IV. Achieving operationalization: Initial conditions,
policy environment and role players
A. Initial Conditions
47. In normal circumstances, it is not likely that someone
would die because he or she did not have access to typical
space-based ICT services - the Internet, telephones or television
and so on. Among the necessities of life, ICT comes in well
down the scale. But ICT does play an enabling and catalytic
role - addressing "human poverty" issues and reaching out
to the "hard-core" poor. However, before technology can
operationally benefit the poor, initial conditions in terms
of institutional base, supportive governmental policies
and political vision should exist. For example, distance
education cannot function without a facility that can serve
as a school; tele-medicine will not work if hospitals or
other medical facilities do not exist at all. There should
be governmental policies - encouraging ICT applications
to serve the needs of the poor and engage their participation;
developing institutional mechanisms that directly involve
ICT service providers and the agencies working in poverty
alleviation; monitoring ICT project impacts and adjusting
programmes based on lessons from experience, to mention
only a few.
B. Policy Environment
48. Practically all countries of the world, including the
least developed countries and those with very large concentrations
of the poor, have now at least begun to establish national
strategies to harness the potential of ICT. Some countries
have been remarkably successful in implementing over a short
period of time an equitable ICT development strategy and
that is broadly endorsed by its citizenry and is fully supported
at the highest levels of government. Space technology applications
have to be built upon, strengthened and further enhanced,
to continue the progress already made to put consideration
of information and communication issues for poverty reduction
in the mainstream awareness. While some countries have succeeded
in achieving their policies, the main issue is formulating
the policies that could help in integrating space applications
in the overall processes of poverty alleviation. Because
of the changing domains of role players with regard to space
technology, vis-à-vis their focus on commercial viability
aspects, the difficult situation for developing countries
is compounded by the real dilemma in the operational use
of space technology for poverty alleviation.
C. Role Players: Changing Domains
49. Today space technology and application activities have
turned into a multi-billion dollar business enterprise.
With enormous investments made by government and private
agencies in space systems, ground infrastructure and downstream
applications, there is a paradigm shift in the traditional
roles of the government and industry. It is estimated that
space-related technical and service industries would contribute
10 per cent to the GDP of Europe by 2010. Along with the
development of other information and communication technologies,
new industries based on space-based information and communication
services will include many small and medium-sized enterprises
with local clientele, able to adapt quickly to developing
circumstances and needs.
50. Where satellite communication is concerned, there are
several satellite operators, such as Intelsat, Inmarsat,
Intersputnik, and New Skies, who have been restructured
from inter-governmental organizations into commercialized
service providers, and exert considerable influence in the
satellite communication markets. In Asia and the Pacific,
there are strong regional/sub-regional players, such as
Asia Satellite, APT Satellite, and Shin Satellite. Several
countries in the region - Australia, China, India, Indonesia,
Japan, Philippines, the Republic of Korea and Russia, for
instance - have their own domestic satellites, and some
of them are making the transition to the regional/sub-regional
domains. There are also countries like Japan and the Republic
of Korea that have been building proof-of-concept experimental
broadband satellites. The new trend of convergence of ICT
services with broadband Internet will attract countless
small and medium-sized investors into the arena of satellite-broadband
based services, if appropriate policies can be adopted.
The newly developing service models separating satellite
operators and service providers have created opportunities
for least developed countries to more easily access ICT
services and applications.
51. On the remote sensing front, the world has changed
considerably, with as many as seven countries (China, France,
India, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United
States) possessing the capability to build their own satellites.
There is also a regional capability by agencies such as
the European Space Agency (ESA). Many private commercial
satellite operators such as Space Imaging, DigitalGlobe
(until recently Earthwatch), Orbital Sciences Corporation,
and Radarsat International have entered into the remote
sensing business market in recent years. With a growing
numbers of players entering the field, and with many private
operators looking for commercial returns from remote sensing,
the time is not far off when Earth-observation value-added
services will also become a market commodity, as has happened
in communications. Earth-observation-based service industries,
most of which are in the private sector, have been growing
slowly up to now, with some notable failures. However, it
is expected that the convergence of such services with increased
broadband accessibility will catalyse another expansion
of geoinformatic services. These industries provide value-added
products and services not only to well-developed and well-served
areas, but also to less served potential user communities,
including least developed countries and regions. A triad
of government, Earth observation private industry, and community-based
NGOs could hold considerable ground in terms of addressing
poverty alleviation needs.
52. Taking into account the changing domains of role players,
it is important to recognize the role of private industry
in promoting sustainable benefits to society (Figure 7).
For example, 5,000 of the 80,000 Inmarsat mobile communication
terminals are used in disaster management by international
organizations, including the United Nations, Red Cross and
other charity agencies. Satellite operators like Intelsat
support several pilot projects in areas related to tele-medicine.
Inmarsat-based tele-medicine links in Bosnia and Somalia,
not to mention its "tele-medicine bridge" for treating Chernobyl
victims, have been quite popular examples of private space
industries supporting the cause. With the advent of tough
competition among leading companies, as well as their humanitarian
concerns, it is possible to mobilize their support, if win-win
policies and business models are developed and enhanced.
Figure 7. Changing domains of role players
with regard to space technology and service providers
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