270 likes | 360 Views
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). Expert Group Meeting on Regional Networking and Partnership for the Information Society Development Beirut, 5-6 September 2007. Regional Plan of Action for Building the Information Society (RPoA) and Partnership in Implementation.
E N D
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) Expert Group Meeting on Regional Networking and Partnership for the Information Society Development Beirut, 5-6 September 2007 Regional Plan of Action for Building the Information Society (RPoA) and Partnership in Implementation Mansour Farah Team Leader and Senior Information Technology Officer, ICT Division, ESCWA www.escwa.org.lb
Objectives of the RPoA • To build a sustainable and inclusive information society in the region, in line with WSIS Geneva Plan of Action • To propose a comprehensive strategic framework • To foster partnerships and propose a modality for implementation • To fulfill the Millennium Development Goals
RPoA: Result of Collaborative Efforts Listed in chronological order • Arab ICT strategy, adopted by the Arab Summit in 2001 • Pan-Arab regional conference on WSIS, in Cairo, June 2003, including Cairo declaration • Tentative plan of action for the information society in the region, produced by ESCWA in December 2003 • WSIS-Geneva global Plan of Action (PoA) • Series of round tables planned by ESCWA during 2004 to address regional specificity • Efforts of the Taskforce on Realization of the Arab Strategy • Feedbacks from the ESCWA Second Regional Preparatory Conference for WSIS, and an online forum
Partnership Decentralization Results-based management (RBM) system Modularity Open-endedness Government priority Rolling projects Leading responsibility Implementation upon maturity Periodic monitoring and reporting Online follow-up Evolving RPoA The RPoA can assimilate future needs of Arab countries along with a mechanism to periodically introduce new regional strategic actions, report on progress of work, and adjust the plan accordingly. Considerations include:
Main components of the strategic framework The strategic framework aims at streamlining actions at the regional level and at promoting the development of national capacity for achieving the transition towards the information society Action lines Areas Programmes Projects
WSIS Action Lines • C1: The role of public governance authorities and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development • C2: Information and communication infrastructure • C3: Access to information and knowledge • C4: Capacity building • C5: Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs • C6: Enabling environment • C7: ICT Applications: e-government, e-business, e-learning, e-health, e-employment, e-environment, e-agriculture, e- science • C8: Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content • C9: Media • C10: Ethical dimensions of the Information Society • C11: International and regional cooperation
Areas of interest to the region • Policies and strategies • ICT infrastructure • Access to information and knowledge • Capacity building • Building confidence, trust, and security • Enabling environment • ICT Applications • Cultural, linguistic, and Arabic content • Media • International and regional cooperation
Regional plan of action towards the Information Society Main areas of action Project 1 Partnership programmes ICT for economic development Project 2 Developing e-government services Project n th Empowering Arab NGO’s in the information society Developing telecommunications infrastructure Developing the ICT sector Enabling environment Women empowerment in the information society Capacity building Media ICT infrastructure ICT Applications Building confidence, trust, and security Cultural, linguistic, and local content International and regional cooperation Policies and strategies Access to information and knowledge Information society measurements Promoting digital Arabic content (DAC) Project 1 ICT in education and scientific research Increasing community access with emphasis on Project 2 the marginalized and disabled th N Programme Project n th WSIS Global plan of action Arab ICT Strategy Axis 7 Axis 1
Criteria for adding Programmes Programmes could be added once they satisfy the following criteria: • Programme is presented in a clear and concise format (RPoA uses the Resut-Based Management paradigm); • Programme has a coordinating agency; • Programme has a high impact on a number of areas that are identified in the RPoA strategic framework.
Programme Details Each programme in the RPoA is presented using the following structure: • Conceptual overview; • Mapping to the areas presented in the strategic framework of RPoA; • Outline that includes the programme’s main objectives, challenges, implementation strategy, expected accomplishments and indicators of achievements.
List of Programmes • ICT for economic development; • Developing e-government services; • Empowering Arab NGOs in the information society; • Developing telecommunications infrastructure; • Developing the ICT sector; • Women empowerment in the information society; • Information society measurements; • Promoting digital Arabic content; • ICT in education and scientific research; • Increasing community access with emphasises on the marginalized and disabled.
