Briefing Note 4: ICT Trends for Government Leaders

This briefing note discusses technical and policy considerations when making decisions for information and communication technology development (ICTD) when making decisions for ICTD in the local and regional context of the Asia-Pacific region. It is published by the United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (UN-APCICT/ESCAP). It is drawn from Module 4 - ICT Trends for Government Leaders, the second of eight modules of the Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders.

This document discusses ICT developments such as the World Wide Web as the internet catalyst, internet voice communication, and cloud computing (applications made available from a central point on the internet using web-based technologies). Mobile phone advancements include some of the following advantages: inexpensive, long battery life for under-resourced settings, short messaging service (SMS) and multimedia messaging service (MMS), 'telecentre' business opportunities, mobile banking and ‘nano-finance’ transactions (low-value transactions such as paying another person electronically by transferring phone credit to his/her mobile phone), and easy-to-learn technology. However, for effective development of mobile phone infrastructure and use, an appropriate regulatory environment and fee structure is necessary, ensured by government regulation, including "market liberalisation and competition, a review of access cost structures, and ensuring that service providers offer the required services in a way that delivers maximum benefits in terms of technology and affordable access."

Considerations for government in technology development include:

1. Network building blocks - Using appropriate technology to 'futureproof' infrastructure; exploring the possibility of regional and sub-regional cable networks; assessing the benefits that a robust national cable infrastructure can provide; and putting fair regulatory mechanisms in place, particularly to provide service where terrain and deployment costs hamper service provision.
2. The internet - Developing a policymaking process to ensure that reliable and secure service and a growth environment through: competition; e-government; infrastructure security including, for example, international connectivity redundancy; legislative responses to cyber security; appropriate regulatory flexibility; and community-based networks where commercial provision of services may not be feasible.
3. Connecting the modern organisation - Ensuring that procurement decisions take into account technology trends; assessing the benefit of adopting free and open source software; using new and emerging application delivery methods that require less in-house technical resources; reducing interconnectivity costs by employing virtual private networks to connect remote locations/offices; and implementing intranets. Examples given include: enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems unifying organisational data storage and processing; virtual private networks (VPNs) interconnecting an organisation’s sites and mobile workers using authentication and encryption; and an intranet using various internet protocols and services to facilitate access within a single organisation.

The following are actions that can contribute to the process of ICTD policymaking for socio-economic advancement:

• "Establishing a national ICT taskforce to consider advances in technology and provide input into national planning;
  
• Ensuring that the ICT regulatory and policymaking arm of government is proactive in its approach, engages with stakeholders from all sectors, and has the capacity to research and assess new technology trends;
  
• Formulating a national ICT strategy with input from all stakeholders, and taking into account both global technology trends and local needs; Collecting national statistics on ICT to aid in planning and development;
  
• Promoting policy reform efforts underpinned by market liberalisation and competition, but balanced by access cost structures and service provisioning, to ensure that service providers offer the required services in a reasonable manner;
  
• Policymaking that explores alternative forms of access and, in particular, the potential of mobile telephony and convergence;
  
• Adopting new technology and deploying forward-looking strategies for infrastructure development and the use of appropriate technology to maximise the availability and use of information and services; and
  
• Using open standards in system procurement and deployment to ensure continued interoperability among systems. The doucment concludes that "the policymaking process needs to carefully explore various options to provide an outcome that is holistic, practical in the local context, and at the same time, aligned with regional and global trends and best practice."