2 July 1999
- What the Commission did not say --
Analysing the relationships between information
technology, globalization, economic security
and development is certainly a challenging task.
That was realized by the ESCAP secretariat when
it prepared a theme study on the topic for the
fifty-fifth session of the Commission.
Although everybody readily agreed that developing
countries need more assistance in adopting
IT, the Commission did not propose how the
work programmes of intergovernmental organizations
should be modified. While most United Nations
agencies have IT components in their programmes,
it appears to be difficult to establish effective
units to tackle broad national and global
IT development issues. Existing initiatives
are dispersed and lack critical mass to be
recognized in development forums. There is
no vocal representation from the developing
world that could make the IT industry and
vendors take into account the needs of the
majority of potential users. Global IT development
continues to be very clearly supply driven
with no room for manufacturing of significantly
cheaper and more user-friendly computers.
The imperfect market conditions and the low
purchasing power in developing countries emphasize
governments' role in basic IT infrastructure
development. Intergovernmental organizations
are challenged to provide advice, training
and other support to accelerate that development.
To be more successful and dynamic in that
work they should recognize the cross-cutting
nature of information technology and the possibility
of replicating related development activities.
The opportunities that information technology
offers for the development of the poorest
societies could be seized if significantly
increased resources were made available to
provide impartial advisory services in IT
policy development, standardization and systems
development.
| Check
also these releases from ESCAP:
|
ESCAP theme study: National IT policies are
a necessity for governments
The fifty-fifth session of the Commission
emphasized that governments need to be at the
forefront in developing a vison and policies
to harness the full potential of information
technology. It urged governments to show an
example to the rest of the society by applying
IT in their planning, budget and monitoring
systems and by delivering services electronically.
Aspirations of IT policies
The existing national policies in the region
are generally broad and address several areas.
Some of them address specific technology problems,
such as the year 2000 problem in computers and
embedded systems.
While organizational IT policies can cover
more or less the same areas, they are usually
more specific, very pragmatic and business oriented.
| National
IT policies in a nutshell |
|
Common elements
- Development of
IT infrastructure
- Infrastructure
development
- Interoperation
of information systems
- Enhancement of
public services
- Cost savings
in service delivery, purchasing, communication,
etc.
- Electronic commerce
and secure transactions
- Development of
technological standards
Development of skills
Research and development
IT education
and training
Development of legislation and policies
to correspond to the requirements of new
IT
Diffusion of information
technology
Development of
IT industries
Trade policies
for IT related goods and services
Pricing and taxation
of electronic services
Protection of
intellectual property
Privacy of personal
data
Protection of
cultural and linguistic diversity
Protection against
illegal and harmful content
Adoption of standards
Institutional development and coordination
Institutional
and regulatory structures
National IT development
coordination
International
interface and cooperation
Access to IT
Access to infrastructure
Access to information
Monitoring IT
Monitoring the
use of IT
Measurement of
the impact of IT
|
Typical objectives
- Increase the
benefits from information technology.
- Help people and
organizations adapt to new circumstances
and provide tools and models to respond
rationally to challenges posed by
IT
- Provide information
and communication facilities, services
and management at a reasonable or
reduced cost.
- Improve the quality
of services and products.
- Induce innovations
in technology development, use of
technology, and general work flows.
- Promote information
sharing, transparency and accountability,
and reduce bureaucracy within and
between organizations and towards
the public at large.
- Identify priority
areas for IT development (areas that
will have the greatest positive impact
on national and organizational programmes,
services, and customers).
- Provide citizens
a chance of having access to information;
they may further specify a quality
for that access in terms of media,
retrieval performance, etc.
- Attain a specified
minimum level of information technology
resources for educational institutions
and government agencies.
- Support the concept
of lifelong learning.
- Provide individuals
and organizations with a minimum level
of IT knowledge, and the ability to
maintain it up to date.
- Help to understand
information technology, its development,
and its cross-disciplinary impact.
|
The impact of IT policies can be far-reaching,
affecting all sectors and inter-sectoral links;
they influence perceptions of management, employees
and counterparts towards organizations utilizing
IT. Therefore, successful IT management and
policy planning require knowledge and experience
from several sectors, including information
science, computer science, organizational behaviour,
administration, general management, and project
management.
IT evolution will take place even without a
systematic, comprehensive and articulated IT
policy, but the lack of a coherent policy, at
national or organization level, is bound to
contribute to the development (or prolonged
existence) of ineffective infrastructure and
wastage of resources.
