Project Proposal

1. Project Background and Rationale

1.1 WSIS and Beyond: The Search for Local Impact of Global Consensus-Building

As the climax to the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) fast approaches, a valid question has been asked since the Geneva One: what will be the real impact of this UN-led global consensus on participating countries, given that local/national conditions vary widely, and a "one-size-fits-all" approach rarely works on the ground. This question also becomes urgent as many seek a post-WSIS roadmap to build on the momentum built on the soon-to-be-concluded process.

An approach that countries must seriously consider is to "embed" the WSIS approach and its global outputs to specific local contexts, in areas where there is broad agreement (e.g., bridging the "digital divide"), but especially also in resolving ongoing issues that need broader consensus-building (e.g., "internet governance", financing). Only when the different countries use WSIS as an opportunity for enhancing national information and communication-related development plans, can local impact be expected to take root.

1.2 The Opportunity in the Philippines for Multi-stakeholder Policy Development

ICT policy in the Philippines has had a history of involving different stakeholders in its formulation and implementation. Previous policy-making (e.g, the National Information Technology Council; the Information Technology and E-Commerce Council) has been purposefully multi-stakeholder, where private sector (mainly business) representatives sat in a collegial body with Cabinet-level government officials in a body often chaired by the Philippine President. Though still generally lacking and at times uneven, there also has been a minimum level of Civil Society involvement through the participation of various IT associations, academic institutions, and NGOs in the policy discussion.

The recent establishment of the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT)—a merger of existing related agencies and offices spread throughout the bureaucracy—headed by a Secretary with Cabinet rank, underscores the importance of infocomms policy within the present Arroyo administration. As a transition to an envisioned full-scale Department of ICT, the CICT is now undergoing a strategic reorganization of its personnel and is establishing its role in leading infocomms policy development. A policy of consultation with different stakeholders has been upheld by CICT, particularly through its Chair and its recently-appointed Commissioners who have private sector and civil society links.

The challenge now is how to engender a truly multi-stakeholder policy development process that builds on the gains of past processes, but also fills in their perceived gaps; and to institutionalize this within the praxis of the new CICT—in a way consistent with the spirit and mandate of WSIS.

Recent policy issues and initiatives that have strategic value for a broad section of the population—the setting up of community e-centers, discussions on telecommunications pricing and broadband deployment, the resolution of continuing ccTLD management issues, evolving guidelines on wireless technologies, etc.—are ongoing issues which will benefit from a multi-stakeholder process that WSIS endorses. These are all public interest issues, and it is paramount pinpoint the policy implications of these issues in a way that affirms ICTs, telecommunications, and the Internet as global public goods, and align infocomms policy on overall development policy.

1.3 Strategic Policy Researches to Define Policy Options, Enhance Action Plans

Given the opportunities presented by both the WSIS outputs and a process which values a multi-stakeholder approach in support of a strong CICT public interest agenda, it would be crucial then to examine concrete policy areas which are deemed important for the local/national context. Having a complementary policy research process is also seen to benefit the country’s strategic action planning in the area of infocomms by pinpointing some of the crucial issues on which sound policy frameworks must be developed. (The CICT has formulated an Strategic Roadmap based on the Arroyo Administration’s 10 point agenda. It is hoped that the CICT will benefit from a Policy Research Agenda which could feed into its evolving processes even as it operationalizes the multi-stakeholder approach more programmatically.)

A focused research process is thus suggested in which:

• key policy areas for priority policy development are pinpointed; 
• learnings gleaned from local and international experience, as well as innovative praxis from the ground, are synthesized and considered (for each policy area); 
• current policy options, including the positions of various stakeholders, are outlined and analyzed (for each policy area); 
• recommendations based on a set of development-related public interest criteria are presented.

All this could benefit from—and then feed back into—a stakeholders consultation process which CICT could consider as it defines the general policy frameworks (and the specific legal and regulatory instruments) it will adopt.

This proposal then seeks to support this process in the Philippines, but at the same time document such processes and policy research outputs in a way which can be shared with other developing countries in Asia, who are (or will be) facing similar policy questions.

