Expert Group Meeting on Regional Cooperation towards an Information Society in Asia and the Pacific Objective and Expected Outcome of the Meeting Ram Tiwaree, DrEng Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division (IDD) Email: tiwaree@un.org
Background Access to information and knowledge contribute largely to strengthening social and economic development and thus helps developing countries to accomplish the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals Currently, Asia-Pacific region has over half of the Internet and mobile connectivity in the world and Mobile phones have surpassed fixed phones in the region Broadband penetration - 3.5 per cent (2007) ICT policies and regulations are in place in many developing countries Digital divide is changing in some respects and that while in general the divide maybe sinking
Current Challenges There is still a large digital divide between developed/developing countries, urban/rural populations, rich/poor A new form of digital divide is emerging in terms of difference in quality and speed of access to ICT in developing countries Disparity continues between developed and developing countries that in developed, high-income economies, average cost of broadband connection is significantly less than in developing countries, both in nominal terms and as a percentage of the average monthly income Gender divide still persists between developed/developing countries in respect of quality and variety of means of access to Internet and ICTs In many developing countries, there is inadequate coherence and complementarities between national ICT policies and national development/poverty reduction strategies
Current Challenges Inadequacy of indicators needed to measure progress towards achieving the targets as set out in section B of the Action Plan of the WSIS awareness of ICT benefits among government officials and stakeholders on wider penetration and usage of ICT affordable access points for ICT training, among others Current level of ICT access (in terms of quality, quantity, affordability) especially in countries with special needs or CSN (LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS) might not be sufficient to achieve the Internationally agreed development goals (e.g., WSIS outcomes/goals & MDGs) Exchange of information and best practices at the sub-regional/ regional level, facilitating policy debate on the use of ICT for development and cooperation among all stakeholders in collectively transforming the digital divide into digital opportunities is considered critical
Objective of the meeting-mandate 1 st session of the Committee on Information and Communications Technology held from 19 to 21 Nov 2008 recommended to Put in place follow-up mechanisms at the regional level to review the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society in 2015 and Streamline the implementation of the Regional Action Plan towards the Information Society in Asia and the Pacific 65 th Commission Session (23-29 April 2009) Endorse the recommendation of the Committee and emphasized need for establishing a structure/mechanism to assist implementation of the outcomes of the WSIS at both the national/regional levels, to monitor related initiatives and identify gaps and challenges and cooperation needs at the regional level
Objective of the meeting Review the progress in the implementation of the outcomes of the WSIS including its goals and targets as contained in section B of the Plan of Action of the WSIS in Geneva and Discuss the necessity of streamlining the implementation of the Regional Action Plan towards the Information Society in Asia and the Pacific, as necessary Discuss and make recommendations for actions at the national/sub-regional and regional levels towards attaining the major outcomes, and goals and targets of the WSIS by 2015 in Asia and the Pacific
Programme Day 1 and Day 2: (i) Status on progress towards information society (ii)subregional Orgs: ASEAN, PIFS, SAARC, ECO; (iii) International/regional organizations: APT, ITU, UNESCO; (iv) Country experiences Day 2: Work in groups Day 3: The meeting will be divided into 2 groups. Group A and Group B. The rapporteurs: Mr. Hajela and Mr. Dewapura will facilitate the work. The group will prepare a report (sets of recommendations/guidelines for presentation to be given the next day) The Rapporteurs present the outcomes of the group discussions and final sets of recommendations will be prepared.
Expected Outcomes A set of recommendations, ways and means for sub-regional/ regional cooperation towards accomplishing the outcomes of WSIS and implementation of regional action plan which will guide the Secretariat/ International/ regional organizations and countries in the region for necessary action in the future to meet the current and emerging challenges of ICT for inclusive and sustainable development The draft version for review of the experts will be circulated to you all soon, by: July 31-2009 and comments are expected from you within a week. The recommendations of the EGM will be included in the e-publication: Regional progress and strategies towards building the information society in Asia and the Pacific Your presentations and outcomes will also be posted on ESCAP website: www.unescap.org/idd/
Indicative targets - as global references for improving connectivity and access in promoting the objectives of the WSIS Plan of Action (sec B), to be achieved by 2015 1. To connect villages with ICTs and establish community access points; 2. To connect universities, colleges, secondary schools and primary schools with ICTs; 3. To connect scientific and research centres with ICTs; 4. To connect public libraries, cultural centres, museums, post offices and archives with ICTs; 5. To connect health centres and hospitals with ICTs; 6. To connect all local and central government departments and establish websites and email addresses;
Indicative targets - as global references for improving connectivity and access in promoting the objectives of the WSIS Plan of Action (sec B), to be achieved by 2015 7. To adapt all primary and secondary school curricula to meet the challenges of the Information Society, taking into account national circumstances; 8. To ensure that all of the world's population have access to television and radio services; 9. To encourage the development of content and to put in place technical conditions in order to facilitate the presence and use of all world languages on the Internet; 10. To ensure that more than half the world s inhabitants have access to ICTs within their reach
Action Lines and moderators as in Geneva Plan of Action - Section C Action Line Possible moderators/facilitators С1. The role of public governance authorities and ECOSOC/UN Regional Commissions/ITU all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development С2. Information and communication infrastructure ITU C3. Access to information and knowledge ITU/UNESCO C4. Capacity building UNDP/UNESCO/ITU/ UNCTAD C5. Building confidence and security in the use of ITU ICTs C6. Enabling environment ITU/UNDP/UN Regional Commissions S/UNCTAD C7. ICT Applications E-government UNDP/ITU E-business WTO/UNCTAD/ITU/UPU E-learning UNESCO/ITU/UNIDO E-health WHO/ITU E-employment ILO/ITU E-environment WHO/WMO/UNEP/UN-Habitat/ITU/ICAO FAO/ITU E-agriculture UNESCO/ITU/UNCTAD E-science C8. Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic UNESCO diversity and local content C9. Media UNESCO C10. Ethical dimensions of the Information UNESCO/ECOSOC Society C11. International and regional cooperation UN Regional Commissions UNDP/ITU/UNESCO/ECOSOC
Thank you!! Questions