systemic approach:

a. Capacity building, taking to account human resources, supporting institutions and

financial mechanisms;

b. Promoting a National Innovation System, that interconnect and embed technology

considerations in legislation and regulation;

c. Establishing Technology platforms to remove obstacles, strengthen existing capacity and

add value to a resource intensive economy.

WSIS Guidelines on ICT priorities (2004, updated in 2014) Another interesting source to modern guidelines on ICT priorities in societies are referred to in the World Summit Information Society Programme (WSIS). WSIS is an initiative of the United Nations to create a Global Information Society using ICT. There are 145 member countries united to reach this shared goal. The WSIS programme describes the following action lines to move towards a Global Information Society, which could be included in Suriname’s National ICT Strategy Plan:

The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICT for development: This action line includes a.o. improvement of the Cooperation amongst stakeholders, Mainstreaming ICTs, National e-strategies and Public/Private Partnerships (PPP).

Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs: This action line includes a.o. improvement of Authentication, Building confidence and cyber security, Consumer protection and Countering misuse of ICT.

Information and communication infrastructure, which is considered an essential foundation for an inclusive information society: This action line includes a.o. improvement of Access, Accessibility, Affordability, Broadband network infrastructure and Enabling and competitive environment.

Access to information and knowledge: This action line includes a.o. improvement of Access to public official information, Access to scientific knowledge and Multi-purpose community public access. The e-Government Commission could have a significant role in providing access to public official information and e-government services.

Ethical dimensions the Information Society This action line includes a.o. improvement of Ethics, protection of Human rights and preventing abusive uses of ICT.

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Capacity building: This action line includes a.o. improvement of e-literacy, Distance learning, Life-long learning, Research and development (R&D), Training ICT professionals and programs aimed for the Youth.

Enabling environment: This action line includes a.o. improvement of Consumer protection, Dispute settlement, E-commerce, E-government strategy, Entrepreneurships, ICT forums, Intellectual property, Legal, regulatory and policy environment.

ICT applications as benefits in all aspects of life: This action line includes a.o. implementation of Disaster recovery, E-agriculture, E-commerce, E-employment (such as teleworking), E-environment, E-government, E-health, ICT waste disposal, Sustainable production and consumption.

Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content: This action line includes a.o. improvement of Cultural diversity, Cultural exchange and information, Cultural heritage (sustaining traditional knowledge) and Language-related ICT tools.

Media, including improvement of Combatting illegal and harmful content in the media, defining the Role of media in the Information Society and Training of media professionals.

International and regional cooperation, such as improvement of Financing of ICT networks and services, Infrastructure development projects and Progress evaluation.

Concluding on recommendations for a National ICT Strategy plan

Establishing an overall and holistic National ICT Strategy Plan for Suriname, which is aligned with the country development themes, will be most important for the ICT sector in the period 2015-2020. The above mentioned overview of recommendations is aimed to support in drafting a national ICT plan. The upcoming chapter will describe the ambition and the role of the ICT sector, embodied in the ICT Association Suriname, for the period 2015-2020. This paper will conclude with recommendations and business needs in the chapter ‘Road map’, including targets, prioritization, responsibility and performance indicators (output).

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6. ICT Association Suriname’s Vision 2020 General The recommendations & insights of industry leaders and stakeholders, combined with the recommendations from prior researches performed in Suriname, not only provide a good reflection of the current situation of the ICT sector, but also could mount into a road map for a better e-environment. The road map will be described in the last chapter. This chapter describes the role of the ICT Association Suriname for the development of the ICT sector. Establishment The ICT Association Suriname has been established on 19 January 2011 and is located in Paramaribo. The ICT-AS is an industry association for companies registered at the Chamber of Commerce in Suriname, which members have an IT related core business activity. The current member base amounts to 47 organizations. Mission ICT-AS is the industry association in order to help the Surinamese society to increase performance with ICT. Vision The vision of the ICT Association Suriname for 2020 is: ‘ICT-AS shapes the ICT sector to benefit from becoming an Information Society and a significant pillar of the Surinamese economy’. Narrative In 2020, the ICT-AS aims to have transform the ICT sector into a multibillion dollar business and contributes in the preconditions for the ease of doing business in Suriname and further development of our Nation. Based on above mission and vision of the ICT-AS, the road map for the period 2015 until 2020 describes improvements in the following themes:

1. Organizational development; 2. Educational development; 3. Legislative development; 4. Infrastructural development; 5. Funds creation.

Before defining the road map 2015-2020, the nine building blocks of the Business Model Canvas have

been used to reflect on a feasible business case for the ICT sector, which is described in the next chapter.

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7. Business Model for the ICT sector

General The Business Model Canvas is used to structure the next steps in an orderly fashion to consider each building block for a business case for the ICT sector. The building blocks consists of the following:

Source: www.businessmodelgeneration.com

Customer Segments and Customer Relationships

Introduction To build an effective business model, the ICT sector must identify which customers it tries to serve. To ensure the survival and success of any businesses, companies must identify the type of relationship they want to create with their customer segments. Customer needs Customers of the ICT sector are government, business and consumers with a need of top-of-the line ICT products and services. The ICT sector would like to contribute in having ‘educated customers’, which customers are aware of the price-quality trade-off of ICT products and services. Additional research is needed to clearly identify the impact on the ICT industry of global ICT trends and the potential customers’ needs created. In order to have a better understanding of the potential ICT market, the public and private needs, the research could provide in valuable ICT statistics, which could include R&D expenditures by the ICT sector, public and private sector and other earlier mentioned relevant ratios such as contribution of the ICT sector to GDP.

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An adaptive approach from ICT companies to the fast changing needs of consumers and clients could be implemented by combining:

flexible cloud solutions for IT infrastructure,

partnership with educational institutions for research and knowledge,

strategic alliances between local and international ICT companies in order to deliver excellent services for large ICT projects.

Channels

Introduction ICT companies can deliver its value proposition to its targeted customers through different channels, but the most important channel will be cloud solutions.

Connectivity In order to improve connectivity in Suriname, a combination of activities could be performed:

Implementation of IPv6 as announced by the TAS;

Implementation of an internet exchange point (IXP) as announced by the TAS;

Government subsidies and tax incentives for investments made in the inlands for not only telecommunication companies, but also IT companies for related services;

Liberalization of the market for Internet service providers.

Value propositions

Introduction The value proposition is the collection of products and services a business offers to meet the needs of its customers.

Cloud solutions As mentioned earlier, the ICT sector could provide in flexible cloud solutions in the design of IT infrastructure including software matching the business needs. The cloud solutions provided by local data centers and service providers could easily be deployed in other markets outside our country borders. A precondition, as mentioned earlier, will be adoption of legislation on Electronic Transactions and Electronic Payments. ICT services, ICT wholesaling and retailing Other activities include the traditional ICT services, ICT wholesaling and retailing. Taken into account the relative small population of IT professionals and lack of funding of ICT researches, it is not expected that significant revenues could be generated from ICT manufacturing.

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Key Activities

The most important activities in executing the value propositions are mentioned below.

IT researches The ICT sector has a need for practical impact studies and projections of global ICT trends on the Surinamese society from a social and economic point of view. These researches could be catalysts for ICT infrastructure reform, such as the implementation of IPv6 and a Surinamese IXP. Furthermore, researches could help in raising public awareness of cyber threats and practical solutions to harden the ICT environment against such cyber attacks. Service level management ICT companies could provide more transparency in which extent their services could meet the service levels of their clients. Clients could be better informed on the limitations of the services provided by their IT departments and outsourcing service providers. This could be achieved by requesting for reports on IT performance monitoring, effectiveness of IT processes and IT security. ICT education Especially, the last five years the educational needs on vocational and bachelor’s degree have been met by institutions as PTC, IMIT, Natin, Janssen & Partners. However, for ICT researches and ICT policy making, there will be a need for academic knowledge on a Master’s and PhD level. A collaboration with foreign renowned and accredited universities could strengthen the Anton de Kom University to provide in such needs, using modern distance learning technology in a cost effective manner. IT security As noted earlier, ICT awareness will raise the need for proper IT security from ICT companies providing services and governmental institutions providing public services. The next step, could be a collaboration of the ICT Association Suriname with business organizations and the public sector for enrolment of an ICT awareness campaign. The Chamber of Commerce, The Competitiveness Units Suriname, Suriname Business Development Center and the Association of Surinamese Business (VSB) are willingly to participate in an advice and working group with the ICT Association Suriname to decrease e-lliteracy and raise ICT awareness.

