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STRATEGIC PLAN OF THE APT -
2006-2008 Our Vision Working
together to foster the development of telecommunications and ICT throughout
the Asia-Pacific region. Introduction The Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) revolution is affecting all sectors of economy and all
sections of society. Its rapid growth is further enhanced by technological
advances, the increasing globalization and liberalization, development of
various ICT applications, convergence of services and rapid adoption of ICT by users. Recognizing the tremendous potential of
ICT in fuelling economic development, Governments as well as the business world
have been paying close attention to bring ICT to the center of their
development strategy. There have also been further moves towards
market liberalisation within the sector, including the opening of markets to
competition, greater private sector participation, and the continued separation
of operational and regulatory functions.
This changing environment means the APT must adapt to remain a valuable
forum for members. ICT progress in the Asia Pacific region
is especially remarkable with rapid deployment and the use of internet, mobile
services and broadband services. People are becoming aware of the
potential of ICT which raises hopes of poverty reduction in quickest possible
time. At the same time, the uneven distribution of the ICT services among the
people has drawn the issue of digital divide in a sharp focus. Commitments made by the countries of
the region at the WSIS and at other international fora have brought new
responsibilities upon the sector for promoting an accelerated growth of ICT
among all sections of the people. Over the last 26 years, the APT has
played a key role in developing Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
in the region. Our vision is to foster
the development of telecommunications services and information infrastructure
throughout the Asia-Pacific and our primary goal is to assist members to
provide better and more cost-effective services to their communities to ensure
that we may all benefit from the global information society. In working towards this aim, the APT
promotes close cooperation among its 33 members who exchange information on
issues of common interest, contribute to technology transfer and undertake
capability building activities.
Affiliate members also make up an important part of the APT. The 2006-2008 Strategic Plan builds on
these strengths to place the APT in a position to assist members to effectively
deal with the rapidly changing telecommunications environment. Strategic Direction 2006-2008 The strategic
direction of the Asia Pacific Telecommunity for the period 2006-2008 pays attention, in planning its work programs, to
the decisions taken by the APT members, the Bangkok Agenda adopted by the
Ministers of the APT member countries on 1 July 2004, the WSIS Plan of Action
(2003 Geneva), and Tunis Agenda (2005, Tunis). Therefore, emphasis is made on the following 4 main
directions which will act as the four pillars from which the key areas are
drawn:
Frameworks In
order to assist members to develop sound ICT policy and regulatory frameworks emphasis is on:
Development In
order to assist members in bridging the digital divide by fostering and
facilitating ICT development focus is on:
Cooperation To
maximise the benefits of APT programs through internal & external
cooperation APT will:
Efficiency To
improve the efficiency and effectiveness of APT operations:
Key areas The following key areas are identified for
the APT to carry out its activities in order to fulfill the objectives of the
Constitution and to meet the requirements of its members: ICT Policy and regulation -
Facilitate exchange
of views among policy makers, regulators, operators, service providers,
manufacturers, financing institutions, users and other stake holders -
Provide strategic
advice to the members on policy and regulatory issues -
Cooperate on the
regional activities for implementation of the decisions taken at the WSIS, and
assist members in addressing issues stemming from the WSIS, such as internet
governance -
Organize
activities that facilitate investment and participation by members in WTO Doha
Round negotiations and to take advantage of the decisions taken -
Facilitate
harmonization of regional views on matters of common interest and concern and
present them at global fora -
Develop regulatory
models in the convergence era. Information Infrastructure development - Facilitate
development of fully interconnected, interoperable national as well as trans-national networks,
including appropriate resilience against unforeseen disasters. - Promote
dialogue between operators, regulators, policy makers and financing institutions - Assist
members in preparing and implementing projects for development -
