Update - Pacific Island Countries ICT Regulatory Resource Centre

1. Update -Pacific Island Countries ICT Regulatory Resource Centre Trevor Jenner Assistant Director, Asia-Pacific Engagement Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

2. Convened by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU); Hosted by the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga; Communiqué: …”Accordingly, we direct officials to work towards establishing a shared regulatory resource centre for the Forum Island Countries with a view to a proposal being submitted for consideration at the 2009 Forum Leaders Meeting. The forthcoming APT Pacific Island Policy and Regulation Forum, to be held 28 April – 1 May 2009, will provide an opportunity for officials, working with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, to finalise a proposal”….

3. The 2009 APT Telecommunications ICT Policy and Regulation Forum for Pacific Held on 29 April to 1 May in Nadi, Fiji Islands; Objectives included: Consideration of the implementation of a Pacific Island Countries ICT Regulatory Resource Centre; Decisions: The Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) Taskforce decided that the Resource Centre would be co-located with the ITU office at PIFS; and The meeting agreed on the formation of a working group to focus on the governance, structure and funding aspects of the Resource Centre with a targeted completion of July 2009.

4. The 2009 APT Telecommunications ICT Policy and Regulation Forum for Pacific (continued) Points from the meeting: Australia supported its concept and offered administrative assistance to establish the governance framework; Australia would consider providing financial support through a number of avenues; The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) encouraged the Resource Centre initiative; Its location should consider sustainability, appropriateness of the facility in which it is to be accommodated and the ease with which information is able to be disseminated; The University of the South Pacific (USP) was understood to have made an offer during the 2009 Pacific ICT Ministerial Forum to accommodate the Resource Centre; There may be other options for accommodating the Resource Centre, including offers from other donors;

5. The 2009 APT Telecommunications ICT Policy and Regulation Forum for Pacific (continued) Points from the meeting: The PIFS Taskforce was responsible for determining the location and for establishing the Resource Centre; The PIFS Taskforce anticipated that it would be co-located with the ITU office at PIFS; The Resource Centre would be expected to work with the APT, PIFS, PITA, CTO, The World Bank, USP and regulatory authorities; Australia was asked (and agreed) to facilitate a working group consisting of PIFS Taskforce members; The working group would undertake work on the Resource Centre’s governance, location, structure and funding aspects; The point of contact for the working group would be Mr Richard Brown from the Australian Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy; A targeted completion date of July 2009 was proposed for this work;

6. The 2009 APT Telecommunications ICT Policy and Regulation Forum for Pacific (continued) Points from the meeting: USP acknowledged the decision made by the PIFS Taskforce; The Chairman of the PIFS Taskforce noted that the work of the Resource Centre was at the direction of the Ministers with strategic decisions to be made by the PIFS Taskforce; The Resource Centre will provide the same service to all Pacific Island countries; It will cover all regulatory issues encompassing the ICT sector and work closely with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and USP through the sharing of resources; Cyber security and cyber crime are considered to be regulatory issues and therefore applicable to its work; Other activities will evolve over time and will be discussed by the working group; In establishing the Resource Centre, priority will be given to timing, core staff and its functions; Australia proposed the establishment of an e-mail distribution list to obtain input and comments for the working group. Interested parties were requested to register with Australia;

7. Resource Centre Working Group Established in May 2009 Inaugural Members: Chair Mr Alfred Soakai, Department of Communications, Kingdom of Tonga PIFS Mr John Budden, PITA Mr Maui Sanford, Australia Mr Richard Brown, Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Cook Islands Mr Mac Mokoroa, Office of the Prime Minister Fiji Mr Josua Turaganivalu, Department of Communications Niue Mr Tutuli Heka, Ministry for ICT and Telecommunications Papua New Guinea Mr Kila Gulo-Vui, Radiocommunications and Telecommunications Technical Authority Samoa Mr Tuaimalo Asamu Ah Sam, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

8. Resource Centre Governance • Constitution currently in draft format • Pending approval by the Resource Centre’s inaugural Board of Directors; • Topics include: • Name of entity and interpretation, • Members, • General meetings and procedures, • Board of Directors, their powers, duties and procedures • Centre Manager, • Funding and accountability, • Winding up of the Resource Centre, • Indemnity, • Amendments to the Constitution, and • By-Laws

9. Resource Centre Objectives • To support Pacific Island countries’ governments in ICT legislative, policy and regulatory matters to enable: • Access to regularly updated data on key industry statistics; • Access to information packages on priority regulatory topics; • Advisory services on specific issues encountered by regulators; • The issuance of statements on sector policy or on laws and regulatory rules and instruments; • Training and other capacity-building activities; and • A list of relevant subject-matter experts that may be willing to provide either short term expertise or longer term postings of qualified individuals to work with regulators.

10. Resource Centre Structure • Detailed in the draft Constitution; • Management of the Resource Centre: • Vested in the Board of Directors; • Board to consist of no less than three and not more than five Directors; • Each Director appointed for two years; • Independent Chair; • Governments may nominate one Director each; • Organisations may appoint in aggregate a maximum of up to five non-voting Directors; • Each Director must act in the best interests of the Resource Centre and with due regard to the furtherance of its objectives; • At each Annual General Meeting, Directors whose terms of office expire shall retire but be eligible for re-election in the following term only; • The Board must, by designated majority, elect a Director of the Centre to be the Chair of the Board; and • The Chair will hold office for a two year term, expiring at the Board meeting immediately after the end of the two year term.

11. Resource Centre Matters Yet to be Resolved • What’s in a name? • What should the Resource Centre be known as; • Pacific Island Countries ICT Regulatory Resource Centre, • Pacific Regional Telecommunications & ICT Resource Centre, • Pacific ICT Regulatory Resource Centre • ……… • Location • Yet to be determined; • Uncertainty on where it will be accommodated – USP, ITU office, somewhere else? • Hindering the World Bank from advertising for the position of Resource Centre manager;

12. Resource Centre Matters Yet to be Resolved (continued) • Funding • Initial funds to be provided by the World Bank; • Partnership with other regional organisations – APT, ITU, PIFS, PITA, SPC, etc; • Government support, both within and outside of Pacific Island countries; • Industry contributions; • Donor agencies; and • Other bilateral/multilateral support.

13. 2009 Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting Held on 5-6 August in Cairns, Australia; Hosted by the Australian Government; Communiqué: “Recommendations for Progressing the Pacific Plan d. Achieving stronger national development through better governance by: demonstrating strong national leadership and enhanced regional attention to accelerate improvements to development coordination in the region, to maximise the effectiveness and impact of the resources of Pacific island governments and development partners to make faster progress towards the Millennium Development Goals;”

14. 2010 Pacific Islands ICT Ministerial Forum To be held on 16-18 June in the Kingdom of Tonga; Resource Centre Working Group to continue to address the communiqué of the 2009 Pacific Islands ICT Ministerial Forum: “…to work towards establishing a shared regulatory resource centre for the Forum Island Countries…” The Working Group aims to submit the final proposal for the Resource Centre to the 2010 Ministerial Forum for consideration.

15. Questions&Further Information Richard Brown Trevor Jenner richard.brown@dbcde.gov.autrevor.jenner@dbcde.gov.au +61 2 6271 1132+61 2 6271 1339