Key Resources

Introduction Key resources are the resources that are necessary to create value for the customer. They are considered an asset to the ICT sector, which are needed in order to sustain and support the business. Funding Innovation fund The planned ICT researches could be financed by creating an Innovation fund. The innovation fund could be part of the national stability fund which aims to diversify the national economy and decrease the dependence of income from natural resources, such as fossil fuel.

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Bank financing The conservative approach of local banks prevented Suriname from large influence of the financial crisis of ten years ago. However, a less persistent focus on collateral and better recognition of the earning capacity of projects could provide a starting ICT company in Suriname a fair chance of success as in other jurisdictions. Crowdfunding Initial public offerings are scarce in Suriname due to the limiting possibilities of our Suriname Stock Exchange. Better understanding of crowdfunding could provide in the necessary financial resources, while limiting the financial risks for the investors, since depositing of funds only occur after the desired funding need have been met. IT professionals As mentioned in the paragraph ‘ICT education’ there is a need for IT professionals on an academic level for IT researches and IT policy making. In order to promote the ICT profession, there could be a more focused policy of the Government to provide in scholarships for educational streams with high need of professionals. ICT companies should also provide sufficient funds in their ICT budgets to further invest in knowledge building. Legislation Legislation should be conducive for business in Suriname. The ICT sector will benefit in great extent when the following draft laws are enacted:

Electronic Transactions Act,

Electronic Payments Act,

Intellectual Property Act and

Secured Transactions Act.

Key Partners

In order to optimize operations and reduce risks of a business model, organizations usually cultivate buyer-supplier relationships so they can focus on their core activity. Government In order to improve Suriname in the global competitiveness index, the ICT sector has a specific need for improvement of public services to shorten the duration for establishing companies, encouragement of ICT investments and protection of intellectual properties. Many necessary legislation, as listed above, has already been drafted, which are awaiting treatment by the parliament (‘DNA’) and approval of the Board of Ministers. Cooperation between governmental institutions e-Government services In order to optimally benefit from e-Government solutions, a closer collaboration and transparency is advisable. Taking into account the limited IT resources (in funds and civil servants), a centralized approach is deemed practical, providing a better alignment of electronic public services.

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Law enforcement Legislation is not fully effective when there is a lack of law enforcement. A fair level playing field could be provided by –for example- monitoring ICT companies on proper use of intellectual properties and meeting standards for IT security when cloud services and other IT services are provided. Strategic alliances between companies The ICT sector in Suriname mostly consists of small and medium sized companies. In order to have access to tender for large ICT projects, ICT companies have the need to form strategic alliances between non-competitive ICT companies. The ICT Association Suriname could facilitate in forming such alliances by mapping the field of expertise in each their members into a publicly available database. Public Private Partnership (PPP) Public private partnership will be necessary, especially, for raising awareness on ICT security, envisioning the national ICT plan and implementation of the preconditions for establishing a significant pillar to the economy in contributing to the GDP. The ICT Association Suriname could participate in the discussions of existing platforms as the Suriname Business Forum and the Competitiveness Unit Suriname. Synergy of partnerships The upcoming years, the ICT Association Suriname (ICT-AS) will continuously work towards becoming part of an international network of collaborating ICT sector organizations and relating professional bodies in the Caribbean and in South America. Knowledge sharing and resource planning from this network could lead to a priority list from business communities and government (‘demand’) and the needed ICT professionals and ICT services (‘supply’). An ICT Innovation Board could function as an advice board to harmonize the ICT demand and supply. This institute could be a public-private partnership, which is a global ICT trend watcher, explorer for opportunities and technological developments. The Institute could share its findings with the Educational bodies and Business communities for further research, development and implementation. In 2020 the ICT-AS aims to have a structural collaboration with all relevant educational institutions related to the ICT sector. The ICT-AS should also have an extensive and up-to-date job vacancy department for the ICT sector in Suriname, which could be the platform for demand and supply of the ICT labor market.

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Earlier mentioned synergy in partnerships can be illustrated as follows:

Source: Gerard den Dekker, UCC

Cost Structure

Introduction This describes the most important monetary consequences while operating under different business models. Flexible IT budgets As mentioned earlier cloud solutions could create more flexibility in ICT budgets for the government, companies and consumers. ICT Association Suriname could assist the General Bureau for Statistics (ABS) in gathering the necessary ICT statistics on R&D expenditure. A precondition for statistics is transparency in the financial performance of companies. This need will be fulfilled upon adoption of the Financial Statements Act, which have already been drafted and presented in 2014 to the Government. The ICT Association Suriname could also facilitate the Surinamese Bureau for Planning (SPB) for ICT sector studies, projections, forecasts and impact studies of global ICT trends.

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Revenue Streams

Taken into account the value proposition and the increase in ICT needs, the ICT sector could benefit from

providing ICT services, such as:

Software and computer services;

ICT training and education;

IT Governance & ICT Security;

Outsourced IT services.

The ICT wholesaling and retailing will benefit from the duty free import of IT hardware. The trade

balance will tend to be negative, since no significant manufacturing of ICT components for export are

anticipated.

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8. Roadmap

General Based on the nine building blocks as mentioned in prior chapter the important opportunities and

preconditions have been described to create momentum for the ICT sector to help in meeting

development objectives of Suriname.

The ICT Roadmap, specifies the themes, priorities, targets, responsible actors and key performance indicators in order to execute the ICT vision 2020. Each action lines and targets per theme is explained hereafter. The roadmap consists of:

Development objectives Priority Action lines / Targets Responsibility Key Performance

(why and what) (when) (what) assigned to (who) indicator (output)

1.       Organizational development

Define National ICT Strategy High 1.1 Develop a National ICT Strategy Plan which is aligned with

the National Development and Innovation Plan.

PPP: GoS with the ICT Sector. ICT statistics: contribution to

GDP, employment, R&D and

amount of ICT professionals.

National ICT Security awareness

campaigns

High 1.2 Develop a National ICT Security awareness campaign for

safe and secure adoption of ICT trends.

PPP: GoS with the ICT Sector. More than 90% awareness of

citizens on known

cyberthreats.

National Organizational-

completeness-awareness

campaign

High 1.3 Develop a National campaign to motivate Organizations

to get organized in a more mature fashion so that the ICT

sector can adapt more structurally and effectively.

ICT Sector Higher maturity level of

organizations.

ICT sectorial awareness

campaign in Business-ICT

alignment and in ICT-ICT

alignment

High 1.4 Develop a sectorial campaign to motivate the ICT-sector to

develop solutions under Achitecture, in order to create of

Business to Business alignment.

ICT Sector Business solutions aligned

with expectations of

business and government.

2.       Educational development

Adapt education to needs High 2.1 Adapt all primary and secondary school curricula to meet

the challenges of the information society.

PPP: GoS with the ICT Sector. Modern and needs adaptive

education.

High 2.2 Encourage the development of content and put in place

technical conditions in order to facilitate the presence and

use of different languages on the internet.

ICT Sector. Relevant and readily

available content.

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1. Organizational development National ICT Strategy Plan In order to have a structural growth in the ICT sector, there is an urgent need for determining a National ICT Strategy Plan, which is aligned with the National Development and Innovation Plan. The ICT-AS could support the Government of Suriname in drafting the National ICT Strategy Plan based on consultation sessions with relevant stakeholders. The effectiveness of the implementation and progress of the National ICT Strategy Plan could be measured by designated ICT statistics, such as the contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP, employment growth in the ICT sector per subsector, growth in R&D investments and growth in amount of ICT professionals in Suriname. National ICT Security awareness campaigns The ICT sector could collaborate with governmental institutions to draft a National ICT Security awareness campaign. The effectiveness of the campaigns could be measured by polls to verify that at least 90% of citizens are aware of known cyber threats. National Organizational-completeness-awareness campaign The ICT Sector will develop a National campaign to motivate Organizations to get organized in a more mature fashion. Based on a better understanding of the business of the organizations, the ICT sector could adapt more structurally and effectively to the company’s specific needs. ICT sectorial awareness campaign in Business-ICT alignment and in ICT-ICT alignment

Development objectives Priority Action lines / Targets Responsibility Key Performance

(why and what) (when) (what) assigned to (who) indicator (output)

3.       Legislative development

Adopt draft laws High 3.1 Adopt Electronic Transactions Act, Electronic Payments

Act, Intellectual Property Act and Secured Transactions Act.

GoS. Business enabling

legislation.