Bring measures to
reduce ICT access charges by use of internet exchange points and foster
development of the required infrastructure -
Help member
countries to develop regional, sub regional robust and resilient telecom
infrastructure. Promoting development of e-applications
for creation of information society - Foster development
and use of e-enabled services, such as e-government, e-commerce, e-health,
e-education, e-agriculture etc. -
Create an
awareness of ubiquitous society and address the ways and means as how to
develop ubiquitous services and applications -
Promote the
development of multi-lingual content for Internet. -
Improve access to
information and services to disadvantaged segments of the society. Ensuring network security and protection of privacy-
Facilitate
development of national and regional strategies in the area of critical
information and communications infrastructure protection -
Promote leveraging
on public-private sector partnerships for the protection of these connected
infrastructures -
Promote
intra-regional and inter-regional agreements on protection of privacy Capacity building and HRD -
Plan and implement
HRD programs on topics such as new
technologies, policy and regulation issues, provision of services and
operational matters -
Organize study
visits -
Implement, promote
and advertise HRD program for exchange of ICT engineers/researchers -
Provide assistance in capacity building
through expert missions and other programs as requested Technology development and standardization
-
Raise awareness
and assist members to identify emerging technologies and their applications,
such as RFID -
Promote
cooperation in technological development and standardization activities -
Harmonize regional
views on global standardization matters and present them at the concerned
global fora -
Promote upstream
and downstream standardization activities in the region. Radio communications -
Promote spectrum
harmonization activities -
Promote
applications of radio technologies, including those in disaster management -
Promote deployment
of the communication infrastructure in Asia-Pacific region to disseminate
warning messages and gather information for initial reaction. -
Harmonize regional
views on radio communication matters and present them at the concerned global
fora. Bridging the Digital divide -
Address the way of
improving infrastructure and network development in rural and remote areas,
including application of new technologies -
Promote and
accelerate the development of rural communications by implementing pilot
projects and other activities in rural areas -
Promote
cooperation in capacity building and technology transfer programs -
Promote resource
mobilization for the development of ICT in rural areas. Disaster management -
Promote
preparedness including early warning systems. -
Formulate a shared
strategy and preferred technologies for the restoration of the communications
needed for disaster management. -
Make effort to
seek aid and donations from multi-lateral agencies to maintain a minimum level
of inventory of the equipment to be shared by the member countries in a time of
disaster. -
Advise member
countries for the preparedness of disaster management and maintenance of the
minimum inventory level by the countries. -
Urge member
countries to sign protocol for sharing the inventory maintained by the
countries in times of disaster. -
Develop pilot
projects to help the affected countries for their rehabilitation of networks. -
Conduct audits to
assess the damages due to disasters in the affected countries. Operation and business -
Facilitate
exchange of views on key issues on operation and expansion of networks -
Promote regional
cooperation on global issues such as charging arrangements -
Promote installation
and uses of internet exchange points in the region Catalytic role for mobilizing resources -
Assist building
capacity in securing finances for ICT development -
Assist eliminating
barriers for market entry and attracting private sector investors Information sharing and Data compilation - Promote
information sharing on matters of interest to the members through the APT
website and publication, presentations, seminars, participation in
exhibitions and partnership programs -
Promote
compilation and analysis of data on selected matters of interest to the members Enhancing APT's
role as a key regional player The APT should continue to be a key regional player in
the field of ICT. This has to be achieved by further enhancing the quality of
its programs and its networking with the concerned agencies in the member
countries. As the Telecommunity of various stake holders in the field of ICT,
the APT should work closely with the policy makers, regulators, operators, service providers,
manufacturers, research organizations, concerned UN agencies and other
international and regional organizations.