Precise and action-oriented
language for IT policies
A common way to draft national IT policies
is to involve all evident interest groups and
political forces in the process, and try to
arrive at an outcome that can be accepted by
most parties. Though in principle a desirable
approach, this sort of preparatory process has
a built-in danger that easily leads to an all-embracing
political IT statement with overambitious objectives
but short of operative terminology and action.
As IT is a crosscutting issue for all government
sectors, related policies are best drafted with
limited objectives and specific actions that
support overall goals of the sectors.
While technology terms have precise definitions,
the IT revolution has created many relatively
abstract words describing related developments
in societies. Such words as information society,
information infrastructure, information
superhighway, and globalization are
commonly found in IT policy documents. These
words by themselves have often little operative
content and could be replaced in effective policy
statements with more precise expressions, such
as digitization of specific information flows,
construction of national backbone networks or
network connections for schools, and establishment
of e-commerce sites.
The provision of equitable access to
information is often readily accepted as one
of the key goals for national IT development.
However, all aspects of access deserve careful
consideration in IT policies. Setting up the
necessary infrastructure that can facilitate
access to information may be a sufficient goal
for an IT policy, while other aspects related
to access could be covered by other policies.
To use access to information through the Internet
as an example, the mere existence of a serviceable
Internet connection does not guarantee that
people have true access to information because:
- the service may not be
affordable for the target users;
- the connection may not
be available when it is needed because of
connection problems, network congestion, or
many users wanting to use the same terminal;
- target users may not
be knowledgeable enough to use the equipment
and software to find information;
- some users have special
needs that standard IT does not take into
account; and
- users may not be able
to use the information for their own or the
community's benefit (defeating the main purpose
of having access).
If access is defined as being able to review
information and make good use of it, that is
obviously beyond what is reasonable to try to
achieve with IT policies. Nevertheless, a national
IT policy is a useful tool among a comprehensive
set of policies that eventually provide access
to information.
Information systems not
easy to develop
If national and global IT infrastructures were
designed today from the beginning, they would
look quite different from the ones that actually
exist. The reality is, however, that the technologies
and applications have been developed over a
long period of time. The gap between an ideal
IT infrastructure and the everyday reality is
likely to remain wide for many reasons. A reason
is, of course, the continuous and rapid pace
of IT technology development, which makes today's
technology obsolete tomorrow. Another major
reason is the lack of experience in managing
IT development at the organizational level in
general, and IT application development projects
in particular.
Good IT policies take into account the fact
that IT applications are developed in varying
conditions and for imperfect users, and offer
ways to make the best out of such an environment.
Application development should be based on sound
development methodology, good practices found
to work elsewhere, past experiences, realistic
objectives, and user needs. However, perfect
planning is neither feasible nor possible, and
eventually the success or failure of a development
venture can be judged based on the realized
uses of the application. Those uses are often
different quantitatively and qualitatively from
those anticipated in a user requirement analysis.
| The
following gives some idea why application
development usually falls short of expectations |
| Feature |
Ideal design |
Reality |
| Development objectives |
System goals are based
on well defined programme or business
needs.
All participants in the project agree
about how the system will serve the
needs of users.
The system objectives are reasonable
given the resources available to support
it.
The system objectives have the support
of elected officials and top management.
The objectives include performance
measures and a post-implementation evaluation.
|
The majority
of initiated applications are never used,
because their development is not completed,
or because they are not suitable for their
intended purposes or too difficult to
put into operation.
Management and staff are ill-informed
and poorly trained in how to use IT
effectively. They do not have mechanisms
to keep themselves up to date with the
information technology evolution.
Staff are unable to articulate their
needs. IT personnel have no time to
relate to organizational goals and study
how business is being conducted.
Management has no practical measurement
indicators to optimize IT spending and
personnel.
Consequently, it is difficult to set
meaningful and realistic objectives
for IT development. Too ambitious
|
| IT project management |
All participants are
treated as equals and have a substantial
stake in the project's success.
All participants understand the project
management process and the roles and
responsibilities of all the players.
Available financial resources are invested
where they are most needed.
Information about project status is
shared frequently.
The participants engage in joint problem
identification and problem solving.
Collectively, the project team has
the skills needed to carry out a successful
system project.
|
Individuals and organizations
resist changes.
Project goals are often comprehensive,
but budgets to achieve them are usually
underestimated.
New projects are started with too little
advance information, weak leadership
support, inadequate user participation,
too little funding, and less than comprehensive
training and orientation.
Many projects take considerably longer
than originally planned.
