ADBs Regional Initiatives on Telecom and ICT Development

1
ADBs Regional Initiatives on Telecom and ICT
Development

• Dong-Soo Pyo
• Principal Financial Specialist
• Asian Development Bank
• July 18, 2005Goa, India

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In This Presentation

• ADBs ICT Strategy and ICT Development Activities
• ADBs Regional Cooperation Initiatives
• Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)
• South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation
  (SASEC)

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ADBs ICT Strategy

• Three major thrusts
• Creating an Enabling Environment
• sector policies, institutional strengthening, ICT
  facilities and related infrastructure
• Building Human Resources
• knowledge, skills, ICT literacy, lifelong
  E-learning
• Applications Information Content Development
• - ADB projects poverty, governance, education

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ADBs ICT Development Activities

• Undertake E-readiness assessment
• Integrate ICT applications in ADBs activities
• Promote strategic alliances and partnerships
• Establish a center for learning, information,
  communication, and knowledge (CLICK) for Asia and
  the Pacific

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E-readiness Assessment

• Country analysis for connectivity, e-leadership,
  information security, human capital, and
  e-business climate
• Information and Communication Technology
  Assessment in the Pacific (2001, 300,000)
• Implementation of Fiji Information and
  Communication Technology Strategy (2003, 150,000)

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Integration of ICT Applications (1)

• ICT Applications for Poverty Reduction
• Multipurpose community telecenter
• Empowering the Rural Area Through Community
  E-Centers (South Asia, 2005, 1,000,000)
• ICTs for Rural Development and Poverty Reduction
  in Bac Kan Province (Vietnam, 2005)
• E-Rural Demonstration in the Pacific (2004,
  230,000)

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Integration of ICT Applications (2)

• ICT Applications for Poverty Reduction
  (continued)
• Samoa SchoolNet and Community Access Pilot
  Project (2003, 600,000)
• Community Information Services for the Poor (Sri
  Lanka, 2003, 800,000)

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Integration of ICT Applications (3)

• ICT Applications for Governance
• E-government component
• Information Technology Development Project
  (Maldives, 2001, 9.5 million)
• Support to the Office of the Government in
  Implementation of Administrative Modernization,
  including Computerization and E-Government
  Initiatives (Vietnam, 2003, 1,270,000)

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Integration of ICT Applications (4)

• ICT Applications for Governance
• Preparing a Pro-poor Subregional E-Government
  Project for Providing Basic Service Delivery to
  Remote Communities in the Pacific (2003,
  290,000)
• Regional E-Governance Project in the Pacific
  (2006, 350,000)
• Regional Strengthening of the Provision of Basic
  Social Services through ICT (Pacific Region,
  2005, 650,000)

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Integration of ICT Applications (5)

• ICT Applications for Other Areas
• Education, health, law, and financial and banking
• Disseminating Laws and Strengthening the Legal
  Information System (Tajikstan, 1999, 380,000)
• Information and Communication Technology for
  Improved Financial Services Provision (Nepal,
  2000, 565,000)

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Integration of ICT Applications (6)

• ICT Applications for Other Areas
• Improving Basic Education in Underdeveloped Areas
  through Information and Communication (PRC, 2002,
  500,000)
• ICT for Innovating Rural Education in Mongolia
  (2004, 2.4 million)
• ICT and HIV/AIDS Prevention Education in the
  Cross-Border Areas of GMS (2002, 1 million)

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Integration of ICT Applications (7)

• ICT Applications for Other Areas
• E-Health Insurance Membership Card (Vietnam,
  2002, 500,000)
• Improving Poor Farmers Livelihoods through Post
  Harvest Technology (GMS Region, 2003, 750,000)
• Banking Automation to Support Outreach,
  Efficiency and Governance (Lao, 2004, 650,000)
• ICT for Improving Rural Health Services
  (Mongolia, 2004, 1 million)

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Integration of ICT Applications (8)

