Asian Forum on Information and Communication Technology Policies and e-Strategies, 20-22 October 2003

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Session Summary

Session VI - Creating Capacity and Jobs

Chair: Mr. Sharad Chandra Shah, Vice-Chairman, Information Technology High-Level Commission, Nepal
Resource Person: Mr. Salman Ansari, Advisor, ICT, Ministry of Information and Communication, Pakistan
Panel/Discussants:

1.	Mr. Xavier Tan, Chairman, PIKOM, Malaysia
2.	Eng. Fernando Carvalho da Cruz, Director-General for Transport and Communications, Timor-Leste
3.	Mr. Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and the Head of National ICT Task Force, Bangladesh

Note: The Roundtable was assisted by a facilitator who posed 11 "Key Questions and Issues" to all the participants.

POINTS AND ISSUES RAISED

-	Capacity building is not just about training. It covers all areas surrounding the development of the core telcommunications infrastructure to provide voice and internet access as widely as possible, the enabling laws and regulations, and education and training for specific areas
-	The Government is the largest employer in almost every country. Their role in creating jobs is undisputed. From a policy standpoint, they also play an important role in building up the country's work force.
-	Need to differentiate between ICT as an enabler and ICT the industry. The government should get out of business and concentrate on creating an enabling environment with adequate policies and strategies for reliable and quality infrastructure; universal access and Internet growth.
-	For job creation, ICT is a great equalizer as it allows the opportunities to enhance business and enabling entrepreneurs to be more efficient with small capital. It also enables the effective empowerment of women even in restrictive societies.
-	Government's invest heavily in civil servant training (basic computer literacy) and this has to continue, as capacity building is the critical for the future of all knowledge economies. This should be done on the basis of a coherent training program for raising awareness and the application of ICT in making Government more productive and responsive. This has to be coupled with calibrated training programs for the entire hierarchy of government.
-	Viability and direction of ICT depends on people. While we're talking about people being reliant on ICT, its survivability and its direction is mostly dependant on people.
-	In order for ICT-enabled projects to succeed there must be internal champions who can take ownership and create a convergence with their own personal goals with those of the specific project.
-	Moving a country's economy from an industrial nation to a technological one will require different thinking in terms of knowledge management, competency management and even national policies on education and economics.
-	In terms of figures and quality, ICT education seems low; it appears that the hardware has been installed but the 'software' (education, human capital development) is not adequately addressed in most Asia Pacific countries.
-	Although some countries have invested a great deal in capacity building, the question of how to retain their ICT staff (brain drain) in the public sector is a serious issue as most are attracted to the private sector for better remuneration.

THE WAY FORWARD: SHARED EXPERIENCES/ PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

-	Policies are the cornerstone of capacity building; regulation has to be place; infrastructure; local content has to be in place; commitment must be in place at the top; all this contributes and should be factored into capacity building strategies.
-	An important concern is the issue of availability and the development of content, and the associated local language interfaces that are needed.
-	Create a focussed independent authority or ministry for higher education, separate from the Ministry of Education, to ensure that focussed attention is given for developing graduate and post-graduate education in key areas and technologies. There should also be an entity that can oversee the areas of specialised training for the development of specialized skills (high-quality ICT professional class). Encourage education overseas - with hope the brain inflow will benefit the country in the long run.
-	Encourage the development of local content - expertise can be tapped domestically to stimulate the environment.
-	To counter the anticipated resistance to change in ministries, a buy-in from the implementation ministry and good governance has to be in place.
-	Encourage retraining of local staff by hiring foreign expertise to keep up with trends and developments.
-	Employing ICT for poverty reduction, policies must necessarily be pro-poor; other focus groups should include the youth and the unemployed-educated workforce. (e.g. Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF) in Malaysia focuses on retraining the work force for the digital economy.
-	Explore means for appropriate ICT tools that will help make Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) more productive thus creating jobs and indirectly providing services to the poor.
-	Explore means for new operators to be established under Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) arrangements.
-	"Creating capacity is more important than creating jobs because if we are creating jobs but the people don't have capacity, how can they do the job"; both must be pursued concurrently.
-	Skills helps to make the workforce more marketable and in turn investing in people is an important requisite in creating specialised jobs.
-	By creating an export-focused ICT industry (specially for the outsourcing model from the developed countries) in the likes of Taiwan and India, the Asian economies can create a vibrant and focused industry. This creates jobs.
-	Develop human resources programmes at all levels (federal and provincial).

Last modified 2004-05-25 03:31 PM