Download Involving Civil Society In ICT Policy

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