Message from the National ICT Development Authority

[Read the Draft ICT Policy]
[Go to the official NiDA site regarding the draft policy]

Invitation to participate in a multi-stakeholder consultative process on Cambodia's policy on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for development.

To formulate an ICT policy and strategy responsive to the needs of the peoples and for the purpose of developing Cambodia without adversely affecting any particular sectors or individuals, a high level steering committee (sub-decree 55) was formed to coordinate and organise the task.

Out of a National Summit, six technical working groups (Government Decision 50) were assigned to coordinate and to look into the details of the policy & strategy formulation process based on the Digital Opportunity Initiative framework (www.opt-init.org) and under the supervision of the Steering Committee. The working groups are: 1) Policy and Strategy Coordinator, 2) Infrastructure, 3) Human Capacity, 4) Policy Environment, 5) Content & Application, and 6) Enterprise Development.

Subsequently, and in order to inform the policy development process, a team of National Researchers were appointed to conduct research in the aforementioned fields and to provide policy recommendations from their different background perspectives.

In order to benefit from the inputs of stakeholders from the private sector, international organisations and donors, NGOs and other stakeholders, the draft policy recommendations have been made available for public review in order to solicit constructive feedback.  You are kindly requested to submit your input to NiDA either electronically (chankrisna_kith@nida.gov.kh) or by mail. All feedback received before the above date will be subjected to review by NiDA. However, not all feedback will necessarily be reflected in the final Cambodian policy on ICT for development.

National Summit on ICT Policy and Strategy

The “National Summit on ICT Policy and Strategy”, organized and hosted by NiDA, on 3 July 2003, marked the launch of the process for the formulation of the national ICT policy and strategy.  The Summit was presided by the Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia, Excellency Samech Hun Sen.  (Read the Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen's speech - English version)

The Prime Minister was accompanied by his Senior Minister, Excellency Sok An, other Cabinet colleagues and high-ranking officials from Government. Also in attendance were foreign ambassadors and dignitaries, representatives from UN agencies, NGOs and donor agencies operating in Cambodia. Representatives of the private sector, media and civil society also took part in the Summit.

The Prime Minister’s address paved the way for the brainstorming and discussions that followed among the 400 participants and the Summit eventually adopted UNDP’s holistic Digital Opportunity Initiative (DOI) framework as a model for deliberating the future of ICT in the country, and the application of ICT for achieving social and economic development goals.

An ICT Policy Steering Committee under the Chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister was established by the Prime Minister’s decree, announced at the Summit, to guide the participatory process, agreed to in Phnom Penh, for a formulation of Cambodia’s national e-Policy involving all stakeholders.  The working groups were also identified and established during the summit, and their terms of reference were openly discussed among the participants.

UNDP Cambodia and UNDP-APDIP were present.  UNDP-APDIP presented and actively participated in the plenary discussions on the planned process and potential policy/strategy areas.

[Go to official NiDA site regarding the National Summit]
[Read UNDP Press Release]

Steering Committee/Working Groups

The official Steering Committee was established and received the Prime Minister’s signed approval during the National Summit on ICT Policy and Strategy.  The Steering Committee was made into law, consisting of the highest level of government, chaired by the Senior Minister of Cambodia, his Excellency Sok An.

The Steering Committee is tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the successful implementation and execution of the activities for the formulation of the ICT policy/strategy, at the national level.

The Working Groups identified during the National Summit were (1) Infrastructure, (2) Human Capacity, (3) Policy Environment, (4) Content and Application, and (5) Enterprise.  It was agreed during the Summit that the government of Cambodia would adopt the DOI framework as a basis for policy/strategy discussions.  A chair is assigned to each working group to ensure that WGs conduct meetings and that they provide WG reports summarizing discussions and recommendations.

Vision

Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen opened the UNDP-sponsored IT Awareness Seminar in September 11, 2001, with a speech that outlined specific objectives for the future of ICT in Cambodia – among these objectives was a call for the promotion of ICT in all sectors - the application of ICT for good governance, for health, education, commerce, etc..  Recognizing the need for a “common vision”, the Prime Minister stated the following:

“Cambodia needs a long-term IT development strategy, which responds to the realities of the country, the changes and new developments in regional and world economies. This vision should be supported by a detailed action plan for implementation.

The common vision for IT development, with all the supporting policies, strategies and multi-discipline measures to be elaborated by the Government, as well as concrete action being undertaken at the national level…”

The Prime Minister went on further to share with all participants his ideas, what he referred to as the key elements, for policies and strategies:

• the development of telecommunication infrastructures through the policy of liberalization; to promote open access and fair competition;
• expanding Internet coverage and penetration, based on market-based competition;
• the use of the Khmer language in ICT;
• increased computer literacy through education system;
• encourage and promote the private sector participation in ICT development;
• the protection of intellectual capital, while safeguarding the Internet in Cambodia from criminal activities;

During the three day seminar, participants and presenters discussed and began to tackle these same key elements.  Out of this, His Excellency Sok An, Senior Minister and Deputy Chair of the National Information Communications Technology Development Authority (NiDA), outlined NiDA’s action plan in his closing address.  Among the four points of action, H.E. Sok An mandated to NiDA the task to “formulate policy and regulation for the IT sector” – to do so, NiDA shall “review existing arrangements and legal framework in the IT sector…require all government agencies, and other agencies operating in the IT field to submit IT development plans…”