Especially in government projects,
the roles of collaborating parties in
project planning and management can
conflict with their (simultaneous) oversight
and regulatory roles, and become a source
of difficulty in working relationships.
|
| Design of systems |
The system is designed
to integrate with the related systems
and business processes of the affected
organizations.
Standard definitions of key data are
used by all participants.
The system is designed to support information
sharing across organizations and programs.
Built-in safeguards assure system security
and the confidentiality of sensitive
or personal information.
The design adheres to commonly accepted
industry standards and does not rely
on proprietary technologies.
There is no need for parallel or supplemental
systems or procedures to support the
service or business functions that the
system is designed to meet.
Built-in features reduce human effort
and minimize duplication.
The design takes into account the current
technical capabilities of the participating
organizations.
|
Usually the existing
infrastructure must be accommodated in
a new design, making it the second best
from the beginning.
Project priorities and desired system
features are not static, they change
during the project implementation, and
so does the best choice technology.
Program codes are written with varying
degree of compliance to industry standards
and adopted application standards. The
code is more often than not poorly documented,
with design documents cryptic, inconsistent
and incomplete.
The development of applications for
information sharing is often blocked
by non-technological reasons which were
not adequately analysed prior to going
into development.
New applications are felt to increase
work load as they are often run parallel
with the old ones, and require more
time for training and for learning than
anticipated.
|
| User support |
Complete user documentation
(e.g., manuals, troubleshooting guide)
is available.
Continuing, up-to-date, and accessible
user training is offered.
Ongoing, adequate technical support
services are available for system maintenance
and enhancement.
An ongoing, adequate "help desk" supports
users.
There are built-in data management
and analysis capabilities for users
including access to local, regional,
and statewide databases for planning
and evaluation purposes.
Some provision is made for local modification
based on local needs, including low-tech
and no-tech options where local conditions
do not support high-tech solutions.
|
The problems in using
IT applications occur in real work situations
and must be usually resolved at once.
Most organizations cannot afford to maintain
user support that is able to provide instantaneous
support.
Organizations are not able to figure
out how to use the full potential of
existing software and computers. Personnel
responsible for IT development are satisfied
after applications are installed and
are running with reasonable stability,
while non-IT staff are unwilling to
commit time for learning crucial features
of new applications.
In particular, organizations fail to
change their working procedures and
organizations in a way that the new
technology would require.
Users are not sufficiently trained,
not even in using applications' built-in
help features. Only a small percentage
of staff are capable and willing to
keep themselves up to date through self-learning.
|
Additional factors affecting IT policy formulation
in developing countries
In their information systems development, Government
departments in developing countries are facing
the same universal problems as their counterparts
in developed countries. In addition, several
other factors make it significantly more difficult
to establish effective IT policies. In developing
countries, information and communication technology
infrastructure is weak IT related goods and
services are made available at suppliers terms
and the low per capita purchasing power does
not allow markets to mature telecommunications
monopolies are holding up firmly the general
education level is lower and IT degrees difficult
to obtain organizations have less and shorter
experience in using IT information sharing is
not common IT readiness varies significantly
between government departments organizations
usually have more staff management structures
and styles are hierarchical governments are
struggling to find money for basic public services
which makes IT development a lower priority
the gap between the ideal IT development scenario
and the reality is big
the penetration and the influence of the Internet
is still minimal and it cannot be used effectively
as a source of technology development information
governments find it difficult to recruit and
retain qualified IT staff.
The article is based on the theme
study for the 55th session of ESCAP
Y2K: Heightened interest at the Commissionp
The awareness campaigns of media, national
and international organizations have finally
worked. Everybody is talking about the Y2K problem
and corrective measures are underway all over
the region. But will the efforts be sufficient
and can the work be finished in time? The answer
is generally no.
While countries that started fairly early,
most notably Australia, are already reporting
a high rate of preparedness overall, the rest
of the region is running out of time. Many other
countries have made significant progress in
guaranteeing the continued operation of their
super-critical sectors, including power generation
and grid, financial sector and telecommunications.
However, efforts are lagging in many government
sectors and in small and medium size enterprises.
The highest decision making body of ESCAP,
the Commission, showed an increased level of
concern at its fifty-fifth session in April
1999 compared to the previous session a year
earlier. At the initiative of the Government
of the Philippines, the Commission adopted resolution
55/3 on Strengthening the cooperation and support
of nations in the Asian and Pacific region in
addressing the year 2000 problem. The resolution
acknowledges various national and international
awareness creation efforts and calls for added
resources for fighting the problem. Special
calls are made to donors to increase their funding
and to international organizations to join their
Y2K efforts.
