The seminar will begin with an open forum discussion with the participants to assess their needs in relation to developing frameworks and implementing ICT policies for Afghanistan. An ICT policy specialist will then present a tutorial on national and international ICT policy development and implementation in the following general areas:

Access to ICT Infrastructure

• Affordable universal access
• Convergence and network connectivity
• Funding mechanisms of ICT infrastructure and services
• Need for appropriate regulatory frameworks
• Balance between competition and regulation

Policy Development and Dialogue - Meeting Social and Economic Objectives

• Potential benefits of ICT for sustainable human development (SHD)
• Practical applications of ICT for SHD (e.g. telemedicine, distance education, aid coordination, disaster management, etc.)

Content Development and Knowledge Management

• Privacy and security
• User awareness and learning opportunities (e-learning)
• Copyright and intellectual property
• Support for local content and culture
• Content regulation

Government Use of ICT

• Improvement to operations and services (e-government)
• Government as model user of ICT

The ICT policy specialist will then conduct brainstorming sessions to create a draft ICT policy document for Afghanistan. This document will aim to identify the challenges, issues and process for developing and implementing a national ICT policy for Afghanistan.