Enhancement of membership -
Enhance its
membership by approaching potential members and new entrants in the field of ICT to join the APT Enhancement of the Affiliate member's
participation -
Establish
a kind of advisory body consisting of leading affiliate members with the
objective of giving advice to the management of APT work program with an
emphasis on private sector issues -
Develop
special programs beneficial to affiliate members through among other things
involvement in the planning process -
Pay
special attention to the fellowship allocation Enhancing APT's
role and position in international fora -
Improve regional preparations -
Strengthen
collaboration between APT members in international fora. Promoting APT activities -
Enhance
the APT website to attract new members by providing relevant information on
member's
benefits -
Carry
out special promotion activities in cooperation with Member states in order to
introduce the APT to potential new members -
Co-sponsor
international meetings relevant to ICT issues in cooperation with UN organs,
international organizations and others -
Participate
in the national events relating to ICT organized in the Member states -
Send
regular APT publications as a promotion to potential users -
Promote
Young Professionals and Students Forum to provide opportunities for students
and young professionals in the region to come to know about APT activities and
make useful contributions to the society These APT
Secretariat activities can be supported by Members through: -
Raising
awareness of the APT in their country through inter departmental meetings,
media releases and other activities. -
Encouraging
the potential affiliate members to join the APT. -
Involving
the APT with the projects being launched with the financing institutions -
Promoting
the establishment of APT associations as appropriate Cooperation with
funding agencies, UN organs and other organizations -
Establish closer relationship with funding agencies for
resource mobilization and
for developing joint programs. -
Strengthen
relationship with concerned UN agencies and other international,
regional and sub regional organizations for achieving synergy of efforts. Implementation
mechanism The APT should focus its resources on key areas of its
activities in order to generate concrete and meaningful outcomes.
Categorization and classification of work programs according to their
characteristics are useful to achieve their objectives. Focus on program content and quality,
rather than on the number of events The periodicity of events should be decided by the
Management Committee, taking into account the following guidance: -
ASTAP, APG,
Preparatory meetings ---- once or twice, or few times when necessary -
PRF, AWF, ADF
_---- once a year -
Industry Users
Forum, Operators Forum, Study Groups to be merged into other fora, as
appropriate -
Workshop and
Seminars ---- limited to the minimum and focused on hot issues -
Some events could
be combined to ensure focus and synergy. Individual seminars and workshops
should be focused on key issues of
current importance Specify, as far as possible, which
programs will develop common proposals and which promote other development
activities -
Develop common
proposals (APG, Preparatory meetings) -
Foster ICT development （AWF, ASTAP, PRF, ADF etc.) -
Introduce new
technologies (seminar, workshop, symposium, etc.) -
Education (HRD) -
Promote intra
regional and inter regional cooperation Efficient and
effective management In order to serve its membership
effectively and efficiently the APT should: Continue to further enhance the quality of
its services by -
Revision of the
per diem for the fellowship participants -
Provision of the
associated travel costs for speakers
coming from both developed and developing member countries -
Allocation of
budget for the meetings of WPs and EGs under the APG and ASTAP Bring further improvement of HRD
activities through -
Improved needs
research and evaluation -
Revision of
training courses -
Comprehensive
programs for specific issues, such as broadband
- Creation of programs for
specific audience - Review of fellowship allocation Continue its efforts for effective
management of documentation -
Revision of the
APT Documentation Scheme in order to clarify category of the documents which
each APT work program can produce -
Development of
document management scheme Effect financial measures to ensure
sufficient funds for the work program -
Create new sources
of income -
Leverage on
existing APT assets Solicit cooperation for ensuring
sustainable financial base -
Minimum level
increase of the contributory unit cost -
Appropriate
management for the collection of registration fees from non-members -
Realization of all
pending dues -
Suitable
arrangement for the administrative cost incurred by the extra-budgetary
contributions and in-kind contributions Strengthening of the strategic planning
and resource mobilization functions in the APT -
Strategic planning
and resource mobilization functions are of much interest to the members. -
These functions
should be strengthened in the APT secretariat
by allocating
appropriate resources. Performance Appraisal -
Annual
work plans should effectively reflect the objectives outlined in the Strategic
Plan and factor in activities of other organisations active in the sector. -
Evaluation
demonstrates that members are satisfied that programs and activities are
relevant, appropriate and of a high quality. -
Audited
accounts demonstrate sound financial management. -
Tangible
increase in membership, including affiliate members. |
