1. 1 SEVENTH MEETING REGIONAL INTERAGENCY MEETING GROUP ON ICT 28 October 2004 Bangkok REGIONAL ACTION PLAN TOWARDS INFORMATION SOCIETY IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

2. 2 Focus of the Tunis Phase Follow-up and implementation of the Geneva Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action by stakeholders at national, regional and international levels, with particular attention to the challenges facing the Least Developed Countries; Consideration of the report of the Task Force on Financial Mechanisms (TFFM) and appropriate action; Internet governance: consideration of the report of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) and appropriate action.

3. 3 Output and Preparatory Process of the Tunis Phase The agreements reached in the Geneva Phase should be reopened The output of the Tunis Phase should be a final document or documents, comprising a concise political pat and an operational part, both of which reflect the areas of focus of the Tunis Phase and reaffirm and enhance the commitments undertaken in the Geneva Phase The preparatory process of the Tunis Phase should be inclusive, efficient, transparent and cost-effective; in principle, following the road map illustrated in the annexed chart.

4. 4 Outline of the Preparatory Process for the Tunis Phase of WSIS June 2004 Prepcom-1 Roadmap to Tunis February 2005 Prepcom-2 Considerations September 2005 Prepcom-3 Negotiations November 2005 Summit Adoption CONSULTATIONSCONSULTATIONS Relevant thematic, Regional meeting Task Force on Financial Mechanisms (TFFM) Working Group on Internet governance (WGIG)

5. 5 Interest of Countries 60 th session of the Commission, Shanghai, April 2004 66 members and associate members, regional and international organizations, NGOS and other countries The Commission expressed support for the recommendation of the Committee on Managing Globalization at its first session that a Regional Plan of Action be formulated to lead to an Information Society Shanghai Declaration: to implement the Plan of Action and taking action to achieve the objectives of WSIS as enunciated in the Declaration of Principles with special attention to LDCs, PICs and economies in transition

6. 6 Major Regional and Global Initiatives - MDGs -Geneva Plan of Action and Declaration of Principles -Tokyo Declaration – The Asia-Pacific perspective on WSIS -Regional Road Map towards an Information Society in Asia and the Pacific -Plan of Implementation of WSSD -Bangkok Agenda of the APT Ministerial Conferences

7. 7 Role of ICT in attaining MDGs Target 18 of MDG 8, states: “In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communication technologies”

8. 8 Role of ICTs in attaining MDGS GOAL MDG1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger ICTs provide increased access to market information and reduce transaction costs for poor farmers and traders. Tele-work allows work from home and is the main source of income or additional source of income. ICTs increase skills and productivity resulting in increased incomes MDG2: Achieve universal primary education ICTs increase supply of trained teachers though ICT-enhanced distance training

9. 9 Role of ICTs in attaining MDGS MDGs 3: Promote gender equality and empower women ICTs deliver educational and literacy programmes specifically targeted to poor girls and women using appropriate technologies. Studies show females outnumber males in e-learning programmes. MDGs 4, 5, 6: Health ICTs increase access of rural care-givers to specialist support and remote diagnosis. ICTs enhance delivery of basic and in- service training for health workers ICTs increase monitoring and information- sharing on disease and famine

10. 10 Role of ICTs in attaining MDGS (cont’d) MDG 7: Ensure environmental stability Remote sensing technologies and communication networks permit more effective monitoring, resource management, and mitigation of environmental risks. Telework reduces pollution by removing the requirement of travelling form home to the workplace.

11. 11 Goals, Benchmarks and Targets of WSIS Plan of Action Based on internationally agreed development goals, including those in the Millennium Declaration, which are premised on international cooperation, indicative targets may serve as global references for improving connectivity and access in the use of ICTs in promoting the objectives of the Plan of Action, to be achieved by 2015. These targets may be taken into account in establishing the national targets considering the different national circumstances:

12. 12 Goals, Benchmarks and Targets of WSIS Plan of Action (cont’d) to connect villages with ICTs and establish community access points to connect public libraries, cultural centers, museums, post offices and archives with ICTs to connect universities, colleges, secondary schools and primary schools with ICTs to connect scientific and research centers with ICTs to connect health centers and hospitals with ICTS

13. 13 Goals, Benchmarks and Targets of WSIS Plan of Action (cont’d) to connect all local and central government department and establish websites and e-mail addresses to adapt all primary and secondary school curricula to meet the challenges of the Information Society, taking into account national circumstances to ensure that all of the world’s population have access to television and radio services

14. 14 Goals, Benchmarks and Targets of WSIS Plan of Action (cont’d) 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 to ensure that more than half the world’s inhabitants have access to ICTs within their reach

15. 15 Emphasis of WSIS Geneva Plan of Action The governments have a leading role to play in developing and implementing comprehensive, forward looking and sustainable national e-strategies. The private sector and civil society, in dialogue with governments, have an important consultative role to play in devising national e-strategies The commitment of the private sector is important in developing and diffusing information and communication technologies (ICTs) for infrastructure, content and applications. The private sector is not only a market player but also plays a role in a wider sustainable development context.

