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Nothing related| Developing Countries: Effective gov’t policy vital to close digital divide |
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| Wednesday, 22 November 2006 | |
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The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development describing the Information Economy Report 2006, government policies that encourage competition and innovation can play a major part in helping developing and transition countries expand information and communication technology (ICT) networks that in turn stimulate economic growth.
Today, 44% of developing and transition countries have national ICT plans, and another 20% of countries are developing ICT plans. However, few of the countries that have ICT plans assess their plan’s effectiveness. Policies that stifle competition are likely to result in limited ICT penetration, higher costs, and slower adoption of the most effective technologies, the Report says. In Nepal, national policy was modified in 1999 to liberalise the telecommunications sector by encouraging the participation of private firms. That same year, telephone penetration grew by 22%. By 2004, Nepal’s telecommunications sector was fully open to private service providers and competition through open licensing and by restructuring of the State-owned operator. Among the results were that by January 2006, mobile services originally launched in 1999 had grown to over 99,000 post-paid and 200,000 pre-paid mobile subscribers. The Report devotes a chapter to Government ICT policies that may create new opportunities for poverty reduction. In some countries, mobiles are facilitating business and providing trade opportunities for people with low incomes, and the Internet is allowing migrants to keep in touch with their families and communities. Developing countries not only should have national ICT plans but also should review them thoroughly for effectiveness, the Report recommends. It provides a model framework for such assessments, and it is foreseen that UNCTAD will help Governments to carry out reviews of ICT policies much as it now assists countries with Investment Policy Reviews. The UNCTAD ICT policy review framework is a generic model that can be used and adapted by developing countries, and has three main components: a review of the global ICT situation and an overview of a country´s ICT status; an in-depth evaluation of the national ICT plan; and an assessment of the effectiveness of the institutional framework and implementation mechanisms that back up the plan. Source: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News |