4.       Infrastructural development

Increase connectivity High 4.1 Ensure that more than 50% of the citizens have access to

ICT within their reach and make use of them.

PPP: GoS with the ICT Sector. Internet penetration rate of

more than 50% of citizens.

Medium 4.2 Connect all vil lages with ICT and establish community

access points.

GoS. e-Government services.

High 4.3 Connect all secondary and primary schools with ICT. PPP: GoS with the ICT Sector. Connected schools.

High 4.4 Connect all scientific and research centres with ICT. PPP: GoS with the ICT Sector. Connected research

facilities.

Medium 4.5 Connect all public libraries, museums, post office and

national archives with ICT.

PPP: GoS with the ICT Sector. Connected public services.

High 4.6 e-Health: Connect all health centres and hospitals with

ICT.

PPP: GoS with health sector. Connected health services.

High 4.7 e-Government: connect all central government

departments and establish websites.

PPP: GoS with the ICT Sector. e-Government services.

High 4.8 e-Business: connect all businesses with ICT. ICT Sector and Business. e-Commerce activities.

Provide infrastructure High 4.9 Improve ICT infrastructure by implementing IPv6 and

Internet Exchange Point (IXP).

GoS. implementation of Ipv6 and

IXP.

5.       Funds creation

Access to alternative finance High 5.1 Provide overview and raise awareness on available

Development funds, process of secured loans (non-banks) and

crowd funding.

PPP: GoS with fund providers. Sufficient funds to fuel the

economy.

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The ICT sector will develop a sectorial campaign to motivate the ICT-sector to develop solutions under Architecture, in order to create Business-to-Business alignment. 2. Educational development Adapt education to needs In order for the ICT sector to fully benefit from global ICT trends, there is a need for an educational system, in which all primary and secondary school curricula adapt to meet the challenges of the information society. The ICT sector could contribute by developing relevant content and put in place technical conditions in order to facilitate the presence and use of different languages on the internet. This could result in a modern education system which is adaptable to the needs of the information society. 3. Legislative development Adopt draft laws As mentioned in the chapter ‘Business Model for the ICT Sector’ the following draft laws need to be adopted:

Electronic Transactions Act,

Electronic Payments Act,

Intellectual Property Act and

Secured Transactions Act.

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4. Infrastructural development Increase connectivity The Telecommunication Authority Suriname strives to increase the internet penetration rate to more than 50% of the citizens that will have access to ICT within their reach and also make use of them. The WSIS goals for an information society could be reached by a.o.:

Connecting all districts with ICT and establish community access points;

Connecting all secondary and primary schools with ICT;

Connecting all scientific and research centers with ICT;

Connecting all public libraries, museums, post office and national archives with ICT;

Connecting all health centers and hospitals with ICT.

Connecting all central government departments and establish websites.

Connecting all businesses with ICT. Provide improved ICT infrastructure The improvements in the ICT infrastructure could be made tangible by implementing IPv6 and Internet Exchange Point (IXP). 5. Funds creation

Access to alternative finance

In order to facilitate people with bright ideas with the funds for development of ICT projects, further

research is recommended to provide an overview and raise awareness on available (international)

Development funds.

A public awareness campaign is also recommended to explain the process of secured loans (non-banks)

and crowd funding for potential investors and creators.

9. Conclusion

As the road map described the ICT sector has good perspective of becoming a significant pillar of the

Surinamese economy. The ICT Association Suriname will continuously strive to support the ICT sector,

local business, citizens and the Government to contribute to the welfare and development of Suriname.

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Appendix 1: Methodology General The methodology for the paper is further explained below. Terminology The document started with a list of abbreviations used for your convenience. This paragraph is to further explain the extent of the abbreviation ‘ICT sector’ used in this paper. The term for ‘information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Sector’ used in this paper is based on the classification of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and can be specified as follows:

ICT Manufacturing: o Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing; o Communications equipment manufacturing; o Electronic component manufacturing; o Audio and video equipment manufacturing; o Instruments manufacturing; o Communication wire and cable manufacturing;

ICT Services: o Software and computer services: software publishers, computer systems design and data

processing; o Communication services: telecommunications services, internet service providers, cable

and other program distribution;

ICT Wholesaling. The population of the ICT sector in Suriname mostly consist of ICT wholesaling (including retailing) and ICT services. Approach In order to meet the expectations as described above, the recommendations made in the situational analysis from prior researches have been followed up in the said results as mentioned as ‘expectations’. This will include the following procedures:

Needs analysis and follow up on prior researches: using interviews with relevant stakeholders;

Benchmarking with relevant jurisdictions in the peer group by using desk research on available country situational analyses;

Roadmap: detailing recommendations and conditions for growth in the ICT sector. Ad 1. Needs analysis and follow up on prior researches Based on prior researches performed in Suriname, relevant stakeholders have been interviewed to determine their ICT needs on organizational set-up, e-government, infrastructure, telecommunications, ICT awareness, human resource development, industrial promotional schemes such as finance, banking, revenue and commerce. The needs analysis will also include the possibilities and threats for government, business and citizens in Suriname on international trends and developments in ICT.

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Besides prior researches performed, the ICT vision 2020 of the ICT-AS includes insights and guidelines of the Policy Commission of the ICT-AS. The ICT vision 2020 includes the way the ICT sector will empower itself and prepare relevant support to the effectiveness of the processes in the public and private sector from an organizational perspective. The ICT vision includes practical guidelines which could be used to benefit from the growth potential from the ICT sector. The ‘organizational perspective’ should give insight to the ICT sector on their strategic priorities for ICT support. Recommendations and insights from industry leaders might result in a further need for research in the field of ICT planning, management, security and business alignment. If financial information is sufficiently available, this could lead to a projection for 2020 the impact of above on the Surinamese economy based on realistic assumptions from the members of the ICT-AS and other relevant stakeholders. Ad 2. Benchmarking In order to prepare a road map for improvement to benefit from ICT for the society, other ‘best practices’ in other jurisdictions have been benchmarked. The comparison with regional similar economies could give insights in practical points of action, which are feasible on the short term and beneficial on the long term. In order to recommend on a National ICT Strategy Plan, recommendations from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have been used in this paper. Also see Appendix 4 with an extensive Overview of the Implementation of WSIS Action Lines (2014). Ad 3. Roadmap As mentioned before, the research resulted in an advice report detailing recommendations and conditions for growth in the ICT sector and growth of the economy using ICT as enabler for the development of Suriname. Before the high priority items are listed to be implemented in order to develop the ICT sector, the Business Model Canvas has been used to reflect on the nine building blocks in order to build a business case for the ICT sector. The recommendations will be shared with the relevant stakeholders to have a firm social basis and practical implementation.

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Appendix 2 - Bibliography 1. Blue print of the ICT Association Suriname dated July 2011.

2. The Global Information Technology Report 2015: ICTs for Inclusive Growth; S. Dutta, T. Geigner and

B. Lanvin; World Economic Forum and INSEAD, 2015;

3. Competitiveness Report 2014-2015: Full Data Edition; Professor Klaus Schwab and professor Xavier Sala-i-Martin; World Economic Forum, September 2014.

4. E-Government Strategy 2012-2016; e-Government Commission, April 2012.

5. Harmonization of ICT Policies, Legislation and Regulatory Procedures in the Caribbean’ (HIPCAR) – Electronic Transactions: Assessment report; by ACP, EU, Caricom, CTU and ITU; 2011.

6. Draft Trinidad & Tobago National ICT Plan 2014-2018 (version: 05.07.2014); Government of Trinidad & Tobago;

7. Final Draft ‘ Vision 2030 Jamaica: ICT Sector Plan 2009-2030, including Strategic Framework and Action plan; ICT Task Force, September 2009;

8. Digital Europe’s Vision 2020; Digital Europe, 2009.

9. “Manifest –De weg naar duurzame ontwikkeling” (Manifest - The way to sustainable development); VSB, March 2015.

10. National Strategy for the development of the Domestic Private Sector; Suriname Business Forum, August 2002.

11. Partnership on measuring ICT for development: Final WSIS targets review - Achievements, challenges and The way forward; ITU, 2014.

12. Road Map to ICT Policy of Suriname - Dr. S. Chatterjee; Department of Information Technology – Ministry of Communication and Information, Government of India, New Delhi, 2006.

