ADF Discussion List - Summary of discussion on NICI plans and policies

The discussion on elaboration of national information and communication infrastructure policies ran from August 24 to 10 September, 1999 and was opened with the moderator?s brief remarks on the Technical Advisory Committee preparatory meeting for the African Development Forum 1999 (ADF 99) and on the efforts that are being exerted by many African countries toward elaborating a national information and communication infrastructure policies, an attempt to formulate the required policy direction that would enable Africa to cope with the global Information Age.

Participants were asked to share their knowledge and experiences with regard to the formulation of national ICT policies. In order to focus the discussion on the topic, the moderator raised a number of questions and the responses given to them are summarised below:

Need for Elaboration of National Policies

Most of the participants responded to this question affirmatively. It was pointed out that ?Speaking of national policy presumes the presence of a viable nation state with a mobilising capacity and influence   to ensure peace and provide an enabling milieu for substantive development initiative?, which is lacking in Africa. It was also stressed that the process of formulation of ICT policy needs to embrace all the stakeholders and be linked to real development needs. Some felt that in order to formulate a policy that would take into   account    the impact of ICTs on the national development endeavours, policy makers need to be educated about new technologies.

Some found it difficult to work out a policy that would benefit the disadvantaged sections of the African community because of the fact that the technologies are more controlled by manufacturers than policymakers and their pace of development is faster than it could be monitored by the continent. In order to overcome this, they pointed out that, Africa?s policy direction should focus on creating and fostering   indigenous   capacity for research and development on technologies. It was also suggested that if Africa wants to share the ownership over the Internet, it should create and maintain information making and software engineering centres.

Some of the issues to be addressed by the national ICT policy were outlined. They include: emphasising the vanguard position of the private sector in the development and implementation of the NICI policy,   access   to information resources at affordable prices, promotion of technological innovation, ensuring information security and network reliability, improved management of the radio frequency, regional and international collaborations. It was pointed out that the realisation of these intentions requires close interaction between the government and the private sector.

Some felt that each government ministry should elaborate a national ICT within its sphere of activity and then the communications ministry ?should have policies specifying methods to achieve the outcomes
specified   by   the   other   ministries?.    Others   disagreed that? telecommunications policy is too important to be left to the telecommunications   ministers/ministries?. The key issue in this process is ? to mobilise key constituencies such as the education, ealth, and business communities -- who have a vital stake of the ICT infrastructure -- to articulate their interests and do fight for them in the development of ICT policies. For this to occur, the policy process   may   have   to be reformed to encourage this kind of
participation and avoid narrow corporativist approaches to sectoral development policies?.

A participant posed some questions that need to be addressed while developing ICT policies. These included: What should be the focus of the policy? How and where to start defining the policy? What mode of
ownership the policy should advocate?   What kind of institutional arrangement should be there? What are the legal implications posed by the policy? What are the regulatory frameworks under which the policy
is going to be implemented.

Core of the ICT Policy

Participants stated that addressing the right to access information at reasonable cost needs to be considered as a fundamental human right and should constitute the basis for the formulation of a national ICT
policy. It was also stated that as the goal of a national ICT policy is to improve the flow and utilisation of information at all levels, the core of the policy should rest on building up ICT infrastructure that could facilitate both national and global connectivity.

Need for Telecom reforms

It was pointed out that one must take into account the peculiar situations that exist in the country under consideration while considering telecom reforms, and the issue of ownership needs to be
addressed in relation to long term development effects. The experience of Uganda came into the picture whereby a six months license is given to a telecom operator to provide pre-defined services and if it fails
to do so, then its license will be revoked and given to someone else. Based on this it was noted that ICT policies should be oriented toward satisfying the demands of the user communities.

Definition and Execution of ICT Policy

Participants stressed that defining and implementing ICT policies is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders (government agencies, non-government organisations, private sector, civil societies, etc.),
and warned that formulation of ICT policies should not be taken as a one time business, but as an ongoing process.

Role of Private Sector

Some felt that the private sector should be taken as a partner. But as its target is profit, it could not be viewed as a promoter of social needs. It was added that apart from working collaboratively with other
stakeholders on policy issues, the private sector should also join hands   with   the   government   in    the process of building the infrastructure especially in the rural areas.

Current ICT Practices in Africa

It was revealed that the situation of African countries regarding ICT development is encouraging. References were given on the various ICT related projects being executed in different African countries. It was pointed out that embarking on making software products that ?reflect and mould African mentality ? that can take us out of present economic stagnation? could significantly reduce Africa?s dependency on the developed world. Some suggested ?set up a kind of African Bank for Technology Finance where young Africans would address their technical idea around building the Infrastructure for approval and Financing?.

Views on Conferences

Some of the participants expressed their concern about the amount of time and money that is being spent on meetings and conferences and stated that ?what we need is fewer talk-shops, more collaborative work and more support for small enterprises.

Information was given that ADF 99 is not just a conference but rather a process that brings together donors with various countries? ICT programmes and projects with the aim ?to seek funding and partners for
their implementation in late 1999 and 2000. The essence of the Forum is its link with these work programmes.?

One list member stated that ?conferences constitute a form of technology   transfer   that should be always promoted for cheap acquisition of state-of-the-art (usually not yet published) knowledge and practical exposure to leading scientists and experts in a specific field    or   topic?offer    ample   opportunities   for   professional development??.

Telecentre Initiatives

Information was given on Building Information Community in Africa (BICA), which is sponsored by the British Council and ITU. A project proposal for publishing a CD was approved, whose objective is ?to
create   a   medium to collate and continuously deliver critical information to telecentre operators and potential operators as well as other stakeholders? throughout the world. List members were asked if
they can contribute input to the same and positive replies were secured.

Information Distribution

A question was raised as to who controls the information distribution throughout Africa. In response to this, one list member said that it is the communists and the dictators who control information, while the other argued that it was not true and stated that ?the systems that control information are systems that understand the ramification and importance of information and its use?.

WEB SITES

Formulating a national strategy toward building a learning society

http://www.conectando.org.sv

Gorfu Asefa