• ICT Applications for Other Areas
• Remote Districts Financial Information
  Preparation and Public Disclosure (Indonesia,
  2005)
• ICT in Basic Education (Uzbekistan, 2004,
  600,000)
• Distance Education Public-Private Partnership
  (Sri Lanka, 2005, 600,000)
• ICT Enhanced Partnerships for Educational Quality
  Improvement and Community Development (GMS
  Region, 2005, 700,000)

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Promotion of Partnership

• Strategic alliances and partnerships with
  different agencies (ITU, UNDP, UNESCAP, APT,
  World Bank)
• E-ASEAN

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Establishment of CLICK

• Producing and disseminating value-added
  information products and services using ADBs
  reservoir of information and knowledge for
  development
• Network connections with existing initiatives
  such as ASEAN, Global Disaster Information
  Network, UNDP, and world Bank Global Development
  Learning Network

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Greater Mekong Subregion Initiatives

• Established in 1992 to promote economic
  cooperation among Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar,
  Thailand, Vietnam, and Yunnan Province of PRC
• Under the GMS Program, Subregional
  Telecommunications Forum was established in 1995

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GMS Telecoms Activities

• Subregional Telecommunications Sector Study
  (completed in 1995)
• East Loop Telecommunications Project in the GMS
  (1999, 820,000)
• Establishment of Backbone Telecommunications
  Network Project Phase I (2000, 150,000)
• GMS Telecommunications Sector Policy Formulation
  and Capacity Building (2001, 750,000)

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Future GMS Telecoms Activities

• GMS Information and Communications Technology
  Project (35 million)
• Telecommunication Backbone Project-Phase II (65
  million)
• Tariff Options Study (1 million)
• Unified Numbering Plan and Implementation Study
  (2 million)
• Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) Study
  (1.3 million)

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Future GMS Telecoms Activities

• Subregional Network Synchronization and
  Implementation Study (1.2 million)
• Common channel Signalling System (CCS No. 7) and
  Implementation (2 million)
• Capacity Building Study (1 million)
• Accounting and Billing Training Needs Study (1.1
  million)
• Call Event Recording (2 million)

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GMS Optical Fiber Network
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SASEC Initiatives

• Established in 2001 to promote economic
  cooperation among Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, and
  Nepal which constitute the South Asia Growth
  Quadrangle
• SASEC ICT Working Group established in 2002

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SASEC ICT Working Group

• Mandate
• To strengthen institutional cooperation among
  relevant agencies, including private sector
  representatives
• To discuss and agree on broad mechanisms for
  institutional coordination and consultation
  processes for project implementation and
• To collectively agree on the steps to facilitate
  cooperation in ICT in the subregion

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1st ICT Working Group Meeting

• Held in Delhi on 15-16 March 2004
• Identified priority areas for ICT cooperation
• Regional broadband connectivity promotion
• Community information centers establishment
• Information sharing and human resources
  development
• ICT policy and regulation harmonization
• Common software tools development

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SASEC ICT Working Group Activities

• SASEC ICT Development Master Plan (2005,
  450,000)
• Empowering the Rural Area Through Community
  E-Centers (South Asia, 2005, 1,000,000)
• Steering Committee of ICT Working Group held on
  15 July

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SASEC ICT Working GroupFuture Activities

• ICT Development Master Plan
• Will be finalized and submitted to the countries
  by January 2006
• The strategies for regional ICT sector
  development and the regulatory framework will be
  adopted and implemented through selected core
  projects (investment and TA) suitable for ADB
  financing

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SASEC ICT Working GroupFuture Activities

• Empowering the Rural Area Through Community
  E-Centers
• Organize two regional workshops in March 2006 and
  in February 2008
• Support pilot Community e-Centers operations from
  December 2006-Februrary 2008
• Conduct the evaluation study on the development
  impact of Community e-Centers

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Thank You
Asian Development Bank www.adb.org Email
Dong-Soo Pyo, Principal Financial
Specialist South Asia Department, dspyo_at_adb.org