UNDP ICT Programme Officer/Focal Point

ICT Programme Office/Focal Point A

Full Name

Kosei Terami

Designation/Position

Programme Analyst, Governance unit

Station (UNDP Country Office)

UNDP Lao PDR

Email Address

kosei.terami@undp.org

Telephone Number

+856 (21) 213390 ext. 137

Fax Number

+856 (21) 212029

Government Agency(ies) with Primary Responsibility

Ministry/Agency

Science, Technology and Environment Agency (STEA)

Contact Person A

Full Name (First, Last)

Mr. Somlouay Kittignavong

Designation/Title

Deputy Director General, Dept of Science and Technology

Email Address

steno@laotel.com

Contact Person B

Full Name (First, Last)

Mr. Keonakhone Saysuliane

Designation/Title

Director, Sci & Tech for development Study Centre

Email Address

steno@laotel.com

National Development Priorities

Please list the Government’s primary developmental and sectoral priorities:

National goal: Graduation from LDC status by 2002.

e-Readiness Assessment

Has the Government (or any third party or donor) conducted a multi-sectoral ICT or e-readiness assessment of the country?

YES

 “E-readiness Assessment in the Lao PDR” in 2001, prepared by Boualoykhong Chansavat and Phet Sayo, under a UNV/UNDP project,
 

Existing e-Policies, -Strategies, Acts, Decrees, etc

Has the Government developed, or is the Government planning to develop, ICT policies?

YES

The Lao government gave a mandate for ICT development to Science, Technology and Environment Agency (STEA).  STEA developed an IT master plan for 1996-2000.  In 2000, the government established an inter-ministerial Lao National Internet Committee, and gave the committee a jurisdiction over matters regarding national internet policies. 
 

Was the process of ICT policy formulation participatory in nature, and did it involve stakeholders?

NO
 

Does the Government have an official policy on ICT and Gender?

NO

So far there is no specific plan.
 

Does the Government have an official policy on Open Source Software?

NO 
 

Access

How is the Government addressing the issue of equitable access to ICT for all of its citizens, especially marginalized groups and those in rural communities?

No data is available.
 

What is the Government planning to do to increase local connectivity to the Internet?

No data is available for the government policy, but a certain international NGO is working on giving Internet access to villagers in the area where there is no electricity and telephone line.
 

Has the Government implemented, or is it planning to implement, e-government/e-governance initiatives to better deliver government services through the application of ICT and to improve government transparency and efficiency?

YES

STEA and UNDP are planning to implement a project entitled “the official Development of Website of the Lao PDR”.  The project document has been drafted and the government is currently reviewing the draft document.
 

Local Content Development and Knowledge Management

Is the Government aware of or is it active in standardization and localization of ICTs (e.g. local input/output conventions and standards for digital exchange, development of local language character sets conforming to international UNICODE and other standards) for fostering local content development and knowledge management?

YES

STEA and UNDP are planning to implement a project entitled “Standardising Lao Character Set”.  The project document has been drafted and the government is currently reviewing the draft document.
 

Please suggest how UNDP can assist in further developing local content development.

To finalise the draft proposal and secure its financing.
 

International Donors of ICT for Development

Please list (in order of total contributions for 2002) the top five donors who have invested in ICT for Development.  DO NOT include UNDP.

Donor

Specific Area of Support

Amount (USD)

1

France (l’Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie)

Government web site in French

NA (Planning stage)

2

Japan/JICA

Policy support, education, commerce, etc.

NA (Planning stage)

Please list and describe the three primary ICT for Development areas of focus for your UNDP Country Office.

NOTE: Please DO NOT list actual projects/activities, there is another section for this information.  Please describe the general focus areas (e-policies, e-government, e-commerce, e-learning, etc.) instead.

Area One
E-government

Area Two
Standardization

Check List: Please provide additional comments where applicable.

UNDP has played or is playing a crucial role in assisting the national government with ICT policy formulation.

YES

A completion of e-readiness assessment contributed to a better understanding of ICT development in the Lao PDR.  If proposals for ICT development are materialised, they will assist the Lao governments in implementing several important policies.  As a follow up of this assessment, UNDP and APDIP co-operated to send 10 government officers to our ICT policy seminar in Malaysia.
 

ICT for Development is a well established programme area within your UNDP Country Office.