The formulation of the resolution was not easy
as the ESCAP secretariat does not have resources
for additional Y2K work. Eventually, the Executive
Secretary was requested
to report to the Commission annually until
the fifty-seventh session (i.e. 2001) on the
progress achieved and the difficulties encountered
by members and associate members in addressing
the Y2K problem.
He was also requested to seek extrabudgetary
resources for
a survey on sectoral and national Y2K readiness
in the ESCAP region
monitoring of sources of funding available
for developing countries to address the year
2000 problem;
gathering information about technical assistance
available (towards the resolution of the year
2000 problem) for developing countries from
United Nations bodies, specialized agencies,
and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations;
and for
identifying useful Y2K reference points for
developing countries (Web sites, mailing lists,
expert contact lists, etc.) on the Internet.
The implementation of the resolution's activities
depends on success in finding funds. Some actions
are urgent and most of them would need to be
completed well before the end of 1999. Otherwise,
they can have no impact on the resolution of
the year 2000 problem. Apart from trying to
obtain funding for the resolution, the secretariat
continues to monitor the situation within limited
resources; any results will be reported in the
Newsletter and the Web site. ESCAP's Y2K pages
are at http://www.unescap.org/stat/gc/escapy2k.asp.
It remains to be seen if the resolution can
have an impact on the practical remediation
work. Corrective action is needed first and
foremost at affected locations, which are for
all practical purposes beyond the reach of international
organizations. In drafting the resolution, the
Commission considered more effective means of
action, such as deploying "firefighting" experts
to assist developing countries in their contingency
planning and in advising governments as and
when critical problems arise. However, such
requests were dropped from the final resolution
because of the lack of resources and the uncertainty
of obtaining them on a scale that would make
a difference.
| ESCAP
resolution 55/3: Strengthening the cooperation
and support of nations in the Asian and
Pacific region in addressing the year
2000 problem
Adopted on 28 April 1999 by the
fifty-fifth session of the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Sponsored by: Mongolia, Pakistan,
Philippines, Russian Federation and
Viet Nam.
The Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific,
Recalling the deliberations
of the Commission at its fifty-fourth
session, at which it expressed deep
concern about the predicted disruptions
that the year 2000 (Y2K) problem in
computers and embedded chips was likely
to cause, urged all governments to make
resolution of the problem a high priority,
encouraged all members to share their
experience in resolving the problem
and asked the secretariat to facilitate
such regional cooperation,
Recalling also General Assembly
resolutions 52/233 of 26 June 1998 and
53/86 of 7 December 1998, both entitled
"Global implications of the year 2000
date conversion problem of computers",
and Economic and Social Council resolution
1998/45 of 31 July 1998 entitled "Suggested
guidelines for addressing the year 2000
problem of computers",
Recognizing that the effective
operation of governments, businesses
and other organizations is threatened
by the Y2K problem, which if not addressed
effectively may adversely affect the
delivery of essential services in critical
sectors of society, including power,
telecommunications, finance, transport
and health,
Noting that the awareness
creation efforts of the secretariat,
other United Nations bodies and member
governments, while not resolving the
problem, have helped to generate strong
national Y2K remediation and response
efforts,
Appreciating the availability
of abundant technical material on the
Y2K problem, including the papers and
proceedings of the workshop held jointly
by the Commission and the Statistical
Institute for Asia and the Pacific in
June 1998, and the existence of funding
mechanisms such as the year 2000 grants
of the World Bank,
Acknowledging that the year
2000 coordinators and their representatives
from 17 economies in the Asian and Pacific
region convened in Manila from 1 to
3 March 1999 to discuss national Y2K
readiness and to plan cooperation on
information-sharing, transborder Y2K
issues, and continuity planning and
response,
Underlining the need for further
effective action to address the problem,
given the inflexible nature of the deadline
and the current state of preparedness
within the region,
Emphasizing that, while coordinated
efforts by governments and private,
public and international organizations
are required to address the Y2K problem,
primary responsibility for Y2K compliance
and remediation action lies with the
top management of each affected organization,
Noting also that high-quality
public information is a powerful tool
in combating the Y2K problem,
Recognizing also that the
increasing interdependence of economies
and the interconnected nature of computer
systems call for concerted and coordinated
action at the regional and global levels,
- Appreciates
the initiative of the Philippines
in promoting international cooperation
in information technology by sponsoring
the Second Global Year 2000 Summit
in March 1999;
- Urges
all members and associate members
to take early and effective action