13. Strategic Policy Plan 2015-2018 of the Telecommunication Authority Suriname; TAS, 2014.

14. Suriname National Development Plan 2012-2016; Government of Suriname, February 2012.

15. Suriname National Technology Project - Understanding its wealth, building up new horizons; Ministry of Labour, Technological Development and Environment with technical cooperation of the Inter-American Development Bank; C.C. Yammal a.o.; 30 November 2007.

16. The Global Innovation Index 2014 - The Human Factor in Innovation; Soumitra Dutta, Bruno Lanvin, and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent; 7th edition Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

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Appendix 3 – List of interviews with stakeholders

Description Interviewees

Anton de Kom University of Suriname R. Grauwde

Assocation of Surinamese Business Companies (VSB) S. Mac Andrew, R. Verwey and C. Vroom

Chamber of Commerce (KKF) A. Padarath

Commission Policy (Advisory Board of the ICT Association of Suriname) G. Miranda and J. Meijdam

Competetiveness Unit Suriname, part of the Cabinet of the Vice President S.Burleson and K. Foe A Man

Digicel S. Nautiyal

eGovernment Commission R.Doekhie

General Bureau of Statistics (ABS) G. Koornaar and S. Nelson

Ministry of Education, Science and Culture A. Dankerlui

Ministry of Trade and Industry R. Kasandimedjo

Ministry of Transport, Communication and Tourism T. Smit and W. Palas

Polytechnic College G. Holband

Qualogy P. Sweeb

Suriname Business Forum – Suriname Business Development Center G. van Dijk and W. Wielson

Telecommunication Authority Suriname F. Maanster

Telesur H. Rahan

TMIL P. Tevreden

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Appendix 4: Overview of the implementation of WSIS Action Lines

World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)11

Ten years ago, at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in its two phases (Geneva 2003, & Tunis 2005), the representatives of the people of the world adopted a common vision on the Information Society, identifying its main principles and challenges towards a people-centered inclusive and development-oriented Information Society. The fundamental aim of the WSIS process was to foster the use of technology to improve peoples’ lives and to bridge the digital divide. Overview of the implementation of Action Lines Below overview summarizes the 2014 status of the implementation of WSIS action lines: 1. That the WSIS Action Lines have helped in building a common understanding of the

desirability to realize a truly global interconnected and inclusive Information Society. And that the implementation of those Action Lines has helped in drawing the attention to the crucial role the ICTs can play in many areas including reducing poverty and promoting literacy.

2. That the WSIS Geneva Plan of Action has led to the development of international,

regional and national strategies and plans for the development of inclusive Information Society.

3. That there is greater awareness of the importance of promoting digital inclusion for

youth, age-related disabilities, women, the vulnerable and marginalized, indigenous peoples, local communities and persons with disabilities and special needs, while promoting the wealth and sustaining the diversity of the world’s languages

4. That the enabling environment -policies, content and capacities required to make

good use of technologies for development- is understood today as being as important as infrastructure investments.

Acknowledgement of the significance of the following: 5. Efforts made towards the realization of a global ICT based economy through

adopting and implementing appropriate national ICT policies with a view to integrating the efforts of all stakeholders.

6. Contribution of all UN Agencies in charge of facilitating Action Lines, and all stakeholders, actively contributing to the WSIS implementation. Emphasizing the following: 7. The importance of the work carried out by the “Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development” on the development of a set of core ICT indicators that has been adopted by the UN Statistical Commission, as well as, acknowledge the ICT Development Index (IDI).

11

Source: WSIS+10 Outcome Documents; ITU; June 2014

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Recognizing the following: 8. Many countries have made considerable progress in implementing the Action lines in the form of tangible policies, projects and services across the different sectors of the society. 9. ICT infrastructure development has been boosted by several enablers such as new policies and technologies including broadband and mobile solutions, Universal Service Funds, planning and background data, the development of national and regional internet exchange points and international standards. 10. The access to information and knowledge has widened and deepened in the past 10 years due to technological advancement in connectivity, expanded mobile penetration and broadband access and the emergence of new platforms and applications, such as social media and cloud computing. 11. Improved access to ICT in education over the past 10 years enhanced development of all groups and supported the development of skilled labor force, providing active participation in the society and availing new opportunities for social mobility. 12. The efforts exerted to increase affordable access to ICTs in the developing countries and in particular LDCs. 13. There has been increasing awareness by policy makers of the importance of public access to ICTs and the different tools to combat the digital and knowledge divide. 14. There has been awareness of the need for greater collaboration among governments and all relevant stakeholders to address different aspects of endeavoring to ensure confidence, security, privacy and personal data protection, safety and trust in the use of ICTs. International and regional cooperation and capacity building programs have been recognized as key elements in achieving this. 15. The WSIS Plan of Action has contributed to a deepened understanding for the significance of ICT for development among policy and decision makers, including of the ethical dimensions of the Information Society. 16. ICTs play an important role in socio-economic development through job creation and entrepreneurship. 17. The WSIS Plan of Action has contributed to supporting research in e-Science providing better understanding of emerging trends, its impact and future direction. 18. Cultural diversity has been recognized as an integral part of the information society and sustainable development. 19. Innovative financial mechanisms, public private partnership, as well as adequate and sustainable investments contributed to the progress towards building inclusive Information Society.] 20. The annual WSIS Forum has become an efficient global multi-stakeholder platform for coordination of the implementation of the WSIS Outcomes. The decennial countries and Action Line facilitators’ reports initiated by the WSIS Forum served as a basis for the WSIS+10 High-level Event.

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21. WSIS Stocktaking Process, including WSIS Project Prizes, has become, an efficient and effective platform for collection of ICT-related projects for WSIS Action Lines providing useful contribution to the sharing best practices at the global level. Challenges during implementation of Action Lines and new challenges that have emerged

The WSIS Action Lines, in a multistakeholder approach, have helped and continue to help in building awareness of the importance of people centric inclusive and development oriented Information Society. The WSIS Action Lines have also been contributing in enabling and supporting a sound framework and approach for realizing the goal of an inclusive Information Society. The following challenges have been recognized:

• That several challenges have been identified in the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines that still remain and would need to be addressed in order to build inclusive Information Society beyond 2015.

• The need for ensuring proper integration of the WSIS and the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

WSIS further recognizes the following challenges that have emerged in the implementation of Action Lines and new challenges in the implementation of these Action Lines beyond 2015: 1. The need to protect and reinforce all human rights, and to recognize their importance to realize economic and social development, ensuring equal respect for and enforcement of all human rights online and offline. 2. The need to fully integrate gender equality perspectives in WSIS related strategies and facilitate their implementation as referred to in the Preamble to ensure that the Information Society enables women’s empowerment and full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society and in all decision-making processes. 3. The need for more engagement of youth and enhancement of their participation in the WSIS process, to facilitate their inclusion and to strengthen their role in the Information Society development at the national, regional and international levels as referred to in the Preamble. 4. The need for continued extension of access for people with disabilities and vulnerable people to ICTs, especially in developing countries and among marginalized communities, taking into account the commitments mentioned within the preamble. 5. More than half of the world’s population is still not connected to the Internet, and therefore the information and communication infrastructure, capacity and local content development needs to continue to be addressed, especially in rural and remote areas. 6. The need for further improving management and use of radio-frequency spectrum/satellite orbits for facilitating development and deployment of low-cost telecommunication networks, including satellite networks for all countries, taking into account special needs of developing

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and least developed countries. These are implemented through application and in accordance with ITU Radio Regulations. 7. That greater efforts are still required to improve affordable access to ICTs, information and knowledge for all people, in particular in the developing countries and LDCs. There is also a need to ensure equity of access, including public access, in terms of human capacities and access to current and new ICTs, between urban and rural communities within countries and between countries around the world. 8. There is still greater need for the north-south cooperation, complemented by south-south cooperation to facilitate know-how transfer, as well as to promote the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms in order to facilitate the transition to digital economy and reduction of poverty. 9. The need to promote access for all to information and knowledge, while respecting individual privacy, and to encourage open access to publications and information, including in the research sector, and particularly in developing and least developed countries 10. The ICT role in poverty reduction need to be enhanced through north-south and south-south cooperation in facilitating the digital economy. 11. The deployment of broadband networks is still needed to achieve the sustainable development agenda beyond 2015 and to ensure that ICT applications and services and new technologies required for people’ empowerment and wellbeing become available to everyone. 12. The need to promote access for all to public information and knowledge, including open access to scientific information, particularly in developing and least developed countries and among marginalized communities in all countries. 13. ICTs have become vitally important drivers for economic growth and development, and have stimulated innovation and new business opportunities. It remains important that adequate policies and frameworks enable Small and Medium-sized Enterprises to benefit from the economic potential of ICTs, 14. A need for all education and lifelong learning opportunities for all members of society, using educational programmes, distance education and open educational resources (OER) and applications to build ICT competencies responsive to specific societal and user needs and to better enable and empower teachers, educators and learners. 15. The need to exchange views on best practices to build confidence and security in the use of ICTs while considering the importance of developing international cooperation among all relevant stakeholders as appropriate.

