Session 1: Transparent & Effective Governance in the Digital Age ITU Asia-Pacific Regional Development Forum 16-18 May 2012 Bangkok Thailand Sameer Sharma Senior Advisor ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific 1

Agenda Transparent & Effective Governance ICT Growth & Infrastructure Transparent & Effective Governance How ICT can Enhance Good Governance? Conclusions and Way Forward

Universal Access To Mobile & Growth of Broadband With 5.9 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions, global penetration reaches 87%, and 79% in the developing world. Mobile-broadband subscriptions have grown 45% annually over the last four years and today there are twice as many mobile-broadband as fixed broadband subscriptions.

Growing Internet Users Around the World The world is home to 7 billion people, one third of which are using the Internet. 45% of the world’s Internet users are below the age of 25. Over the last five years, developing countries have increased their share of the world’s total number of Internet users from 44% in 2006, to 62% in 2011. Today, Internet users in China represent almost 25% of the world’s total Internet users and 37% of the developing countries’ Internet users.

While the broadband prices are decreasing, Digital divide remains! Source: ITU Measuring the Information Society (2011)

Growth Going Mobile…. Mobile broadband is on the rise….. Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database.

“In the 21st century, affordable broadband access to the Internet is becoming as vital to social and economic development as networks like transport, water and power” – Dr Hamadoun Touré, ITU Secretary-General

1,170 Investment in Broadband Networks Shows to Deliver Greatest Benefits On GDP Growth Examples of technologies A 10 percent increase in fixed teledensity has a 0.5 percent increase in GDP Additional benefits that are not quantified by WB Significant qualitative and social benefits that are likely to result from wider telecommunications and broadband adoption A 10 percent increase in mobile teledensity has a 0.7 percent increase in GDP BUT World Bank estimated broadband boost is consistent with specific country studies A 10 percent increase in broadband penetration boosts GDP by 1.3 percent! Source: Christine Zhen-Wei Qiang and Carlo M. Rossotto with Kaoru Kimura, Chapter 3 Economic Impacts of Broadband, in World Bank, Information and Communication for Development 2009: Extending Reach and Increasing Impact (IC4D2009).

Impact of Broadband on Innovation Innovation efficiency vs. broadband penetration Innovation efficiency vs. broadband penetration ratio Broadband facilitates innovation and entrepreneurship. Countries with a higher proportion of see greater innovation. Broadband stokes innovation and it does so. Timeliness in deploying broadband yields further substantial benefits for countries. Broadband facilitates innovation and entrepreneurship Countries with a higher penetration see greater innovation Broadband stokes innovation and it does so exponentially Source: World Economic Forum

Infrastructure /e-Governance Readiness ICT Development Index (IDI) 2010 E-Government Development Leaders 2012

2015 Broadband Targets Broadband Leadership Summit 2011 All countries should have a national broadband plan or strategy or include broadband in their Universal Access / Service Definitions. Entry-level broadband services should be made affordable in developing countries through adequate regulation and market forces (amounting to less than 5% of average monthly income). 40% of households in developing countries should have Internet access. Internet user penetration should reach 60% worldwide, 50% in developing countries and 15% in LDCs. Making broadband policy universal. Making broadband affordable Connecting homes to broadband Enhancing access to broadband

ITU Mandate for ICT Infrastructure WSIS Action Line C2 considers Information and Communication Infrastructure “an essential foundation for the information society” World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-2010) held in Hyderabad (India) from 24 May to 4 June 2010 adopted, Programme 1: "Information and Communication Infrastructure and Technology Development” WTDC-2010 includes Regional Initiative for Asia-Pacific on Broadband access and uptake in urban and rural areas At least 110 governments have already adopted a national policy, strategy or plan to promote broadband What will be the role of ICT infrastructure and technologies to enhance effective and transparent governance? What are the roles of policy-makers, regulators and industry to ensure the good and transparent governance?

Transparent & Effective Governance Openness and transparency of government are key pillars of democracy that pre-date the Internet. Data produced and collected by the government are the basic ingredients for governments to provide services, make policy, and be held accountable for their performance. Efficiently managing this information is essential to effective governance, especially since most citizen interactions with government generate information. Programme 2 (WTDC 2010) supports countries in improving access to ICT applications and services, especially in underserved and rural areas, achieving trust and confidence in the use of ICTs, the Internet and next-generation networks, promoting fair and equitable access to critical Internet resources. 161 countries and territories had a national e-strategy in place by April 2010, with another 14 countries and territories in the process of formulating a national e- strategy indicating sound basis for promoting transparent governance for public good. ITU e-Government Implementation Toolkit

Transparent & Effective Governance-II Four dimensions of the e-Government environment

Transparent & Effective Governance-III Relationship between broadband penetration and citizen uptake of e-government services What are the challenges and opportunities of good and transparent governance through ICT? What are the necessary policy drivers that could create incentives for investment in infrastructure for delivering e-government services? Apart from governments playing the catalytic role through national e-strategies, how could the private sector contribute towards efficiency and effectiveness for delivery of e-services?

How ICT can Enhance Good Governance? As telecommunication/ICT networks are deployed, governments are better able to provide e-government services to their citizens, which improve transparency, accountability, utilization of resources and access to governmental services, including health and education. In 2012, the United Nations e-government assessment focused on the concept of integrated services that exploit inter-linkages among different public services on a functionally and/or thematically similar one-stop-shop portal, thereby improving and facilitating citizen experience, allowing for back office integration across governmental departments and strengthening institutional arrangements. Single sign-on integrated services on portals can organizationally transform public service delivery at both the front and the back end.

How ICT can Enhance Good Governance-II Policy Information Online Countries with government websites linking to national portal The 2012 Survey finds that many Member States are moving from a decentralized single-purpose organization model, to an integrated unified whole of- government model, contributing to efficiency and effectiveness. What are the most effective ways to enhance efficiencies of delivery of public services and how the delivery time can be reduced using suitable infrastructure / applications? What are the expectations from the citizens from governance perspective and how the governments can enhance its responsiveness to the citizens?

Conclusions and Way Forward The goal of using and disseminating ICT is to bring benefits in all aspects of our daily life, and that ICT Infrastructure is enormously important in facilitating citizens' access to these applications Efficient use and deployment of suitable e-government services to improve efficiency and effectiveness of public service delivery and to promote development for the people helps governments use available resources to their best advantage, this contributing to economic sustainability. E-Government development efforts to deliver end to end services using single portal has proved to be effective and efficient mechanism to deliver transparent government to consumer services and other related services. What are the key developmental future priorities and initiatives for Asia-Pacific Region for next five years, where ICTs – its infrastructure and technologies in particular - could play catalytic role?

I Thank U ITU : http://www.itu.int ITU Asia Pacific : http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/asp/CMS/index.asp 19