to bring their countries to the highest
possible level of year 2000 (Y2K)
readiness, not only for their own
benefit but also to minimize adverse
Y2K effects on vital sectors of other
countries;
- Calls upon
members and associate members to practise
open disclosure policies and enhance
sharing of information across borders
on Y2K readiness, best practices,
lessons learned, embedded systems,
and Y2K failures and successes;
- Appeals
to all members and associate members
to forge regional and global cooperation
to ensure a timely and effective response
to the Y2K challenge and to work together
to address the threats that the problem
poses globally;
- Urges all
member States to expedite the remediation
of their systems to guarantee the
continued availability of basic infrastructure
services, to use public information
channels to urge the private sector
to become Y2K-compliant and to disclose
its readiness status, and to develop
contingency plans to address the possibility
of large-scale failures in the public
and private sectors;
- Calls upon
all concerned United Nations bodies
and specialized agencies, intergovernmental
and non-governmental organizations
and other members of civil society
to enhance and combine their efforts
to support regional and national Y2K
initiatives;
- Calls upon
the World Bank, the Asian Development
Bank and other multilateral organizations
to review and increase their level
of combined support for national and
regional Y2K efforts;
- Requests
the Executive Secretary to report
to the Commission annually until the
fifty-seventh session on the progress
achieved and the difficulties encountered
by members and associate members in
addressing the Y2K problem;
- Further requests
the Executive Secretary to seek extrabudgetary
resources:
- To monitor closely
actual and potential sources of
funding to support the efforts
of the developing countries, in
particular the least developed
and landlocked countries, and
the countries with economies in
transition, to address the Y2K
problem and to facilitate the
dissemination of relevant information
on those funding possibilities
to members and associate members;
- To continue
to facilitate the exchange of
national experiences on the Y2K
problem, and the sharing of information
and expertise available with various
members and associate members,
including through the use of the
Internet, before, on and beyond
1 January 2000;
- To collaborate
fully with all concerned United
Nations bodies and specialized
agencies, and intergovernmental
and non-governmental organizations,
in facilitating the provision
of support and technical assistance
for members and associate members
that find difficulty in addressing
the Y2K problem;
- To ascertain
from United Nations bodies and
specialized agencies, by 30 September
1999, the state of Y2K readiness
in the region in their respective
areas of competence
|
UN
internal Y2K coordinator: Better safe than sorry
ESCAP has been creating Y2K problem awareness
in the region through meetings, newsletters
and Web site since November 1997. Behind the
scenes, ESCAP and other United Nations bodies
have been improving their internal preparedness.
The basic approach follows industry recommendations,
which emphasize the importance of making proper
inventories of problem applications, prioritizing
their remediation, and testing all systems properly.
Top level managers are responsible for achieving
Y2K compliance and for making contingency plans.
At United Nations Headquarters, the Year 2000
Management Group is chaired by Joseph Connor,
Under-Secretary-General for Management. It has
eight high-ranking (USG, and Assistant-Secretary-General
level) members from legal counsel, conference
services, peace-keeping, and other areas. The
operative responsibility is with the United
Nations Y2K Team, which is comprised of managers
from various operative programmes and administrative
areas. The Y2K Team Director, Mr Bertrand J.
de Fondaumière, was recently at Bangkok
to check the progress made and to inform the
ESCAP secretariat about what was still to be
expected from Headquarters. He emphasized that
the Y2K problem was not a trivial matter and
that its impact could not be predicted.
The United Nations contingency plan pays particular
attention to the most critical functions, such
as being able to hold a Security Council session
in any circumstances, and to maintain communications
with member states and critical staff, especially
in the field. Also, the ability to communicate
with media is a high priority. Those functions
are backed up at the location by security and
fire command, and medical services.
Components of contingency
planning
Mr de Fondaumière points out that good
contingency planning took into account alternative
scenarios, for instance continuing normal operations,
continuing in degraded mode, or aborting function
as quickly as possible. Apart when reaching
the projected Y2K failure date, the plan might
be invoked when a Y2K renovation milestone is
missed, or serious system failures are encountered.
Respective procedures for invoking the plan
are also needed. Scenarios are needed for different
durations of the plan, i.e for how long operations
are expected to be run in a contingency mode.
For the duration of contingency operations,
procedures, roles, responsibilities and authorities
have to be set. Particular attention needs to
be paid to the availability of resources (staffing,
materials, supplies, power, water, communications,
etc.) which might be quite different from a
normal business-as-usual situation.