16. 16 Emphasis of WSIS Geneva Plan of Action (cont’d) The commitment and involvement of civil society is equally important in creating an equitable Information Society, and in implementing ICT-related initiatives for development International and regional institutions, including international financial institutions, have a key role in integrating the use of ICTs in the development process and making available necessary resources for building the Information Society and for evaluation of the progress made

17. 17 WSIS Themes The eleven themes contained in the Geneva declaration and action plan are as follows: 1.The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development 2. Information and communication infrastructure: an essential foundation for the Information Society 3.Access to information and knowledge 4.Capacity-building 5.Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs

18. 18 WSIS Themes (cont’d) 6.Enabling environment 7.ICT applications; benefits in all aspects of life 8.Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content 9.Media 10.Ethical dimensions of the Information Society 11.International and regional cooperation

19. 19 Tokyo Declaration on Asia-Pacific Perspective (ASP) on WSIS The Tokyo Conference held in January 2003 was the 3 rd Regional Conference after those of Africa and Europe to define the priorities and concerns of the ASP Region to project the substantive issues to be addressed by the Summit. The Tokyo Declaration enunciated the shared vision of the Information Society, recognized the unique features and priorities of the region in building an Information Society.

20. 20 Regional Road Map towards an Information Society in ASP Region The ESCAP, in cooperation with the APT and the ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific had organized an Experts Group Meeting in August 2003 with the objective of formulating a regional road map towards an Information Society, which after the WSIS Geneva Phase could be developed into a Regional Plan of Action. The Road Map took stocks of regional institutions such as regional conferences on e-commerce Ministerial Conference of Broadcasting, conference on Cybercrime and Information Society, Forum on ICT and Gender, etc.

21. 21 Regional Action Plan Formulation The Regional Action Plan needs to be formulated in the context of the above eleven themes focusing on: issues of common concern to the countries of the region application of ICTs to achieve the MDGs targets and contribute inputs to facilitate planning for the WSIS second phase in Tunis, and to provide an agreed-upon-framework for continued international cooperation post-Tunis

22. 22 Formulation of the Regional Plan of Action First Regional Conference on Follow-up to the First Phase and Preparation for the Second Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society Expert Group Meeting on Follow-up to the World Summit on the Information Society 11-13 October 2004 Bangkok

23. 23 Formulation of the Regional Plan of Action The conference was attended by 46 representatives from 24 countries of the ESCAP region, plus 16 representatives from 12 UN bodies, specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, other entitles and the private sectors. The objective of the conference was to discuss and develop a draft Regional Plan of Action towards building a broad-based Information Society in Asia and the Pacific.

24. 24 Formulation of the Regional Plan of Action (cont’d) The Expert Group Meeting was attended by 28 representatives from 12 countries of the ESCAP region, plus 31 representatives from UN bodies, specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, other entitles and the private sectors. The objective of the Expert Group Meeting was to discuss and develop a Regional Action Plan towards building a broad-based Information Society in Asia and the pacific, and to promote the development of ICT policies, strategies and regulatory frameworks in the countries of the region.

25. 25 Draft Regional Action Plan Focus The regional actions may be focused on the following activities under each of the WSIS thematic areas that have substantial impact on development or are critical to achieving success: 1.Role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development National e-strategies taking into account local, regional and national needs and concerns and private sector to be engaged in concrete projects to develop the Information Society at local, regional and national levels

26. 26 Draft Regional Action Plan (cont’d) Mechanisms at national, regional and international levels for promotion of partnerships among stakeholders Publication of successful experiences of mainstreaming of ICTs 2.Information and Communication Infrastructure : an essential foundation for the Information Society: In the context of national e-strategies, devise appropriate access policies and strategies and their means of implementation, targets and development of ICT connectivity indicators in the context of national e-strategies, provide and improve ICT connectivity for schools, universities, health institutions, libraries, post offices, community centers, museums and other institutions accessible to the public: address special requirements of disadvantaged people