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16. The need to strengthen the continued development of appropriate network security and privacy, and continue to support capacity building and coordination on incident response and to encourage the creation of national and regional computer incidence response teams (CIRTs) to better respond to ICT security incidents. 17. The need to increase the global, regional and national awareness of the relevance of WSIS process to national economic development-related strategies, policies and initiatives and the role it could play in their development, which underpin global development of ICTs, promote investment in ICTs and infrastructure, and foster entrepreneurship and innovation. 18. The need to enhance policies, including policy coherence across key information society sectors and reduce the skills gap, which is growing, between rich and poor within the same country, between countries, and between regions. 19. The need to continue to set realistic goals and to take decisive actions to reduce the technology gap, which is growing, between developed and developing countries. 20. The need to call upon all States, in building the information society, to take steps to avoid and to refrain from taking any unilateral measure not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations that impedes the full achievement of economic and social development by the population of the affected countries and that hinders their well-being; 21. The need to develop frameworks, measures and other initiatives (e.g. IXPs) to enhance better access to ICTs especially in developing countries. 22. The need to continue to promote investment and foster entrepreneurship and innovation in ICTs at the national, regional, and international levels as appropriate. 23. The need to recall the importance of creating a trustworthy, transparent and non- discriminatory legal, regulatory and policy environment. To that end, we reiterate that ITU and other regional organizations to continue taking steps to ensure rational, efficient and economic use of, and equitable access to, the radio- frequency spectrum by all countries, based on relevant international agreements. 24. The need for a coherent linkage between the WSIS process at the international level and initiatives at the national and regional levels including bottom up initiatives, as appropriate. 25. The need to ensure environmental sustainability, including by avoiding any harmful impacts that may result from the disposal of massive e-waste. 26. The need to respect human diversity in all its forms, in particular, cultural and linguistic diversity as well as diversity of tradition, religious beliefs and convictions to develop measures and policies to safe guard endangered languages and preserve cultural and linguistic heritage, including by supporting multilingualism in the use of ICTs. 27. The need for people to have media and information literacy skills that are indispensable in order to fully participate in an inclusive Information Society.

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28. The need to increase the awareness of all stakeholders of the ethical dimension in the use of ICTs and encourage international and interdisciplinary reflection and dialogue on the ethical challenges of emerging technologies and the information society. 29. The need for sufficient investment in digital inclusion measures, taking into account innovative approaches to bring the benefits of ICT to all, including access to software and hardware in a non-discriminatory manner. 30. The need to promote further dialogue on the protection of privacy in light of technological developments.

WSIS+10 Vision for WSIS Beyond 2015

General While considerable achievements have been made since the first phase of WSIS in 2003, during which the Geneva Plan of Action was adopted, however numerous challenges remain. Moreover, the ICT landscape and their uses have continued to evolve and new challenges and opportunities have emerged. Several new trends have emerged in the inclusive Information Society such as broadband, social networks, mobility, digital inclusion, massive open online courses (MOOCs) and e- participation, amongst others. Many of these trends bring rapid innovation, diffusion and uptake of mobile technologies, as well as, improved access to ICTs, which has led to the great expansion of the gamut of opportunities that ICTs offer to promote inclusive and sustainable development. As demonstrated by the progress made in the implementation of Geneva Plan of Action, international cooperation and multi-stakeholder collaboration on the strategic use of ICTs to address a wide range of issues during the past decade has produced a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise – resources which constitute a valuable foundation for future cooperation. Vision WSIS envisions a world of inclusive Information Society in which: 1. We reaffirm the vital role of youth and youth organizations as recognized in paragraph 11 in the WSIS Declaration of Principles, stating that "youth should be empowered as learners, developers, contributors, entrepreneurs and decision makers. We must focus especially on young people who have not yet been able to benefit fully from the opportunities provided by ICTs. We are also committed to ensuring that the development of ICT applications and operation of services respects the rights of children as well as their protection and wellbeing". The role of youth was also underlined in the World Programme of Action for Youth, where ICT is identified as one of the 15 priority areas, in the sense that it can provide youth with the opportunity to overcome the barriers of distance and socio- economic disadvantage. In addition, the ITU Global Youth Summit in 2013 declared youth as a force for progress, and assured the importance of their full participation in decision making processes to improve democracy, marking that the spread of information among young people can directly foster empowerment and innovation on a global scale (BYND 2015 Global Youth Declaration). While progress has been made, it is important to exert greater efforts to ensure the implementation of mentioned program, declarations and others alike.

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2. We reaffirm the human rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and we also reaffirm paragraphs 3, 4, 5 and 18 of the Geneva Declaration." 3. While there is recognition of the potential of ICT as a tool for promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women accessing and using ICTs, a “gender divide” has also been identified. We reaffirm the importance of promoting and maintaining gender equality and women empowerment, guaranteeing the inclusion of women in the emerging global ICT society and taking into account the mandate of the newly established agency UN-WOMEN, the recommendations of the High Level Panel in the post-2015, The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995.. We therefore wish to recall and emphasize the importance of taking into account throughout the WSIS+10 Statement and Vision para 12 of the WSIS Declaration of Principles stating that the development of ICTs provides enormous opportunities for women, who should be an integral part of, and key actors, in the Information Society. We are committed to ensuring that the Information Society enables women’s empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society and in all decision-making processes. To this end, we should mainstream a gender equality perspective and use ICTs as a tool to that end. 4. Recalling the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities, the Geneva principles paragraph 11, 13, 14 and 15, Tunis Commitment paras 20, 22 and 24, and reaffirming the commitment to providing equitable access to information and knowledge for all, building ICT capacity for all and confidence in the use of ICTs by all, including youth, older persons, women, indigenous and nomadic peoples, people with disabilities, the unemployed, the poor, migrants, refugees and internally displaced people and remote and rural communities, it is crucial to increase the participation of vulnerable people in the building process of information Society and to make their voice heard by stakeholders and policy- makers at different levels. It can allow the most fragile groups of citizens worldwide to become an integrated part of their economies and also raise awareness of the target actors on the existing ICTs solution (such as tolls as e- participation, e-government, e-learning applications, etc.) designed to make their everyday life better. 5. The WSIS multistakeholder approach which is essential in building the information society should be harnessed emphasizing its benefits, recognizing that it has worked well in some areas; and that it should be improved, strengthened and applied in some other areas. 6. Digital inclusion remains a cross-cutting priority, going beyond affordability and access to ICT networks, services and applications, including in rural and remote areas. The digital, technology and knowledge divides will be bridged to reap the benefits of ICT and broadband in transforming the lives of communities. 7. Indigenous and traditional knowledge are recognized as pathways to develop innovative processes and strategies for locally-appropriate sustainable development. This knowledge is integral to a cultural complex that also encompasses language, systems of classification, resource use practices, social interactions, ritual and spirituality. These unique ways of knowing are important facets of the world’s cultural diversity, and provide a foundation for comprehensive knowledge society. 8. There is full respect for cultural and linguistic diversity, and for everyone’s right to express themselves and to create and disseminate their work and local content in the language of their choice. The preservation of digital heritage in the information society is ensured.