It is important to train staff to be able to
operate in contingency modes, and preferably
test the plans in simulated circumstances. Proper
preparation helps to prevent disruptions from
becoming disasters. That includes preparations
for recovering lost or damaged data.
Finally, a contingency plan is complete only
if it specifies the criteria and procedures
for returning to normal operating mode.
Telecommunication will be wirelesss
The competition to make wireless telecommunication
universally available is tough. Wireless technologies
are based on terrestrial networks, on satellite
links, or on the combination of the two. It seems
that the two basic choices, cellular phones and
satellite phones, are suitable for different clientele
and therefore they are not competing against each
other. On the other hand, the competition between
various standards within each category is getting
harder.
Terrestrial cellular phones require a relatively
dense network of fixed ground stations to operate.
A call is air linked to a nearby station, which
converts the call to a normal fixed line transmission.
Then the call travels as far as possible through
the normal telecommunication network, consisting
of normal telephone cables and fast fibre optic
cables. If the call is made to another mobile
phone, it is routed to the station that is nearest
to the call recipient, and the last miles are
again transmitted through the air. Cellular
phones have become very common in leading countries,
with the highest penetration rate (Finland)
now exceeding 60 per cent of the population
and the number of mobile extensions exceeding
the number of fixed telephone lines. Analysts
agree that wireless access will overtake fixed
access to global telecommunications early in
the 21st century.
While digital technology is winning ground
rapidly, differing standards (e.g. GSM, PCS,
CDMA) make global roaming (calling in foreign
networks with a single phone) virtually impossible.
First satellite phones
The first satellite based mobile phone system,
Inmarsat (http://www.inmarsat.org/)
started operations in 1982 and continues to
service its original user group, the maritime
community, and other mobile users in remote
areas. There are currently around 150,000 commissioned
user terminals worldwide and the coverage is
worldwide. The terminals are heavy by today's
standards, the lightest weighing about two kilos
(data transmission speed 2400 bps) with the
faster ones (9600 bps) ten times heavier. Land
earth stations are linking satellites to the
national and international telecommunications
networks.
Handheld satellite phones
emerging
Iridium (http://www.iridium.com)
became available for users at the end of 1998.
It is based on 66 low orbit satellites and provides
global coverage. In September 1999, it is expected
to have competition from Globalstar (http://www.globalstar.com).
Globalstar will operate between latitudes 70°
North and 70°South through 48 low orbiting
satellites, which transfer the call to the nearest
gateway station on the ground.
Inmarsat is a partner in ICO Global Communications
(http://www.ico.com),
which is expected to bring into operation in
the year 2000 mobile phone services for dual
phones (cellular/satellite). The ICO system
will be based on 10 medium earth orbit (10390
km) satellites.
If Asia Cellular Satellite (ACeS) System (http://www.aces.co.id)
plans come true, a regional satellite phone
system will also be soon operational in the
Asia and the Pacific region. ACeS will offer
dual mode (satellite/GSM) voice and data services
as well as global GSM roaming to its subscribers.
The planned service area extends from Indonesia
in the South and Papua New Guinea in the East
to Japan in the North and Pakistan in the West.
Next generation
In a few years time (2003), a new generation
satellite phone system is expected from Teledesic.
Teledesic will launch a much higher number of
satellites (288) and it is aiming to provide
a very high maximum transmission speed, 2,000
Kbps uplink and 64,000 Kbps downlink for a single
user, making global use of the Internet possible.
The transmission rates of Iridium and Globalstar
are slower than what current modems can produce
via wired telephone systems, and a fraction
of what Teledesic promises to deliver.
Dual mode adds functionality
With added dual mode capability, satellite
phones will be able to roam in certain terrestrial
cellular networks. For the time being, satellite
phones are large and heavy compared to cellular
phones. They are, however, getting lighter.
Ericsson announced recently that it will start
selling a dual Globalstar/GSM 900 phone weighing
350 grams at the end of 1999. But that is still
bulky compared to cellular phones, the smallest
of which weigh today well under 100 grams and
fit easily in a shirt pocket.
The launching of new global services is not
easy and the initially announced schedules are
often not holding. For instance, technical problems
delayed the launching of Iridium service several
times, and the commercial take-off has been
much more modest than the company and its financiers
hoped for. In an attempt to attract more customers,
Iridium announced in June 1999 cuts in the rates
by more than half, to $1.50 - 2.50 a minute
for domestic phone calls, and $3 a minute for
international calls. It was also announced that
the prices of satellite phones will be drastically
reduced, the cheapest handset selling for less
than $1,000, down from as much as $3,000. Although
the competition is likely to bring the prices
of satellite calls below $1 a minute soon, the
calls are still expensive compared to cellular
phone calls.
