Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development DTPS PRESENTATION ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COMPLIANCE WITH TREATIES AND PROTOCOLS 1

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 2  Objectives of International Relations  International Structures in ICT sector  International Projects and Programmes  International Treaties  Procedure for Ratification of International treaties  Challenges with Ratification process  Concluding Remarks Overview

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 3 Objectives  To support and promote South Africa’s foreign policy in the ICT sector  To promote the rules based multilateral system to prevent or mitigate the expression of dominant global power against smaller countries.  To promote international policies, rules, regulations, standards and the coordination of scarce resources to govern the ICT sector.  To prioritise the development of Africa  To benefit from shared expertise and experience, international best practise

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 4 International structures  UN bodies, such as the International Telecommunications Union, and the Universal Postal Union – DTPS lead dept.  Other UN bodies such as World International Property Organisation WIPO (DTI lead); UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNESCO (DoE, DHET lead); UN Conference on Trade & Development (DTI lead); UN General Assembly UNGA and Economic and Social Committee ECOSOC (DIRCO lead)  African structures, such as the African Union (AU), the African Telecommunications Union (ATU), the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU)  Southern African Development Community structures  Bilateral Agreements  Other international organisations: the Internet Corporation for assigned names and numbers (ICANN); Commonwealth Telecommunications Org (CTO)

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 5 Projects and Programmes  BRICS ICT group: There is a need for greater coordination amongst BRICs countries to ensure greater consideration, understanding and cooperation on positions of common interest in preparation for UN ICT negotiations (such as ITU and UPU), as well as to ensure closer cooperation amongst BRICS Member states generally (eg. BRICS cable – commercial, but should be encouraged).  SA is member of the Council of Administration of the UPU and Chair of the Committee on Postal Strategy, as well as Chair of the PAPU Committee on Postal Strategy  Quality of Service Fund project for strengthening postal services amongst countries in Southern Africa, based on Quality of Service Fund award  Cooperation with the ITU and UPU on delivering financial and postal products to rural and underserved communities

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 6  Preparations within SADC and Africa group for the World Radio Conference, which will look at the efficient allocation of spectrum between different regions and uses, according to demand and the development of technology. This will include possible new allocations of spectrum for mobile broadband services.  South Africa was vice-chair of the Joint task group of ITU Study Groups 4,5,6,7, coordinating discussions around the digital dividend and the allocation of spectrum of International Mobile Telephony and other uses. Also coordinated the first study in Africa to address concerns over possible interference over new spectrum allocations (Radiocommunications sector). The outcomes of this work will inform the World Radio Conference decisions in  Recently South Africa hosted the International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation workshop for training in Satellite in South Africa for SADC, and currently South Africa is hosting the 3 rd African Preparatory meeting for WRC-15 Projects and Programmes...2

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 7 Projects and Programmes....3  International benchmarking and exchanges to support e-skills, e- government, postal sector policymaking and oversight, Cybersecurity, and the development of national statistical indicators to reflect the development of the ICT sector, in line with international standards (eg. ITU led Partnership for measuring the Information Society)  South Africa is vice-chair of Study Group 16 dealing with Multimedia, IPTV and e-health in the Standardisation sector of the ITU, and the CSIR have made presentations of their technology to the ITU in this respect.

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 8 Projects and Programmes....4  The implementation of the African and SADC development plans, including broadband, regional IXPs and Data centres  Harmonisation within SADC for the efficient use of spectrum  Member of Council of the African Telecommunications Union  SA/India Joint working group 2011 has focused on exchanging information on e- government services and the development of technology parks.  The e-skills Institute came about as a result of the advice of the Presidential International Advisory Committee and has benefited from extensive international consultation on best practise, including through the WSIS forum organised by the ITU. The e-Skills Institute now has an MOU with ITU and UNDP. Also South Africa hosts an ITU Centre of Excellence (Telkom centre for learning).

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 9 International Treaties Key treaties to ratify:  International Telecommunication Satellite Organisation Status: For Minister to approve to submit to Cabinet  International Telecommunication Union Plenipotentiary Conference Status: Acceded Signed and ratified 2002 and Documentation prepared for submission to Cabinet 2014 No ratification required as there were no changes to the Constitution and Convention of the ITU.  ITU World Radio Conference 2012 Status: Will require separate ratification because there is no need to ratify the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference Final Acts 2014.

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 10 International Treaties....2  International Telecommunication Regulations 2012 Status: Will require separate ratification because there is no need to ratify the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference Final Acts Legal opinion obtained from Dept. of Justice and requested from Chief State Law Adviser: International. The treaty is controversial and a number of countries refused to sign.  African Telecommunications Union (ATU) Constitution and Convention Status: There was a need to ensure alignment of ATU with the African Union. Ratification now required.

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 11 International Treaties....3  Universal Postal Union Status: To prepare submission for ratification of 2012 Final Acts of the World Post Congress  Need for consultation with DIRCO and key international organisations to review international treaties to ensure South Africa has ratified those of strategic importance.  DTPS also participates in Bilateral agreements with countries in order to leverage mutually beneficial relations and benefit from experience and best practise in ICTs

 Preparation of National and Regional positions  Presidential Minute  Credentials  Negotiation of Treaty  Signing by designated Member of the Executive  Legal opinions from Chief State Law Advisers: Justice and International  Submission through FOSAD cluster for consideration of line function depts.  Submission to Cabinet through Cabinet Committee  Submission to Parliament through Parliamentary Committee  Approval by Parliament  Preparation of instrument of ratification for signature of President Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio- economic Development 12 Procedures for Treaties

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 13 Challenges with process  Many countries have indicated challenges in completing ratification because it is a long process that often is dealing with fairly minor issues from the perspective of national administrations – thus there is a poor record for ratifying treaties in the ITU and UPU.  Most countries have a similar legal approach to South Africa wrt ratification  A Proposal was made by Africa group during ITU PP-14 for research to continue towards developing a more stable, higher level Constitution for the ITU which would not need to be changed every four years  Other regions did not support this for a number of different reasons, ranging from legal concerns over the possible implications to fears that this could open the door to more radical proposals for changes to the constitution….or for other reasons?

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 14  There is a need for greater coordination amongst stakeholders to manage participation in ITU structures, especially study groups in the Development and Standardisation sectors, to ensure we invest resources in targeting areas that can assist in the economic development of the country.  The department will consider a study on the efficacy of international treaties in the ICT sectors to better the lives of the people of South Africa.  ICTs increasingly underpin socio-economic development. To remain competitive countries need to develop dynamic information societies and knowledge economies nationally and regionally, with a learning culture and strong infrastructure. This increasingly requires effective global interaction to share knowledge and expertise from global resources. Concluding Remarks

Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development 15  ICT Infrastructure investment in the region is growing at 7% - therefore the focus is on communication systems that will be universally accessible across the region at a cost and quality that meets the communication needs of citizens, business and the public sector, including access to the creation and consumption of a wide range of converged applications and services required for effective economic and social participation  ICT is a critical enabler of economic activity in an increasingly networked world: South Africa one of 3 Sub-Sahara countries with electronic manufacturing capabilities and the only SADC member-state with certified conformance testing labs (Telkom & SABS)  There is a critical need to harness international resources and expertise to build national and regional economies through infrastructure, human capital development, extending government services, economic and innovation.