1. bridging the digital divide through regional cooperation
Siope Vakataki ‘Ofa
ICT and Development Section
ICT and Disaster Risk Reduction Division
ESCAP

2. Outline ESCAP (brief background)
ICT connectivity for sustainable development
Regional cooperation on promoting ICT connectivity in Asia and the Pacific : Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway (AP-IS) initiative

3. 1. ESCAP Established 1947, HQ in Bangkok, Thailand
Regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region.
53 Member States and 9 Associate Members
The region is home to 4.1 billion people, or two thirds of the world’s population
For more information (

5. 1. ESCAP ESCAP’s work programme focusses on the following areas:
Sustainable Development
Macroeconomic Policy and Development
Trade and Investment
Transport
Social Development
Environment and Development
Information and Communications Technology, Disaster Risk Reduction
Statistics
Sub-regional activities for development

6. 2. ICT for sustainable development
Opportunities of emerging technologies (artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of things (IoT) & Cloud computing/big data) for sustainable development?
Positive relationship between AI and economic development (GDP) in Asia and the Pacific region.
Cited researches in AI (h-index)
Source: ESCAP (2017), ‘Artificial intelligence and digital divide’, ESCAP, Bangkok.

7. AI and ICT connectivity
2. ICT for sustainable development
AI and ICT connectivity
Mobile-broadband
Fixed-broadband
h-index
h-index
Source: ESCAP (2017), ‘Artificial intelligence and digital divide’, ESCAP, Bangkok.

8. 2. ICT for sustainable development

9. Digital divide in ESCAP LLDCs
2. ICT for sustainable development
Digital divide in ESCAP LLDCs

10. 2. ICT for sustainable development

11. 2. ICT for sustainable development

12. 2. ICT for sustainable development

13. Challenges: Drivers of digital divide
2. ICT for sustainable development
Challenges: Drivers of digital divide
Insufficient international bandwidth – missing or lack of access to international fibre-optic cables, (infrastructure sharing and codeployment and financing of ICT infrastructure development).
Lack of online services and content;
Lack of conducive regulations for development of ICT infrastructure;
Poor Internet traffic management;
Lack of resilient ICT infrastructure (E-resilience);
Lack of access to affordable and reliable energy sources;
Income (economic development levels) of countries, among other factors…

14. Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway initiative

15. Regional cooperation
The Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway initiative aims to increase the availability and affordability of broadband Internet across Asia and the Pacific, by strengthening the underlying Internet infrastructure in the region.
Promote terrestrial and submarine fibre-optic connectivity
Provide a regional intergovernmental platform focusing on the missing fibre-optic links between ESCAP countries
ESCAP resolution 73/6 = mandate

16. ASIA-PACIFIC INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY (AP-IS)
AP-IS PILLAR 1
Connectivity
AP-IS PILLAR 2
Internet Traffic & Network Mgmt.
AP-IS PILLAR 3
E-Resilience
AP-IS PILLAR 4
Broadband for All
INFO AND PUBLICATIONS ON

17. AP-IS Initiatives Strategic Initiatives 2016-2018 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
P1: Infrastructure & Connectivity
P2: Internet Traffic & Network Mgmt.
P3: E-Resilience
P4: Broadband for All
Strategic Initiatives 1
Identification, coordination, deployment, expansion and integration of the regional backbone network 2
Establish a sufficient number of IXPs at the national and subregional levels and set out common principles on Internet traffic exchange 3
Regional social and economic studies 4
Enhancing ICT infrastructure resilience 5
Policy and regulations for leveraging existing infrastructure, technology and inclusive broadband initiatives 6
Capacity-building 7
AP-IS funding mechanism based on public-private partnerships

18. AP-IS 1st Steering Committee Meeting, 1-2 November 2017, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Co-hosted with Bangladesh Steering Committee (SC) meeting on 1-2 November 2017.
Around 300+ international and local participants attended the opening ceremony
ESCAP member countries, regional and international partners, including private sectors attended the meeting.

19. AP-IS 1st Steering Committee Meeting, 1-2 November 2017, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Key Outcomes:
New bureau – Representative of Bangladesh was elected as Chair;
China and Lao PDR as Vice-chairs; and
Kazakhstan and Tonga as Rapporteurs;
ESCAP member countries’ ICT priorities for subregional/regional and subregional implementation plans consolidated

20. Way forward
2nd AP-IS Steering Committee Meeting, August 2018, Bangkok, Thailand;
2nd Committee of Information and Communication Technology, Science, Technology and Innovation, August 2018, Bangkok, Thailand;
AP-IS Subregional Meeting for Central Asia, October 2018, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
AP-IS Subregional Meeting for the Pacific, November 2018, Suva, Fiji

21. AP-IS interactive online Map
Thank you!
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