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9. There is effective cooperation backed by adequate funding and assistance for inclusive ICT initiatives for the benefit of the developing and least developing countries. 10. Scientific knowledge is a key factor in the innovation process and in finding pathways to sustainable, inclusive and equitable development, respectful of the environment. Science is acknowledged as a common or public good that is to be shared universally. 11. Strengthening the trust framework, including information security and network security, authentication, privacy and consumer protection, should continue to be a prerequisite for the development of the Information Society and for building confidence among users of ICTs. A global culture of cybersecurity needs to be promoted, developed and implemented in cooperation with all stakeholders and international expert bodies. These efforts should be supported by increased international cooperation. Within this global culture of cybersecurity, it is important to enhance security and to ensure the protection of data and privacy, while enhancing access and trade. In addition, it must take into account the level of social and economic development of each country and respect the development-oriented aspects of the Information Society. 12. Legislative and regulatory reforms will spur fair competition to ensure affordable access to ICTs, in addition to public access, to all people, in particular, marginalized and vulnerable people. This does not only have the potential to transform the lives of people and societies, but also to help marginalized and vulnerable persons by empowering them and their communities, including in rural and remote areas, and expanding their rights and possibilities. Priority areas to be addressed in the implementation of WSIS Beyond 2015 The WSIS Stakeholders have identified the topics below as priority areas to be ad- dressed in the implementation of Geneva Plan of Action Beyond 2015: 1. The need to protect and reinforce all human rights, and to recognize their importance to realize economic and social development, ensuring equal respect for and enforcement of all human rights online and offline. 2. Encouraging and facilitating people-centered and inclusive governance models and mechanisms. 3. Strengthening open, democratic, transparent and inclusive WSIS multistakeholder approach, enabling all stakeholders to participate according to their respective roles and responsibilities, in the implementation of the Geneva Plan of Action. 4. Ensuring a clear and direct link and an explicit connection between the key aim of the WSIS, that of harnessing the potential of information and communication technologies to promote and realize development goals, and the post 2015 development agenda, so as to contribute to the realization of the latter. 5. Expanding access to and use of ICTs to all, including broadband and mobile services, particularly to vulnerable and marginalized people who must have a variety of opportunities to strengthen their social position through ICTs and e- services, through continued and increasing practical measures of inclusion, while at the same time taking steps to enhance trust in the use of ICTs.

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6. Promoting the development and availability of simplified devices, including text- free interfaces and applications aimed at digital inclusion. 7. Considering the evolution of existing universal service programmes into programmes for digital inclusion that support broadband services for all people as well as those in rural and remote areas where not only market forces exist but public investment may be necessary. 8. Mainstreaming gender issues across all WSIS action lines and from strategies and planning through to implementation, to ensure action lines take account of continuing gender issues, redress discrimination and contribute to ending violence and harassment. 9. Ensuring universal access to information and knowledge and the capacity to use ICTs for all people, including by offering services and ICTs that are inclusive of, accessible and affordable for persons with disabilities, e.g. by providing assistive technologies and through the effective implementation of appropriate international interoperable technical standards, disability-inclusive development frameworks and enabling policy environments, incorporating accessibility issues in public procurement policies and in international regulatory fora. 10. Bridging the digital divide by promoting inclusiveness and by facilitating countries' economic growth. Through the development and advancement of ICTs including broadband networks as well as the provision of affordable access and public access points. 11. Assisting developing countries to expand broadband infrastructure and take measures (such as Internet Exchange Points) to improve the quality, increase the connectivity and resilience of networks, foster competition and reduce the costs of local/national, regional and international, and interconnections, including enabling more local content and local e-Services to be provided in those countries. 12. Encouraging governments and intergovernmental organizations as well as private institutions and organizations to pursue policies and programs that advocate for and promote media and information literacy (MIL) and lifelong learning for all, so as to help users develop their abilities to evaluate and interact with online information resources. 13. Fostering ICT capacity building and ensuring that professional expertise keeps pace with advancing technology by building mechanisms for ICT skills development, to support economic development, help generate jobs and allow more people to benefit from the information society. 14. Harnessing ICTs with scientific and educational initiatives and activities, including exploring mechanisms for accreditation of on-line learning. 15. Working towards a more culturally and linguistically diverse world, with multi-legalization of ICTs, including Internet, email, search engines and native capability for international domain names (IDN) and Unicode and by encouraging relevant and useful multilingual and local digital content, so that all members of the community are able to understand and participate in online life and contribute to online content. 16. Ensuring the preservation of digital heritage in the information society by putting into place cohesive, conceptual and practical digital strategies, supported, to the extent practicable, at

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international level, for the preservation of and access to recorded information in the digital environment in all its forms while respecting individual privacy. 17. Prioritizing the sharing of existing expertise and best-practice solutions between all stakeholders and creating replicable and sustainable ICT projects. 18. Reiterating our commitment to deepening and strengthening the actions taken in implementing the WSIS Action Lines, with an evaluation of the lessons learned over the past ten years so that others may benefit from the experience and to address the challenges we face today. 19. Promoting a Digital Economy, ensuring equal opportunities for all in creating and providing online services and promoting e-commerce and international free trade while addressing the tax challenges of the digital economy. 20. Addressing e-environment issues and challenges, developing Green IT and using ICTs to mitigate climate change. 21. Recognizing the importance of maintaining open ICT standards development processes for innovation in the ICT sector as key enablers for an inclusive information society. 22. Supporting providers of public access in the local communities such as libraries to help people access information resources they need and develop information literacy skills to improve their lives. 23. Urging governments and intergovernmental organizations with involvement of all stakeholders in their respective roles and responsibilities to continue to support and facilitate enabling regulatory, legal and investment environments for ICT for Development. 24. Maximizing opportunities to leverage the ICTs , and transformative technology more generally, as enablers for social and economic development by creating appropriate national strategies and policies for the advancement of WSIS /ICT for development goals and by encouraging cooperation among all stakeholders, in their respective roles and responsibilities at the national, regional and global levels to further the implementation of the Geneva Plan of Action. 25. Supporting and encouraging stakeholders, in their respective roles and responsibilities, to work together for the continued technical evolution of the ICTs to address known weaknesses and to increase capability, while maintaining full interoperability and stability. 26. Furthering the multistakeholder dialogue on Network neutrality, as appropriate. 27. Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs, notably on topics such as personal data protection, privacy, security and robustness of networks. 28. Enhancing national and regional capacity to address cybersecurity challenges by encouraging a culture of responsibility and joint efforts of all involved parties according to their roles to address security risks. In this respect, further strengthening cooperation between all stakeholders at the national, regional and international levels is required. 29. Promoting a culture of online security and safety, empowering users, and encouraging national, regional and international cybersecurity strategies to protect users, including children.

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30. Reaffirming our commitment in regard to Ethical Dimensions of the use of ICTs in regard to para 25 of Geneva Plan of action and as described in para 43 of the Tunis Agenda. 31. Promoting professional standards and continued research on the ethical dimensions on the uses of ICTs. 32. Providing assistance for those countries that would like to adopt legal frameworks to promote their domestic ICT markets in the future, and providing other forms of assistance. 33. Encouraging the full deployment of IPv6 to ensure the long-term sustainability of the addressing space, including in light of future developments in the Internet of Things. 34. Developing agreed goals and time-based measurable targets data and indicators along with enhanced monitoring and reporting. 35. Encourage the ongoing assessment of progress towards the information society, as envisaged in the WSIS Outcomes, including through efforts such as the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development which has been essential for evaluating the implementation of WSIS Action Lines. 36. In this respect, it is necessary to continue to develop appropriate ways and means to make such measurements. The role of public governance authorities and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development The effective participation of governments and all other stakeholders is vital in developing the Information Society through inclusive engagement and cooperation among all stake- holders, in order to provide sustainable and affordable access to information and communication technologies (ICTs). a. Encourage greater regional and international dialogues and collaboration in promoting ICTs for development. b. Encourage development of national ICT policies, e-strategies and regulatory frameworks enabling sustainable development, through an inclusive process, taking into account different national circumstances. c. Foster partnerships among all stakeholders at the local, national, regional and international levels through capacity building, research and knowledge sharing for development of the ICT sector. d. Promote affordable access to ICT and digital content to foster the information society and contribute to narrowing existing and emerging socio-economic inequalities. e. Ensure that e-services can be adequately provided to all people through affordable and public access to ICTs, and encourage a feedback process as well as a monitoring and evaluation mechanism.