YES

Five ICT proposals have been drafted in co-operation with GOL as recommended in the e-readiness assessment.
 

The UNDP Country Office requires assistance in identifying UNDP’s potential niche in ICT for Development interventions in the country.

YES
 

The UNDP Country Office is in partnership with the local government in ICT for Development initiatives/projects/activities.

YES

STEA (Science, Technology and Environment Agency)

Please share with us some UNDP County Office success stories, lessons learned, etc., with respect to the work that you have done in ICT for Development.

Nothing in particular
 

What are the major external obstacles in delivering ICT for Development outputs, thus far?  And how has the Country Office overcome these obstacles?

The project implementation has been delayed because it takes more time than expected for the government counterpart, who still lacks knowledge in the ICT area, to review and approve the project proposals.
 

What are the major internal obstacles in delivering ICT for Development outputs, thus far?  And how has the Country Office overcome these obstacles?  Please provide suggestions on how to overcome these obstacles.

Human resource: a full-time officer for ICT development has not been assigned, although the management is eagerly working on the recruitment.
 

Project/Activity Information

Project Title

The Official Development Website of the Lao PDR

Start Date

To be determined

End Date

To be determined

Objectives

To facilitate the efficient dissemination of relevant information regarding development issues in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, by assisting the Government in establishing an electronic archive of information and documents relating to the social and economic development of the country.

Description (200 words maximum)

The website will the Government to establish an electronic archive system of relevant information and documents pertaining to development in the country. Social, economic, political, historical, tourist, cultural, commercial and law information will be available on this site for global access on a 24h basis. They will be accessible from anywhere in the world thanks to an interface between end-users and the website electronic archive. Database will be reviewed regularly by a website information resource specialist in order to have the last updated information available. This project will establish electronic links among the different ministries based in Vientiane as well as with governmental institutions based in provinces. This will result in the first official, national and interactive website hosted in Lao PDR.

UNDP Project Officer

Kosei Terami

kosei.terami@undp.org

National Project Officer

To be appointed

Partners (National)

NA

Partners (International)

NA

Cross-Cutting UNDP Themes

Democratic Governance

Geographical Scope

Vientiane

Target Beneficiaries

Direct: STEA (Science, Technology and Environment Agency)

Ultimate: All users of the systems

Expected Outputs/ Results

Established electronic archive system, an interface between the users and the archive system, and one-stop interactive website.  Increased human resource capacity at STEA.

Project URLs (websites)

None

Budget (USD)

UNDP Contribution (USD)

National (USD)

Other Donors (USD)

Approximately $120,000

Keywords

Website, Archive

Additional Comments

The contents of project proposal are under review and subject to change.

Project/Activity Information

Project Title

Standardising the Lao Character Set

Start Date

To be determined

End Date

To be determined

Objectives

To contribute to the process of bridging the digital divide by strengthening the capacity of STEA to manage ICT standards.

Description (200 words maximum)

The absence of standards to enter, store, display, print and exchange Lao text on computers significantly hampers applications of ICT in the Lao PDR. Nearly all the conventions for Lao text interchange are incompatible with each other and the existing convention do not support Internet related technologies. The project’s aim is to provide initial assistance to STEA in formulating and implementing standard for entering, storing and processing Lao text on computers (first Microsoft’s Windows environment by licensing Tavultesoft, Lao Script for Windows called LSWin). Standardised use of Lao language on computers will improve utilisation of ICT in the country, enhance public sector performance and enable Lao language to be used on the Internet.

UNDP Project Officer

Kosei Terami

Kosei.terami@undp.org

National Project Officer

To be appointed

Partners (National)

NA

Partners (International)

NA

Cross-Cutting UNDP Themes

Democratic Governance

Geographical Scope

Vientiane

Target Beneficiaries

Direct: STEA (Science, Technology and Environment Agency)

Ultimate: Lao People

Expected Outputs/ Results

Strengthened capacity of STEA to manage Lao ICT standards.  Established a new, official LSII.  Increased awareness about the new LSII.

Project URLs (websites)

None

Budget (USD)

UNDP Contribution (USD)

National (USD)

Other Donors (USD)

Approximately $120,000

Keywords

Standardisation, Character set, LSII

Additional Comments

The contents of project proposal are under review and subject to change.