Alexander NTOKO Chief, E-Strategies Unit ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau

1. ITU E-strategies Mandate and Activities Regional Symposium on E-government and Internet Protocol for the Arab Region. 22-25 November 2004 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates Alexander NTOKO Chief, E-Strategies Unit ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau

2. What is it all about? • Using ICTs to reduce the social divide, improve the quality of life and facilitate entry into the information society for developing countries. • Leveraging the potentials of Internet as a low-cost channel for the delivery of societal applications for various sectors. • Creating favorable conditions in policies, strategies and e-legislation to foster the development and use of ICT applications. • Building awareness and enhancing trust and security in the use of ICT applications.

3. It’s all about harnessing the potentials of telecommunications and ICTs for the socio-economic development of the population of developing countries

4. What do we do? • Addressing technical and policy issues related to the development of Internet through projects and events. • Coordinating the design, development and implementation of projects on e-commerce, e-government, e-health, e-security, e-learning and e-agriculture etc. • Providing guidance in the elaboration of national and regional policies, strategies and e-legislation through workshops and seminars. • Implementing MCT projects to enable affordable access to ICTs applications and services. • Promoting the development of solutions to enhance trust and security through project implementation. • Building basic awareness on ICTs potentials for policy makers and the general population including people with special needs.

5. Why are we doing it? • Strategic Plan of the ITU adopted by ITU Member States (189) at the 2002 Plenipotentiary Conference (PP02). • Decisions of ITU Member States adopted at the World Telecommunication Development Conferences (WTDC 1998 and 2002) - Valletta and Istanbul Action Plan. • Resolutions Adopted by ITU Member States at WTDC and Plenipotentiary Conferences. • …assist in the implementation of new projects such as, but not limited to, tele-medicine, tele‑education, e‑commerce, tele-centres; ensure that all necessary means will be allocated for the promotion and implementation of national, regional, interregional and global projects, ensuring satisfaction for the developing countries. WTDC02 Resolution. 17 • … to harness the potentials of ICT so as to contribute to reducing the social divide and improving the quality of life, good governance, better access to health services, distant learning and universal access… WTDC02 IsAP Istanbul Action Plan Programme 3

6. What are the priority areas? • Internet Protocol: Policy and technical aspects of Internet Protocol (IP) networks and services. • ICT Applications: E-services/applications (e.g., e-government, e-commerce, e-agriculture, e-health, e-learning, e-cinema, tele-working). • MCTs/MPPs: Multipurpose community telecenters (MCTs) and multipurpose platforms (MPPs). • E-legislation: Favorable legal environment for the development of E-services/applications. • E-Security: Enhancing security and confidence in the use of public networks for ICT applications. • ICT Awareness: Enhancing ICT literacy and building public awareness.

7. What is New? • Extension of ITU-D activities to new areas such as e-agriculture, e-government and cyber security. • Very strong synergies with the adopted WSIS Plan of Action notably in the domains of ICT Applications, Internet, Cyber Security, Access to ICTs for All. • Endorsement of the Purpose and Objectives by WSIS Plan of Action. • Specific projects for people with special needs (Youths and Gender) – E-commerce and E-employment projects for Women, E-education (Internet@Schools) for Youths.

8. What have we achieved? • Received award at Global Bangemann Projects Challenge in Stockholm, Sweden. • EC-DC cited inTime Magazine and many national and international media as an activity to watch out for. • Considered to be the largest e-businessproject by International Security Review. • Partnerships and Alliances with EC, WHO, ESA, UNDP, UNEP, Swisscom, WTC Geneva, WISeKey, Goodwin Procter LLP and FUNDANDINA etc. • Significant cash and in-kind support from public and private sector entities and donor organizations for project implementation.

9. What have we achieved? More than 500 participants from 128 countries and more than 50 Security and Trust experts met at ITU HQ in Geneva for 3 days to launch the World Internet Secure Infrastructure for E-commerce. The first Geopolitical Public Key Infrastructure designed to deliver services to businesses from more than 100 Countries. An African delegate watching live PKI demo at the Secure Electronic Commerce Partnership Workshop BDT Director At Opening Ceremony Participants And Industry Experts

10. What have we achieved? • Operational e-applications (e-commerce and e-government) projects in Africa, Asia,Europe, Latin America and Arab Region. • E-security projects in many countries (including Least Developed Countries) from Africa, Asia and Latin America. • Operational e-health projects in countries from Africa, Europe, Central America and Asia. • Several events on RegionalICT policies and strategies (e.g., IP Symposia for Africa and EuropeKigali and Moscow Declarations). • Direct assistance to several ITU Member States in nationalICT policies and e-strategies.

11. What have we achieved? • Deployment of advanced security solutions (digital signatures and finger print biometric authentication) in developing countries for transaction-based e-government applications (e.g., Paraguay, Georgia and Bulgaria). • Assistance in establishing harmonized e-legislation for 4 Latin American States (ASETA) and 3 African States (Cape Verde, Mauritania and Tanzania). • Publications on E-Business and Internet Policies and Technologies (e.g., World Market Series – Business, International Security Review, The Essential Report on IP Telephony). • Guidelines, best practices and elaboration of strategies for Rural Communications, e-applications, Internet Protocol Techncial and Policy Issues, and Security for e-applications/services. • Mainly in-house expertise in most activities.

12. An Overview of Activities and Scope ICT project for Women Global scope of activities • Guidelines and Analysis National and Regional ICT polices First E-agriculture project Publication on IP Telephony

13. Global Scope of Activities

14. What are the ongoing activities for 2004Non Exhaustive List • Internet and e-Applications: • e-government projects in Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bhutan, Cameroon, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Paraguay, Uzbekistan and Rwanda. • IP projects in Lebanon, Burkina Faso, Rwanda • e-health projects in Ghana, Sudan, Venezuela and Turkey. • MCTs in Afghanistan, Malawi, Niger, Romania, Bhutan and Myanmar. • e-education project in Mali • e-environment (GeSI, EMG, Arab Regional Seminar) • e-security project in Bulgaria • e-commerce: Legal Issues for Tanzania, Training for Mongolia and project implementation for Cameroon, Seychelles. • Seminars and Workshops: Regional E-Government and IP Symposium for Arab Region (Nov 2004 in Dubai, UAE). Regional Seminar on Telecom and the Environment (Oct 2004, Cairo Egypt), ICT Forum for Pacific Island States (Dec 2004) • Publications: Internet Protocol Policy Manual, Road Map for ICT Development for Americas Region, Guidelines for the Implementation of E-Health Projects.

15. For Further Information: E-Strategies Unit International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 20 Switzerland Fax: +41 22 730 5484 Web: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/e-strategies Email: e-strategies@itu.int