New brilliant standard
on a drawing board
Currently there are several incompatible mobile
phone standards, which makes global roaming
on terrestrial networks impossible. For instance,
a GSM phone can be used in operators' networks
in Europe, Australia and in many parts of Asia,
but generally not in Japan, the Republic of
Korea or in North America. In a broad initiative
under the International Telecommunications Union
(ITU), major mobile phone operators and manufacturers
have been working towards a new common wireless
communication standard for both satellite and
terrestrial systems (IMT-2000, http://www.itu.int/imt/).
While today's mobile phones are optimized for
voice communications and are generally limited
to the speed of 9600 bps , the new standard
will provide much broader bandwidth that can
carry images and video.
Wireless technologies
help developing countries
Although mobile phones are still today perceived
as luxury items in many parts of the world,
the advancements in wireless communication technologies
are in no way insignificant from the developing
countries' point of view. Adequate telecommunication
infrastructure is a precondition for foreign
investments and trade development. The construction
of terrestrial wireless telephone networks is
nowadays a cheaper way to bring telephone service
to rural and remote areas than building fixed
lines. A trial on bringing mobile cellular phones
to rural villages in Bangladesh has produced
promising results (http://www.citechco.net/grameen/telecom/).
The trend is set, but mobile phones will spread
beyond major cities in developing countries
only after the technology has become cheaper
to install and use.
Web content accessible for all -- Guidelines
welcomed
The World Wide Web Consortium recently published
guidelines on how to make Web content accessible
to people with disabilities. In fact, these guidelines
(http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT)
are useful for all Web content developers as they
contain practical HTML coding checklists for making
pages accessible to all users and by all user
agents.
-- User agent? From the Guidelines glossary:
"Software to access Web content, including desktop
graphical browsers, text browsers, voice browsers,
mobile phones, multimedia players, plug-ins,
and some software assistive technologies used
in conjunction with browsers such as screen
readers, screen magnifiers, and voice recognition
software." If a Web page looks nice on the author's
screen and in a particular browser, it does
not guarantee that other user agents can access
its content.
Bobby guards accessibility
The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST)
offers a free public service to analyse web
pages for their accessibility to people with
disabilities. Give "Bobby" (http://www.cast.org/bobby/)
a URL; it will analyse the page accessibility
and return a prioritized list of things that
should be fixed to give better accessibility.
Your aim is to get "Bobby approved" rating.
Try with your own page, or for the fun of it,
test some famous sites to see if they pass.
Many fail outright, and only some provide a
text-only alternative. All Web sites aimed at
general audience should be tested with Bobby.
* * *
Bhutan connected to Internet
Since our last report in June 1998, Bhutan (BT)
has opened up a full Internet connection, with
Druknet (http://www.druknet.net.bt/)
as the international gateway and Internet service
provider. Palau had a full Internet connection
already a year ago, although that was not mentioned
in our report. The Government owned Palaunet pncc.palaunet.com
(206.49.60.2) is the only service provider.
Most of ESCAP's 56 regional members and associate
members (full member list is at http://www.unescap.org/about/member.asp)
have a full Internet connection, although the
practical availability is in many parts restricted
to a small number of privileged users. The following
countries have only an e-mail (UUCP) connection:
- Lao People's Democratic
Republic
- Myanmar
- No physical Internet
connectivity has been announced for
- Afghanistan
- Democratic People's
Republic of Korea
- Marshall Islands
- Nauru
- Tajikistan
- Tuvalu
The above information is based on the International
e-mail accessibility FAQ, release 99.06.01-WWW
of 5 June 1999 by Olivier M.J. Crepin-Leblond,
http://www.nsrc.org/codes/country-codes.html,
supplemented by ESCAP secretariat information.
Selected
IT policy references in Asia and the Pacific
Australia
Towards an Australian Strategy for the Information
Economy. A preliminary statement of the
government's policy approach and a basis for
business and community consultation. Ministerial
Council for the Information Economy. July 1998.
(http://www.noie.gov.au/strategy.html)
Clients First: the challenge for Government
information technology. Report of Minister
of Finance's Information Technology Review Group.
1 March 1995 (http://www.finance.gov.au/pubs/itrg/itrg-tc.html)
Framework and Strategies for Information
Technology in the Commonwealth of Australia
- Exposure Draft. Government Information
Services Policy Board. December 1995 (http://www.ogit.gov.au/publications/framework/framewrk.html)
Hong Kong, China
Digital 21. Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region Information Technology Strategy. 1997.
Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau.
(http://www.info.gov.hk/itbb/new/digital21.pdf)
Development of Information Infrastructure
in Hong Kong. Legislative Council Information
Policy Panel 1997 (http://www.ofta.gov.hk/mis/rp97a231.html).
India
Information Technology Action Plan.
National Task Force on Information Technology
and Software Development. 1998:
Part I - Software (http://it-taskforce.nic.in/it-taskforce/infplan.htm)
Part II - Hardware (Development, Manufacture
and Export of Information Technology Hardware;
http://it-taskforce.nic.in/it-taskforce/actplan/actplan2.htm)
Report of the Panel on Development, Manufacture
and Export of Information Technology Hardware
(http://it-taskforce.nic.in/it-taskforce/hardrep/)
Basic Background Reports for the National
Task Force on Information technology and Software
Development (http://it-taskforce.nic.in/it-taskforce/bgnew.htm)
Japan
Towards the Age of the Digital Economy-
For Rapid Progress in the Japanese Economy and
World Economic Growth in the 21st Century. Ministry
of International Trade and Industry. 1997. (http://www.miti.go.jp/intro-e/a228101e.html)
Vision 21 for Info-Communications. Ministry
of Posts and Telecommunications.. (http://www.mpt.go.jp/policyreports/english/telecouncil/v21-9706/v21-9706-e.html)
Flow of Information on the Internet.
Report of the Study Group for the advancement
of the condition for the use of telecommunications.
Telecommunications Bureau. Ministry of Posts
and Telecommunications. 1996 (http://www.mpt.go.jp/policyreports/english/group/Internet/contents.html)
For Achieving Globalization of an "Intellectually
Creative Society". 1995 (http://www.mpt.go.jp/policyreports/english/telecouncil/Interim_Report/index.html)
Program for Advanced Information Infrastructure.
Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
1994. (http://www.glocom.ac.jp/NEWS/MITI-doc.html)
Telecommunications Council Report: Reforms
toward the Intellectually Creative Society of
the 21st Century. 1994. (http://www.mpt.go.jp/policyreports/english/telecouncil/Report1993No5/contents.html)
New Zealand
Information Technology Advisory Group Communications
Framework - Key Objectives. 1998. (http://www.moc.govt.nz/itag/objectives.html)
ImpacT 2001 - How Information Technology
Will Change New Zealand. 1996. (http://www.moc.govt.nz/itag/impact/impact.html)
ImpacT 2001 -Strategies for Learning with
Information Technology in Schools. Information
Technology Advisory Group. 1998. (http://www.moc.govt.nz/itag/impact/strategies.html)
ImpacT 2001 - Learning with IT. 1997.
(http://www.moc.govt.nz/itag/impact/imped.html)
The Impact of Information Technology on
People With Disabilities. 1997. (http://www.moc.govt.nz/ran/itpg/disability.html)
Pakistan
Draft IT Policy of Pakistan (http://itcomm.gov.pk/it_policy.html)
Philippines
I.T. Action Agenda for the 21st Century.
National Information Technology Council. 1998.
(http://www.neda.gov.ph/IT21/IT21txt.htm)
National Information Technology Plan 2000
(NITP2000) (http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/pinas/st/nitp.html)
Republic of Korea
Korea's Vision for the Information Society
(http://sp05a.etri.re.kr:8080/e_home/topics/1217-01.html)
Information and Communications Policy Statement
for the Realization of an Information Society
(http://sp05a.etri.re.kr:8080/e_home/policy_frm.html)
Information & communications in the
Republic of Korea. 1998 White Paper. Ministry
of Information and Communication. (http://sp05a.etri.re.kr:8080/e_home/white.html)
Singapore
IT2000 Masterplan (http://www.ncb.gov.sg/ncb/it2000.asp):
A Vision of an Intelligent Island
Transforming Singapore into an Intelligent
Island
Singapore ONE (One Network for Everyone)
National IT Committee
Thailand
Social Equity & Prosperity : Thailand
IT Policy into the 21st Century. (IT2000).
National Information Technology Committee. 1995.
(http://www.nitc.go.th/it-2000/full.en.html)
The list was compiled for the 55th ESCAP
Commission theme study in January 1999, based
on World Wide Web searches, and does not represent
a full picture of the ESCAP region.
END OF NEWSLETTER
|
About Us | Media Centre | Members | Programmes | Documents | Publications | Jobs | 
Bangkok, Thailand