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Information and communication infrastructure Infrastructure is central in achieving the goal of digital inclusion, enabling universal, sustain- able, ubiquitous and affordable access to ICTs by all, taking into account relevant solutions already in place in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, to pro- vide sustainable connectivity to and access for rural, remote and marginalized areas at national and regional levels. Broadband connection based on converged services and enhanced radio frequency spectrum and satellite orbit management supported by efficient backbone, new technologies, policies which promote innovation, national broadband plans based on reliable data, and international standardization are the keys for such achievement. a. Develop a well-planned, well-maintained, robust, economic, and efficient Broadband infrastructure to ensure the delivery of high quality services including, affordable access to the Internet, information and technologies for citizens. b. Development of affordable network/consumer telecommunications equipment, access and services by economy of scale, development, and conformity and interoperability, by international standards are key elements. c. Using policy and financing mechanisms such as Universal Service Funds and/or Public-Private Partnership, to connect and cover rural and remote areas with affordable Broadband information and communication infrastructure. To attract private investment, competition and adequate market liberalization policies to develop the infrastructure, financing, and new business models need to be studied and deployed, taking into account national circumstances. d. Emergency telecommunication services should be secured. A resilient and robust information and communication infrastructure is an essential step to ensure the continuity of communications in cases of disruptive events such as natural disasters. Access to information and knowledge ICTs allow people, anywhere in the world, to access information and knowledge almost instantaneously. Individuals, organizations and communities should benefit from access to knowledge and information. We envision achieving universal access by fostering Information and Knowledge Societies. a. Strengthen policies, strategies and programmes in an inclusive and open manner according to national circumstances for expanding and enhancing universal access to information and knowledge. b. Continue to promote and support initiatives to facilitate accessibility of ICTs for all to enhance the information-based development of social, cultural and entrepreneurial activities. c. Enhance skills in accessing information and introduce Media and Information Literacy (MIL) as core elements in all life-long learning initiatives. d. Promote multistakeholder efforts for the development of multilingual and culturally diverse content and tools.

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e. Ensure that the long term preservation of digital heritage is an essential part of cultural, educational, research and information policy, and more generally, of the building of the information society, with the consent and collaboration of the concerned communities and individuals, where applicable. f. Continue to develop and support sustainable multi-purpose community public access points providing affordable or free-of-charge access for all people to, information and knowledge. g. Continue to avoid and eliminate discrimination in publication of user generated content and access to this information, stakeholders should cooperate in their respective roles and responsibilities to achieve this goal. Capacity building Everyone should have an opportunity to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to benefit fully from the information society for bridging the digital divide. Therefore, capacity building, digital literacy and competences are essential for all.

a. Develop a wide range of general and specialized training programmes for all stakeholders such as (creators, maintainers and operators) and beneficiaries of the ICT sector (especially in developing countries) in all aspects of telecommunications/ICT.

b. Upgrade and continue to develop existing knowledge and package it into state of the art content and training materials.

c. Consider that capacity building at national level in leadership and other skills should include knowledge of the key ICT drivers.

d. Collaborate efforts on local, national, regional and international levels within all sectors in order to maintain and ensure access to ICT and ICT enhanced education for skills development and lifelong learning beyond the classroom.

e. Develop and promote programmes, using ICTs at local, national, regional and international levels, to combat illiteracy, foster distance and self-learning and support e-literacy and research and development (R&D).

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Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs Confidence and security continue to be prominent among the main pillars of the Information Society.

a. Encourage further strengthening of the trust, and security framework with complementary and mutually reinforcing initiatives in the fields of security in the use of ICTs, with initiatives or guidelines with respect to rights to privacy, data and consumer protection.

b. Support greater development, and encourage implementation to international standards for security, in particular open standards. Continue to assist developing and least developed countries to participate in global standards development and related processes.

c. Ensure special emphasis for protection and empowerment of children online. In this regard, governments and other stakeholders should work together to help all enjoy the benefits of ICTs in a safe and secure environment.

d. Strengthen support for the establishment of national Computer Incident Response Teams (CIRTs) including CIRTs responsible for government-to-government cooperation for incident management, where needed, and regional and international coordination among them, for real-time handling and response of incidents, especially for national critical infrastructures, including information infrastructure, taking into account national legislations.

e. Continue to promote the development of assessment frameworks to measure readiness of countries on various aspects of confidence and security in the use of ICTs.

f. Promote research and cooperation enabling effective use of data and software in particular electronic documents and transactions including electronic means of authentication and improve security methods.

Enabling environment In order to leverage the transformational power of ICTs and broadband in particular to maximize the social, economic and environmental benefits of the Information Society, governments need to continue to create a trustworthy, predictable, pro-competitive, supportive, transparent and nondiscriminatory, legal, regulatory and policy environment that enables innovation, entrepreneurship, investment and growth. Design and enforce frameworks through consultation with all stakeholders, where appropriate, to:

a. Promote digital inclusion and social and economic empowerment, in particular for youth, women, persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples;

b. Foster broadband development and deployment; c. Nurture innovation and entrepreneurship by stimulating investment by ensuring effective

and fair competition; d. Recognize the economic potential of ICTs for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs),

contribute to increasing their competitiveness by streamlining administrative procedures, facilitating their access to capital, reducing the cost of doing business and enhancing their capacity to participate in ICT-related projects;

e. Ensure confidence and security in the development and the use of ICTs; f. Foster an intellectual property rights framework that balances the interests of creators,

implementers and users.

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ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life ICT applications continue to be potentially important in government operations and services, health care and health information, education and training, employment, job creation, business, agriculture, transport, protection of environment and management of natural resources, disaster prevention, and culture, and to promote eradication of poverty and other agreed development goals. User-friendly, accessible to all, affordable, adapted to local needs in languages and cultures applications that support sustainable development, are essential. E-government E-government can support sustainable development by promoting effective and efficient public service delivery to all people ensuring transparency, participation, collaboration:

a. Continue to implement e-government strategies focusing on applications aimed at innovating and enhancing transparency, accountability and efficiency, as appropriate.

b. Continue to support international cooperation initiatives in the field of e- government. c. Encourage e-government initiatives and services at all levels, adapted to the needs of people

and business with a view to supporting sustainable development. d. Promote further development of e-government by engaging all people for improved

communications and consultations between government and end users. e. Foster e-government services while addressing the challenges of privacy and security. f. Promote capacity building and knowledge sharing for effective utilization of ICT in

government, delivery of e- services and ICT-based policy support for development outcomes. g. Facilitate the access of e government services to all people including the disadvantaged and

vulnerable people. E-business a. Make it possible for businesses to use relevant ICTs and to benefit fully from the information economy, including by creating an enabling environment for selling and buying goods or services via ICT networks. b. Enhance the involvement of all stakeholders in promoting the benefits of e- business and stimulating the development of new e-business applications, content and services, including for mobile devices and social media. c. Foster a dynamic ICT sector to underpin productive use of ICTs, sustainable growth and development, job creation, trade and innovation as part of broader strategies for poverty reduction through wealth creation. d. Enhance the entry of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs), and youth and women entrepreneurs, into all sectors of e-business taking new technological developments into account. e. Improve availability of statistical e-business data needed to assess economic and social impacts.

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E-learning Information and communication technologies, through learner-centered and personalized e-learning, will enable equitable access to quality education and lifelong learning for all; the least advantaged in society will be aided by ICTs to access to quality learning experiences tailored to their needs; youth will have opportunities to develop appropriate media and information literacy skills, competencies and values that they need to live and work in a digital age; ICTs will contribute to the protection, dissemination and reproduction of indigenous knowledge and enable wide participation in traditional cultural expression. In the information and knowledge societies, ICT will support learning in formal, non-formal and informal settings, in communities and beyond traditional educational structures. a. Enhance e-learning to be ubiquitous and accessible to all, especially for children, within and beyond formal educational structures and quality education facilities in their community through developing enabling national policies for ICTs in Education which focus on equality of access to education and on raising the quality of teaching. Policy implementation should ensure the full integration of ICTs in curriculum development and delivery and into training systems at all levels, including Technical and Vocational Education and Training systems (TVET). b. Ensure that educators and teachers of all levels have the sufficient competencies to make effective pedagogical use of ICT and to facilitate learners’ e-learning and support the transformation of Teacher Professional Development (TPD) through ICT integration in Teacher Training curricula, and ensure that TPD is ongoing and incremental throughout teachers’ careers. This would include harnessing emerging technological innovations, including open modalities and strategies (e.g. Open Educational Resources – OER, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), Massive Online Open Courses – MOOCS, Text and Data Mining) as well as the development of multiple literacies for the 21st Century for teachers and learners. c. Support for the creation of relevant e-learning content for teaching and learning in local languages and in the processes of curriculum integration and assessment, and make them available under open licensing. Promote awareness of the value of existing and emerging trends in open modalities and strategies. d. Support the establishment of Education Management and Information Systems in all educational institutions and wide-spread cross-generational community learning initiatives to also bridge technical skills gaps. e. Research in, investment in, and development of, good practice models for m- learning to widen access to learning opportunities to rural populations, in particular in developing countries. E-health a. Foster the development and implementation of national eHealth strategies, focusing on implementing a sound enabling environment, integrating ICTs to support the priorities of the health sector, and providing reliable, affordable and sustainable connectivity for health services, health systems and the general public to improve the health of all people. b. Promote the use of ICTs to strengthen those sectors linked to human health and health systems – public health and health care services (including traditional medicine); sanitation, food and water;

