National Consultation

A National Consultation was organized for 17-18 August 2004 by the Science, Technology and Environment Agency (STEA) and UNDP-APDIP to discuss the draft ICT policy document.

The Consultation was chaired and opened by H.E. Noulin Sinbandith, Vice President, STEA and Khamphanh THAMPITAK, Director General  of Department of S&T.  Government officials from line ministries, members of the working groups, steering committee, development agencies (including JICA, ADB, SIDA, and UNDP), civil society, industry players and academia participated in the two day event, dealing with each thematic area of the draft policy, over each article to discuss amendments.

Recommendations from the Consultation include strengthening linkages between policy statements and national poverty alleviation goals and development in the remote rural areas; and a need for a clearer emphasis on development goals.  There was also consensus for the establishment of an inter-ministerial National ICT Board to coordinate the efforts of ICT development, and to consolidate and renew the national vision for ICT for development.

From the National Consultation, a finalized draft will be prepared for review at the Council of Ministers for approval.

Thalat Workshop

Working Groups held a series of meetings since July 2003.  Working groups discussed the role and terms of reference of eadh workng group, collecting data and information.  The project team, STEA, organized an interim assessment of the progress of the working groups.  A workshop for all working group members and chairs was held on the 7th of October 2003, in Thalat, Napakuang.

The workshop was organized to provide a platform, for the steering committee, working groups and selected individuals, to a consultation process to deliberate on and share their findings and recommendations, as a prelude to the National Consultation.

Each working group presented their analysis of the present situation in Lao PDR based on their respective WG topic and themes; their recommendations; strategies for ICT in Lao PDR; existing and future initiatives; and action plans.  The workshop was the first opportunity, since the launch of the initiative, for all working groups to meet and share information and experiences.

Steering Committee/Working Groups

Two major outcomes of the “Workshop on the Formulation of the National e-Policy/e-Strategy for the Application of ICT” were (1) the establishment of a Steering Committee responsible for overseeing the successful implementation and execution of the activities, at the national level; and (2) the establishment of Working Groups responsible for deliberating and producing reports on the five Working Group Topics.

The five Working Groups are: (1) Infrastructure/Industry, (2) Applications and Content, (3) Standardization/Localization, (4) Human Resource, and (5) Legal Frameworks.  A chair was assigned to each working group to ensure that WGs conduct meetings and that they provide WG reports summarizing discussions and recommendations.

Launch/Workshop

On 30 April, STEA hosted the launch and working meeting for in policy formulation initiative, titled the “Workshop on the Formulation of the National e-Policy/e-Strategy for the Application of ICT”, in Vientiane.

The objectives of the workshop were (1) to introduce the e-Policy/e-Strategy project to the stakeholders in Lao PDR, (2) formulate working groups and the steering committee, (3) and to discuss and brainstorm on the organizational and implementation issues.  Representatives for the UNDP Country Office of the Lao PDR and UNDP-APDIP participated in the one day meeting.

STEA organized and facilitated the workshop and led in presentations and discussions on working group and steering committee terms of reference and scope.

Previous Assistance

In assisting the Government of the Lao PDR with the development of ICT initiatives, UNDP Lao PDR conducted an e-readiness assessment which summarized the state of ICT development in the Lao PDR.

In September 2001, the UNDP-APDIP organized and hosted an “IT Policies and Infrastructure” seminar in Kuala Lumpur for a delegation of key decision makers from line ministries of the Lao PDR.  The delegation comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Education; the Lao Women’s Union, the Science, Technology, and Environment Agency; the State Planning Committee; the Office of International Cooperation; the Office of Foreign Investment; the Ministry of Finance; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Lao Youth Union; and the Ministry of Communications, Transport, Posts and Construction.