Universal Access to Information & Communication Technology in the Asia Pacific Region The Asia and Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting for the World Telecommunication Development Conference Bali, Indonesia, 25 to 27 April 2001
08/14/10
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Topics Asia Pacific Digital Divide Measurement Reasons
Initiatives to enhance access National Regional International
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Some definitions Access to ICT
Physical ownership / availability Affordability Skills
“There will always be segments of any society that will not want to avail themselves of technology…” “In essence, the real difference between the infopoor and the inforich is the inequality of physical and financial access to ICT and in the actual usage of sources of information in a particular society.” Source: www.nitc.org.my/resources/AccessEquity.pdf
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ICT Gap in the AsiaPacific AsiaPacific. Per 100 people. January 2000. 60
55.1
50
Developing Developed
x24
40
43.0
30
x10
20 10
x28
5.3
1.8
0 Telephones
Mobile
Difference bet ween developed and developing
22.5
0.8 I nternet
Note: Developed refers to Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Hongkong SAR, Korea (Rep.), Singapore and TaiwanChina; developing are all others. Source: ITU.
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ICT Gap within countries Internet penetration in Malaysian states, 2000 KL Se la ngor Pe na ng M e la ka M ALAYSI A Johor Sa r a w a k Ne ge r i Se m bila n Pe r a k Ke da h / Pe r lis Pa ha ng T e r e ngga nu Sa ba h Ke la nta n
5 .9 % 4 .6 % 4 .4 % 3 .7 % 3 .2 % 2 .7 % 2 .0 % 1 .4 % 1 .1 % 0 .9 % 0 .5 %
1 1 .3 % 8 .9 %
Source: ITU adapted from NITC.
1 9 .2 %
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Obstacles to bridging the Digital Divide N . Am e r ica S. Am e r ica Asia Pa cific
25% 20%
Eur ope Afr ica
15% 10% 5%
re u lt C u
P
o
ve
rt
y
y ac au
re u B
La n
g
u
cr
ag
re u tr
as fr In
C o
rr
up
ct
ti
u
on
m is n io ct te ro P
e
0%
Source: Global Information Infrastructure Commission
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I nt e r ne t Pe ne t r a t ion
Income barrier 1 0 0 .0 % 2
R = 0.6884 1 0 .0 %
1 .0 %
0 .1 % 1 '0 0 0
1 0 '0 0 0
1 0 0 '0 0 0
GD P pe r ca pit a
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Tariff barrier Thirty hours of Internet access, October 2000, US$ Kirib a t i M a ld iv e s Ca m bod ia N e w Ca le d on ia Solom on Ja p a n PN G ASI A PACI FI C I n d on e sia Gu a m La o P. D. R. Fij i N epal N e w Ze a la n d M a la y sia Sin g a p ore
I SP Te le phone
$0 Source: ITU
$50
$100
$150
$200
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Sociocultural barrier Singapore. Never use Internet (by language). 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
English only Source:
Chine se only
M a la y only
ITU adapted from CABSAT/NETWATCH.
English & Chine se
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National policies National ICT plans Liberalization PC ownership subsidies Universal access Skills development Digital legislation Local content 10
National ICT Plans Elevate ICT to top of agenda Specify policies and actions that are relevant to country Roadmap
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Liberalization Open up infrastructure and services market Allow full service operators Liberalization of the VSAT market in Nepal has led to a sharp drop of Internet tariffs and consequent rise in users 12
Personal Computer (PC) Ownership Reduce or eliminate tariffs on PCs Provide incentives for purchasing PCs
Republic of Korea Singapore Malaysia
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Universal access: Diversity of models
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Skills development Most effective way of developing ICT skills is to ‘wire’ schools ICT human resource requirements Private sector
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Digital legislation Acceptance of electronic forms Security, confidence Crime, copyright Convergence
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Local content: Pondicherry, India
Knowledge Centre staff at Embalam village explaining use of RealAudio
Weather reports Fish stocks Entitlement, nutrition, job, women databases Agricultural info Entertainment
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Regional initiatives APT AII AsiaPacific Summit on the Information Society eASEAN eAPEC
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Global Initiatives G8 DOT Force UNDP Digital Opportunity Initiative
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Next Steps What should ITU Development Sector role be in reducing the Digital Divide?
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What does Digital Divide Mean? Asia-Pacific
Africa Business Opportunity ICT Access Developed-Developing Urban-Rural
S. America
Europe
N. America 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Percentage of Responses by Region
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eg ul at Pr or iv at iz O at pe D io n e n re In gu ve st la tio m en n tP Ba ol ic si ie c s Ed C u IT on ca Sk su tio ill m n ser B Pr ui ld ot O in ec pe g tio n Ac n R ce ul ss es M an da te s
In de pe nd en tR Percentage of Responses by Region
Needed Public Policy 18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6% N. America Europe S. America Africa Asia-Pacific
4%
2%
0%
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Digital Bridge Applications
30% 25% Electronic Commerce Distance Education Telemedicine E-Government
20% 15% 10% 5%
Af ric a
pe Eu ro
As ia -P ac ifi c
S.
Am
er
er ic a
ic a
0%
N .A m
Percentage of Responses by Region
35%
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D ev el op m
N. America Europe S. America Africa
Ai d
iv il S
G O s
py
oc ie ty
N
an iz at io ns
re ig n
Ph ila nt hr o
C
en tO rg
Fo
en t
Se ct or
er nm
iv at e
G ov
Pr
Percentage of Responses by Region
Who Should Bridge the Digital Divide? 25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Asia-Pacific
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