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veterinary medicine and social services – with special efforts to reach people in remote and under-served areas, particularly in developing countries. c. Facilitate innovation and access to e-Health applications to support health professionals, improve local access to information, and enable the flow of information in health services and systems, including tele-health, tele-medicine, electronic medical records, personal health records, and health information systems. d. Ensure public trust and confidence in e-Health, through adoption of policies, regulations and other measures that address the concerns of the health sector, including those of a cross-border nature. Promote the adoption of eHealth standards to enable the secure, accurate and timely transmission of health data, taking full account of privacy, security and confidentiality requirements, in this regard. e. Integrate the use of ICTs in eHealth in preparing for, sharing information on, and responding to disease outbreaks, disasters and other emergencies requiring inter- sectorial collaboration and exchange of information in real-time. f. Promote the use of evidence for the adoption of e health as well as the measurement and development of indicators and tools for its socio- economic impact on national, regional and international level. E-Employment a. ICTs continue to be a key enabler for providing a platform for innovative employment opportunities, particularly for the youth, women, persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples. b. Further develop E-employment portals providing the ability/ information to connect employers with potential candidates. There is a need for working towards establishing online recruitment services for public and private organizations and creation cyber workers’ protection rules. c. Encourage promoting teleworking programs for working from a distance, strengthening collaborative work by using intranet and extranet, and developing regulation and standards of teleworking to legitimate labor conditions in terms of social benefits, job stability, training and working satisfactory conditions, among others. d. Need for training people in ICT related technologies to enhance their employment credentials and to provide extra capacity in developing ICT enabled economies in the future. E-environment a. Foster cooperation between the ICT community, the environmental community, the meteorological community, and other relevant communities working on reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, environment protection, towards safety of population and assets against increasing threat caused by climate change related impacts.

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b. Minimize e-waste by establishing appropriate measures such as environmentally sound life cycle management processes of ICT equipment by all involved parties, including manufacturers. c. Promote and disseminate standards related to management of e-waste as developed by relevant international intergovernmental organizations and harmonize national laws, policies and regulations accordingly to minimize the negative impacts of ICTs on environment and health and reduce e-waste. d. Promote the use of ICT equipment in weather forecasting electronic dissemination and early warning systems to increase preparedness against natural hydro- meteorological related disasters. e. Raise awareness on the need for international cooperation to assist nations in particular developing and least developed nations, and Small Island Developing states to benefit from a full range of ICT – weather/climate related monitoring and warning services including access to satellite data , high speed internet and smart ICT weather and climate applications. f. Encourage establishing and maintaining networks of automated observing systems for the collection and dissemination of essential weather and climate parameters, to be made available to the global community in support of environmental monitoring. E-agriculture a. As part of national ICT strategies, foster the development and implementation of national e-agriculture strategies focusing on providing reliable and affordable connectivity and integrating ICTs in rural development to support food security and hunger eradication. b. Foster collaboration and knowledge sharing in agriculture via electronic communities of practice, including the e-Agriculture Community, in order to showcase and promote models, methodologies, good practices and the adoption of Open Access and interoperability standards, for effective and equitable use of ICTs for sustainable agriculture and rural development. c. Promote the creation and adaptation of content including in local languages and contexts from reliable and trusted sources, including, to ensure equitable and timely access to agricultural knowledge by resource-poor men and women farmers, foresters and fisher folk in rural areas. d. Foster digital literacy of institutions and communities in rural and remote areas taking into consideration local needs and constraints by providing appropriate learning opportunities for all which will enhance individual and collective decision- making skills. e. Promote the use of ICTs to reinforce the resilience capacity of states, communities and individuals to mitigate and adapt to natural and man-made disasters, food chain challenges, socio-economic and other crises, conflicts and trans boundary threats, diseases, and environmental damages. f. Promote Public-Private Partnerships in cooperation with relevant CSOs/NGOs, cooperatives, farmer organizations, academia, research institutions in the agricultural sector (which also includes forestry and fishery) for inclusive, efficient, affordable and sustainable ICT services and initiatives in agriculture and rural development which will promote the wide scale use of ICT and foster sustainable agri-business models.

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E-science Science and e-science are mutually informing and influencing their evolution, and e-science revolutionizes science by changing: the way in which research is conducted; how the scientific agenda is defined; who participates in it; how the results and data are shared; the pace at which policymakers, scientists and individuals access knowledge; and who participates in the policy follow up of research outcomes. a. Promote E-science to enhance the interface between policy, science and society by facilitating more evidenced-based and better harmonized policy-making and greater involvement of citizens in scientific and policy processes, thus improving sustainability of outcomes. b. Improve access to scientific assessments of global change issues such as climate change, biodiversity and ecosystem services, health, agriculture and food security and disaster risk reduction by, inter alia, creating a web-based platform (with complementary mobile applications) based on a multidisciplinary knowledge system that critically reviews and synthesize new knowledge in real time, where possible, and by relying on ICTs to pursue monitoring and observations of such global change issues. c. Encourage the use of ICTs, including the Internet and mobile technologies to facilitate greater participation in the entire scientific process including public participation in scientific research (citizen science) activities and the introduction of e-science activities in the context of all form of education. d. Foster development of information networks for researchers, teachers, information intermediaries and students to support the exchange of ideas and scientific information between research and education institutions and individuals across continents and promote open access to scientific information for scientific and educational organizations based on aggregated information resources. e. Use e-science to promote data and knowledge exchanges, to provide relevant and timely information for citizens, scientists and policy-makers that will improve participatory decision-making, science-policy-society relations and standards of living, particularly for marginalized people. Cultural Diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content WSIS’ vision of the Information and Knowledge Societies is that of a more culturally and linguistically diverse digital world, where:

• Around half of all existing languages are present in cyberspace; • Development takes into account local, national and regional contexts; • Innovation and creativity based on traditional knowledge in all areas should be promoted

and protected, as appropriate; • Culture is integrated in all development policies and programmes, for poverty reduction and

inclusive sustainable development; • There is a respect of cultural identity, cultural and linguistic diversity, traditions and

religions and a promotion of dialogue among cultures and civilizations.

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The following action lines are identified: a. Launch and support preservation, digitization and digital archiving of cultural and documentary heritage and born-digital information. b. Promote further development of local content in cyberspace. c. Support national entrepreneurial and start-up frameworks. Promote the development and use of internationalized domain names. d. Strengthening policies that support the respect, preservation, promotion and enhancement of cultural and linguistic diversity and cultural heritage, within information society as reflected in relevant agreed UN documents. e. Continue to develop and implement policies that preserve, affirm, respect and promote diversity of cultural expression and indigenous knowledge and traditions through the creation of varied information content and the use of different methods, including the digitization of educational, scientific and cultural heritage. Media Media will benefit from the broader and expanded role of ICTs that can enhance media’s contribution to fulfilling the post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda. The right of freedom of expression, as described in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is essential for media’s role in information and knowledge societies. a. Recall the Geneva Declaration of Principles, para 55, which describes the role of media in the Information Society; b. Affirm that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, and that this is applicable to media on all platforms; c. Encourage equal opportunities for men and women in media; d. Promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists and media workers, and facilitate the implementation of the UN Plan of action on the safety of journalists and the issue of impunity.

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Ethical Dimensions of the Information Society The Information and Knowledge Societies should be subject to universally recognized values and promote the common good and to prevent abusive uses of ICTs. a. All stakeholders should continue to raise awareness and promote national, regional and international debate on the ethical opportunities and challenges related to the use of ICTs. b. Promote respect of the fundamental ethical values in the use of ICTs and prevent their abusive usage. c. Continue to invite all researcher stakeholders, to continue research on ethical dimensions of ICTs, and to further examine current and emerging, challenges and opportunities. d. Continue to enhance the protection of privacy and personal data. e. Take appropriate actions and preventing measures, as determined by law, against abusive uses of ICTs. International and Regional Cooperation a. International and regional cooperation among all stakeholders continue to be vital to advance the use of ICTs for supporting sustainable development beyond 2015. B. Encourage continuing the development of aid in ICTs for developing countries, in particular for the least developed countries. c. Further enhance public-private partnerships, and foster the multi-sectorial cooperation. d. Call on the international community to assist developing countries in the preparation and implementation of national action plans to support the fulfillment of the post 2015 development Agenda and the results of the overall review of WSIS outcomes in 2015 taking into account the importance of regional initiatives.