Involving civil society in ICT Policy 1 Emmanuel Njenga Njuguna Association for Progressive...

Involving civil society in ICT Policy

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Emmanuel Njenga Njuguna

Association for Progressive Communications [email protected]

http://www.apc.org http://africa.rights.apc.org


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Outline

• ICTs and role in Development• ICT Policy and ICT Strategy• Models of policy and strategy

development• Involving civil society in ICT Policy• CS challenges• Conclusions


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Importance of ICT

G8 Okinawa Charter“Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is one of the most potent forces in shaping the

twenty-first century. Its revolutionary impact affects the way people live, learn and work and the

way government interacts with civil society. ICT is fast becoming a vital engine of growth for the

world economy. It is also enabling many enterprising individuals, firms and communities, in all

parts of the globe, to address economic and social challenges with greater efficiency and

imagination. Enormous opportunities are there to be seized and shared by us all.

The essence of the ICT-driven economic and social transformation is its power to

help individuals and societies to use knowledge and ideas. Our vision of an

information society is one that better enable people to fulfil their potential and

realise their aspirations.”


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Role of ICT in Development• ICT plays a great role at both the micro and

national level by increasing the effectiveness and reach of development interventions, enhancing good governance and lowering the costs of service delivery

• The integration of ICT into overall national development strategies can help facilitate implementation, expand the scope and coverage, and increase the results for most of these factors. Moreover, development goals cannot be achieved by government efforts alone.

• The involvement of civil society and the private sector is crucial.


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ICT for empowerment and participation

• Citizens are encouraged to participate in the democratic process through ICT mechanisms such as electronic forums and bulletin boards, which enable participation in public discussions

• ICT can contribute to fostering empowerment and participation and making government processes more efficient and transparent by encouraging communication and information-sharing among people and organizations, and within government. – case studies in India – Andhra Pradesh

• ICT enables solution sharing between local people and communities, providing access to practical information

• Organizations in developing countries also find it increasingly feasible to participate in information-sharing that strengthens governance and collective power, allowing them to influence political and institutional decision-making processes.


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UseProvision AccessParticipation Awareness


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Participation

• Recognition that ICT is a key development enabler not just a technology for use and participation in ICT development should be ensured

• What is an enabler? A means to an end not an end in itself. ICT enables other service provision (eg telemedicine, training, education etc)


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Provision and Access

• PROVISION: The removal of obstacles to the provision of ICT through participation initiatives need to be balanced with protection of community and ensuring confidence in services

• ACCESS: Access to ICT will enable and can be used as leverage towards greater empowerment and a more equitable future for poorer communities


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Use and Awareness

• USE: ICT should be able to be used just like any other medium. However ICT also raises particular issues that need to be addressed (eg new criminal activity, copyright issues)

• AWARENESS: Access to ICT is crucially dependent on education, public awareness, targeted useful technology


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National ICT Policy

• A tool to promote national vision and the basis for the legislation and regulation through which it is implemented – The ICT policy will benefit all citizens– It will encourage wider ownership in all

forms – It will be transparent and therefore

decisions taken are open to scrutiny – Government will consult those most

affected by the policy – The ICT policy will be action-oriented and

make things happen


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Models of Policy and Strategy development

•PROACTIVE: Policy mapping model

–identify important policy issues

–‘map’ policy issues to legislation

•REACTIVE: Legal issues model

–as legal issues arise, develop legislation

•CO-OPERATIVE: Co-operative model

–identify important policy and legal issues

–develop ICT Laws as outputs


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Vietnam ICT Policy

Infrastructure

Human

Resources

Applications

(E-issues)

Manufacturing

Government

Enterprises

Users


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ICT Laws in Vietnam

4 pillars

Infrastructure

Human

Resources

Applications

(E-issues)

ManufacturingICT

LAWS

? How ?


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Thailand Pro-active model

Policy priorities Law outputs

e-Society

e-Education

e-Government

e-Commerce

e-Industry

Electronic Transactions Law

Electronic Signatures Law

Electronic Fund Transfers Law

Computer Crimes Law

Data Protection Law

National Information Infrastructure Law

Information Technology

Laws Development

Project


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Manufacturing and infrastructure

Infrastructure

Manufacturing

Identify policy and

legal issues

Investment environment

Sectoral reform in infrastructure

industries

Others, eg inadequate Intellectual

Property and competition law

protection

Business Enterprise Law

Taxation Laws

Foreign and Domestic Investment Laws

Ordinance on Posts and Telecommunications

Sector reform in broadcasting and print sectors

Intellectual Property Laws

Competition Laws

Others?

Map to legislation

Map to legislation


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Applications

Applications

Identify policy and legal issues

e-Enablement

Rights and protections for society

Map to legislative

issues

Map to legislative

issues

Equivalency of electronic forms

Recognition of digital forms (signatures, electronic funds)

Licensing/Registration for particular uses (eg telemedicine etc)

Controls over certain ICTs (eg online gambling)

Censorship and national security

Computer crimes

Data protection/privacy

Defamation

Liability of ISPs

Intellectual property

Anti-spamming

Policy of development of e-society through e-applications, e-Government, e-commerce

Institutional responsibilities for development of ICT


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Human resources

Human Resources

Identify policy issues

Policy priorities and development

Map to legislative

issues

Recognition and statement

of policy priorities and development


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National ICT Strategies

• ICT as a sector• policies which focus on the development and/or

strengthening of ICT-related industries such as computer hardware, software, telecommunications equipment and ICT-enabled services.

• ICT as an enabler to social-economic development

• the adoption of holistic, cross-sector strategies which aim to harness the uniqueness of ICT to accelerate a wider development process.


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Case Studies


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Producing Vs Use of ICTs

• Focus on use and enablement of ICTs• “For most developed countries, the

contribution of ICT—using sectors is much stronger than the contribution of IT producing sectors.”

• “ICT-using countries tend to benefit more than IT-producing countries, because IT producing countries lose some of the gains through deteriorating terms of trade.”

• “Historical experience suggests the main beneficiaries of technological revolutions have been the users”


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Involving Civil Society In ICT Policy


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National Policy and Strategies

• Three stakeholders involved– Government, Private sector, Civil Society

• Civil Society Involvement– In today’s information society access to ICTs is a

basic human right, a right which should be protected and extended

– A successful policy depends on how people use the new tools that become available to them

• Is there evidence of civil society involvement in ICT decision making processes ?


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Issues and civil society concerns

• Influencing policy (lobbying and advocacy)• Monopolies, competition and universal service• Privacy rights and internet users• Policy implementation and monitoring (linking policy to

legislation and regulatory aspects • Gender and marginalised groups• Content and language• Intellectual property – transformation of IP regimes to

ensure equitable access and stimulate innovation– Open source and free software– Open knowledge sharing

• Freedom of expression and censorship• Privacy and security


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CS Challenges• Internal organization• Representation issues• Limited involvement of CSOs in ICT issues• CSOs that could be involved in ICT policies are

focused on other sectoral issue – public, private, educational and others

• While there are some successes, civil society participation has been ad-hoc and often delivered through individual experts rather than through representative voices of civil society groups.

• No channels exist for civil society participation


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Conclusions

• Exploit existing links - Local, regional and international organizations offering support

• Organization of ICT civil society sector internally through the establishment of a national ICT forum – avoid competition

• Linkage with CSOs with broader development goals in order to build awareness of ICTs

• Increasing understanding of government processes, lobbying and public relations

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