27. 27 Draft Regional Action Plan (cont’d) Design and production of affordable ICT access equipment Use of wireless capacity including that of satellite, particularly for remote areas Connectivity among major information networks, development of regional ICT backbones and Internet exchange points. 3.Access to information and knowledge: Policy guidelines for the development and promotion of public domain information Access to public official information through various communication resources, notably the Internet

28. 28 Draft Regional Action Plan (cont’d) Establishment of sustainable multi-purpose community public access points for affordable access to various communication resources, notably the Internets Development of appropriate software that will best contribute to achieving the development goals 4.Capacity building: Integration of ICT in curriculum, teacher training and institutional management Educational policies to eradicate adult illiteracy and ensure that young are equipped with knowledge and skills to use ICTs Pilot projects using ICT based education delivery systems

29. 29 Draft Regional Action Plan (cont’d) 5. Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs: Development of secure and reliable applications to facilitate online transactions National laws for overcoming obstacles to the effective use of electronic documents and transactions including electronic means of authentication Guidelines with respect to rights to privacy, data and consumer protection Setting up focal points for real-time incident handling and developing a cooperative network between these focal points for sharing information and technologies

30. 30 Draft Regional Action Plan (cont’d) 6.Enabling environment: Creation of a trustworthy, transparent and non- discriminatory legal, regulatory and policy environment which provides the appropriate incentives to investment and community development in the Information Society Internet Governance Participation in international ICT forums and creating opportunities for exchange of experience Government as model users and early adopters of e- commerce

31. 31 Draft Regional Action Plan (cont’d) 7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life: ICT applications in the fields of public administration, business, education, health, employment, environment, agriculture and science within the framework of national e-strategies 8.Cultural diversity and identify, linguistic diversity and local content: Creation of policies to respect and preserve cultural and linguistic diversity Best practices on policies and tools designed to promote cultural and linguistic diversity at regional and subregional levels Contribution of ICT to cultural exchange and interaction at the regional level

32. 32 Draft Regional Action Plan (cont’d) 9.Media: Role in the development of the Information Society 10.Ethical dimensions of the Information Society: Upholding universally held values ad prevent abusive uses of ICTs 11.International and regional cooperation: International and regional cooperation to promote universal access and bridge the digital divide by provision of means of implementation Public-private partnerships focusing on the use of ICTs in development International and regional organizations to mainstream ICTs in their work programmes and to assist developing countries in achieving the WSIS targets

33. 33 Recommendations of the Conferences The Conference held the view that the regional activities should be related to the themes containing in the Geneva Declaration with focus of the issues of common concern to countries in Asia and the Pacific and, especially, least developed countries, small-island countries and countries with economies in transition. The Regional Plan should also provide an agreed upon framework for continued cooperation of all stakeholders at the regional level before and after the Tunis Phase. The Conference supported the strategy of clusters of the main WSIS Geneva themes into four clusters in the draft Regional Action Plan and suggested formulation of respective coordinating groups composed of voluntary experts from regional countries to deliberate upon the priority themes under each cluster.

34. 34 Recommendations of the Conferences (cont’d) UNESCAP continue to take lead role in formulating the Regional Action Plan UNESCAP revise the draft Regional Action Plan in accordance with the discussions of the Conference and present the draft to the four subregional conferences to be held in Kyrgyzstan, Fiji, Nepal and Indonesia in order to further take into account the needs and priorities of the countries in the respective subregions UNESCAP present the draft Action Plan revised with the input from the subregional conferences to the high-level regional conference scheduled to be held in the middle of 2005. The Regional Action Plan should also be submitted to the WSIS process as the regional input to the Tunis Phase of WSIS

35. 35 Recommendations of the Conferences (cont’d) UNESCAP present the draft Action Plan revised with the input from the subregional conferences to the high-level regional conference scheduled to be held in the middle of 2005. The Regional Action Plan should also be submitted to the WSIS process as the regional input to the Tunis Phase of WSIS UNESCAP serve as the regional coordinator for the implementation of the Regional Action with active participation of all stakeholders including the members of the Regional Interagency Working Group on ICT

36. 36 Recommendations of the Conferences (cont’d) Special attention in the implementation of the Regional Action Plan should be given to LDCs, small-island countries and the countries with economies in transition UNESCAP, besides organizing the subregional and regional meetings, undertake compilation, editing and publication of case studies/best practice/success stories and their posting on its website. UNESCAP may play a collaborative role in the formulation and implementation of the Regional Action Plan, also in the post-Tunis Phase, in cooperation with the APT, ITU, UNESCO, UNCTAD and other regional/international organizations.

37. 37 THANK YOU