Projects: Actions translated into results The list is an evolving one and will be adjusted as changes on existing projects are made and as new projects are added. • Originally, there were 38 projects distributed among 10 programmes; • Each project has a coordinating/leading agency; • Projects are regional in nature, with most having national components; • Regional projects recommended by the Taskforce for the Realization of the Arab Strategy are included and flagged as most important for the Arab Governments; • Implementation starts upon maturity.
Project Development Phases Phases Outputs Project Concept Paper (PCP) Phase 1. Preparing the project concept paper Preliminary interest for developing a project document Letter of intent Project document (ProDoc) Phase 2. Identifying funding agencies and possible partners Phase 3. Preparing the full project document Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Implementation reports Phase 4. Implementing the project Progress of work report Monitoring Impact analysis report Evaluating
Role of different stakeholders Government International /regional orgs & NGOs Universities (educational sector) Banks and donor organisations Mature firms Private sector
Modified Four-Sector Model Venture funds and investments (I) High impact > International and entrepreneurs and Banks and donor NGOs regional agencies organizations partnerships > Transfer of technology > Strategic investment > Transfer of human capital > Transfer of human capital > Purchase of goods > R & D funding > Purchase of innovative goods R & D Funding R & D (II) Mature Firms (III) Government (IV) Universities Funding Equity and debt Tax and other revenues Endowment income
Suggested Modality Strategic Partners Steering Committee Steering level + Secretariat National Programme ....... Programme1 Programme2 Programmen Coordination Level Level Project Project Project Project Project Project Project Level 1.1 1.x 2.1 2.x n.1 n.x
Online Partnership Space ICT Partnership Online Implementation phase RPoA Strategic Framework Main areas of action On-line subscription Transfer of ownership Development of Knowledge repository Flexibility to Implemented projects: update/add building blocks programmes for developing the Partnership Shared failures and information society successes Mechanism Programmes Flexibility to Project evaluation update/add projects Project monitoring On-line forum to Completion of project solicitcomments and maturity level Project identifypartners Development of Project partnership networks Project Project Project
Programmes Projects (1/4) 1.1 CyberPort for trade and transport 1.2 CyberHaven for regional tourism development 1.3 Connecting Arab ATM networks 1.4 ICT Hub for SMEs 1. ICT for economic development 2.1 Enhancing government decision support capabilities in the socio-economic fields 2.2 Regional e-government portal 2. Developing e-government services 3.1 Arab NGO's information network 3.2 Arab civil society academy for capacity building 3. Empowering Arab NGO's in the information society 4.1 Towards an integrated regional telecommunications network 4.2 Enhanced broadband access through pilot national applications 4. Developing telecommunications infrastructure
Programmes Projects (2/4) 5.1 Legislation model for an ICT enabling environment 5.2 Establishment of ICT incubators 5.3 Partnership space for incubating telecommunications projects 5. Developing the ICT sector 6.1 Women empowerment through ICT 6.2 Promoting the rights of women and children through the use of ICT 6.3 Enhancing Arab women’s role in development and decision making through the use of ICT 6.4 Gender evaluation methodology for ICT initiatives (GEM) 6. Women empowerment in the information society 7.1 Core ICT indicators 7.2 ICT indicators database 7.3 Capacity building for information society measurement 7. Information society measurements
Programmes Projects (3/4) 8.1 Establishing a digital Arabic library* 8.2 Connecting Arab documentation centres* 8.3 Developing an Arabic search engine* 8.4 Arabized ICT e-glossary 8.5 Arabic domain name system (ADNS) 8.6 Arab region network for document cataloguing and processing 8.7 Memory of the Arab world 8. Promoting digital Arabic content (DAC) * These projects have been earmarked as most importantby Arab Ministers of Telecommunications and Information Technology 9.1 Regional Hub for capacity building in open source software for education and research 9.2 IT teacher training framework 9.3 Regional scheme for deployment of technical computing software 9.4 Lifelong learning for socio-economic development. 9.5 Networking academies 9.6 Learning object repository in Arabic (LORA) 9. ICT in education and scientific research
Programmes Projects (4/4) 10.1 Empowerment through community access: total access points* 10.2 PC for Every Home* 10.3 Information technology clubs* 10.4 Empowerment of the visually disabled through ICT 10.5 Market information systems for agriculture and fishing businesses 10. Increasing community access with emphasis on the marginalized and disabled * These projects have been earmarked asmost important by Arab Ministers of Telecommunications and Information Technology
Thank you! farah14@un.org