ITU and Digital Inclusion Committed to connecting the world ITU and Digital Inclusion --- ASEAN-ITU Seminar on ICT Accessibility and Assistive Technologies for Equity in Society --- 25-26 August 2014, Bangkok, Thailand Mr. Wisit Atipayakoon ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Email: wisit.atipayakoon.itu.int 1

ITU: International Telecommunication Union Founded in 1865; Responsible for issues that concern Information and Communication Technologies. 193 Member States, 545 Sector Members, 161 Associates, and 33 Academia. HQs in Switzerland, Geneva; and 4 Regional Offices & 7 Area Office. ITU-R ITU-T ITU-D ITU’s Radio-communication Sector that globally manages radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits that ensure safety of life on land, at sea and in the skies. ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Sector that enable global communications by ensuring that countries’ ICT networks and devices are speaking the same language. ITU’s Development Sector that fosters international cooperation and solidarity in the delivery of technical assistance and in the creation, development and improvement of telecommunication/ICT equipment and networks in developing countries.

ITU Headquarter: Geneva, Switzerland Europe Regional Office ITU: Reaching out to the World ITU Headquarter: Geneva, Switzerland Europe Regional Office Geneva, Switzerland CIS Area Office Moscow, Russia Americas Regional Office Brasilia, Brazil Area Offices Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Santiago, Chile. Bridgetown, Barbados Asia-Pacific Regional Office Bangkok, Thailand Acting Regional Director Mr. Sameer Sharma Area Office Jakarta, Indonesia Head: Ms. Aurora Rubio Africa Regional Office Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Area Offices Yaoundé, Cameroon Harare, Zimbabwe Dakar, Senegal Arab Regional Office Cairo, Egypt

ITU: Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Responsible for affordable and sustainable access to and use of telecom/ICT infrastructure and applications through assisting members with various development initiatives and projects based on multi-stakeholders' partnerships in the Asia-Pacific Region. 38 Member States and over 72 Sector Members. Least Developed Countries (13) Low-Income States (9) The Rest (10) D.P.R. Korea India Indonesia Mongolia Pakistan Philippines Sri Lanka Vietnam Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan Cambodia Lao, PDR Nepal Myanmar Timor Leste Australia Brunei China/Hong Kong Iran Japan Malaysia New Zealand R.O. Korea Singapore Thailand PNG Kiribati Samoa Solomon Is. Tuvalu Vanuatu Fiji Maldives Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru Tonga Small Islands Developing States (12)

ITU Work on Accessibility Digital Inclusion Promotion of ICT access and use for the social and economic development of: Indigenous peoples Persons with disabilities Women and girls Youth and children ITU Work on Accessibility General Secretariat: ITU Accessibility Task Force BDT (ITU-D): Study Group Question 7/1 “Access to telecommunication/ICT services by persons with disabilities and with specific needs” TSB (ITU-T): Study Group Question 26/16 “Accessibility to multimedia systems and services”

ITU-T ITU-D Standard making body Coordination among Standard Development Organizations Research & study ITU-D Policy and regulatory matters Guidelines, toolkits, and training Promotion & awareness raising, Project implementation

http://www.e-accessibilitytoolkit.org/

Making TV Accessible Report Making Mobile Phones and Services Accessible Report Making TV Accessible Report Explains, in concrete terms, what we mean by accessible mobile phones Developments in accessible mobile apps Business opportunities and case studies Policy guidelines Identifies ways in which TV can be made more accessible Timely given the transition from analogue to digital TV Prepared by Peter Looms, Chairman of ITU-T Focus Group on Audiovisual Media Accessibility http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/sis/PwDs/index.phtml

Model ICT Accessibility Policy Report Provides policy guidelines and legal and regulatory framework Designed to help countries develop their own accessibility policies and regulations Modular design includes stand-alone sections on: Model ICT legal, policy and regulatory framework Model ICT accessibility framework on public access Model mobile communications accessibility policy framework Model television/video programming accessibility framework Model web accessibility policy framework Model accessible ICT public procurement policy framework

WTDC-14 and Accessibility ITU-D Objective 4 as approved by WTDC-14 is to: “Build human and institutional capacity, provide data and statistics, promote digital inclusion and provide concentrated assistance to countries in special need” Output 4.3 is “Digital inclusion of people with specific needs” WTDC-14 agreed that instead of referring to “people with special needs” the term “people with specific needs” would be used; As per Output 4.3, digital inclusion of people with specific needs, there will be three Regional Initiatives on persons with disabilities: in the ARB, EUR and CIS regions Question 7/1 will address policies and strategies for promoting and implementing services and solutions which provide access to telecommunications/ICTs by persons with disabilities and with special needs, and for people with difficulties mastering reading and writing.  This recognizes that people with difficulties mastering reading and writing can often benefit from ICT solutions for persons with disabilities. WTDC-14 also approved WTDC-14 Res. 58 on persons with disabilities, combining contributions from RCC and CITEL

Planned ITU-D activities in Accessibility Regional Initiatives on ICT accessibility : Development of training on audio description Asia-Pacific and ASEAN -- ?

ITU: Asia-Pacific Regional Initiatives (2015-2018) Special Consideration For LDCs*, SIDSs**, Including Pacific Island Countries, And Landlocked Developing Countries Initiative #2 Emergency Telecommunications Initiative #3 Harnessing The Benefits Of New Technologies (includes Digital Broadcasting) Initiative #4 Development Of Broadband Access And Adoption Of Broadband Initiative #5 Policy And Regulation * LDC: Least Developed Countries ** SIDS: Small Island Developing States 12

I Thank U ITU : http://www.itu.int ITU Asia Pacific : http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/asp/CMS/index.asp 13