This project has the following objectives:

2.1 General Objectives

• To support the Philippine information and communication policy development process by designing a research agenda which will pinpoint significant policy areas in which locally appropriate and socially relevant policies will be considered by appropriate bodies.
• To implement a multi-stakeholder approach in the aforementioned policy development process to enhance consensus-building in infocomms policy, and evolve appropriate participatory methods in action planning, to localize the impact of WSIS global processes.
• To share knowledge across different Asia-Pacific country contexts to help enhance research-driven policy development in the region.

2.2 Specific Objectives

• To produce a series of policy research papers in specific areas of information and communications policy development and praxis, as concrete contributions to Philippine infocomms policy processes in general, and CICT functions and mandates in particular. 
• To convene multi-stakeholder consultations and national validation workshops to validate the research outputs and foster multi-stakeholder consensus-building on agendas for each policy research area. 
• To document and publish the key outputs of the project for national dissemination and regional knowledge sharing.

The expected outputs of this project are:

1. The production of research papers in seven (7) pinpointed areas of information and communication policy that correspond to Philippine national priorities for policy development.
2. The conduct of round-table discussions and research validation workshops for each policy research area pinpointed, involving different strategic stakeholders in Philippine information and communications policy development (CICT and attached agencies, academe, key IT associations, NGOs and other civil society organizations).
3. Print publication of the aforementioned papers, including relevant outputs of the related round-table discussions and validation workshops, in monograph form or as a single volume; an appropriate online and offline (CD) publication of all project outputs will be produced as well.

The expected outcomes of this project are:

1. The contribution to an enhanced Philippine ICT Roadmap/Strategic Plan (i.e., CICT Strategic Roadmap) informed by the research outputs, and the multi-stakeholder process.
2. The reaffirmation of the multi-stakeholder approach to all stakeholders as a viable and effective process for policy development and program implementation.
3. As an indirect outcome, the strengthening of the role of nongovernmental public interest organizations (e.g., civil society organizations) in the Philippine policy development process.
4. The strengthening of regional (i.e., Asia Pacific) collaboration in infocomms policy development through knowledge sharing and exchange, leading to a broader implementation of WSIS priorities.

The direct beneficiaries will be the project partner of the proponent, the Philippine Commission on Information & Communications Technology (CICT) to which the outputs of this projects will be turned over. It is hoped that it will not only benefit the CICT in terms of content (policy recommendations and options for its consideration), but also in the process itself where multi-stakeholder constituencies will be mobilized and sustained even after the project ends.

Indirect beneficiaries are also the other policy stakeholders in the Philippines, who will benefit from the discourse, while at the same time ensuring that their policy positions and advocacies will have a venue for consideration. Indirect beneficiaries will also be other policy communities in other countries of the Asia Pacific region, to whom the outputs of the project will also be shared through existing and new networks.

Ultimate beneficiaries are the members of the national community in the Philippines, who hopefully will benefit from socially-relevant, locally-appropriate, and development oriented infocomm policies.

4. Project Mechanics and Methodologies

4.1 Priority Policy Thematic Areas for Research

The project will endeavor to mobilize multi-stakeholder processes towards the production of seven (7) research papers in policy areas below; these areas are deemed strategic in the Philippine context for reasons including the following:

• They are areas wherein the national policy frameworks are still underdeveloped or uneven; 
• They are areas which impact on broad sections of the population, including those traditionally marginalized in infocomms policy discourse (i.e., helping bridging social/digital divides); 
• They are areas which dovetail with WSIS priorities; 
• They are areas which dovetail with simila initiatives on the Asia Pacific regional level (i.e., APDIP ORDIG Research Agenda)

1. Internet Governance in the area of the administration of country level Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs): a case study or the .PH controversy; the attendant policy questions (e.g., between national sovereignty and international harmonization); and an exploration of the different governance models in the Asia Pacific region (with an orientation to deriving learnings for countries similarly situated). – (can contribute to the UNDP APDIP regional research agenda)
2. Internet governance and policy implications for emerging technologies (mobile telephony/SMS; IP telephony and convergence; wireless Internet), and its implications for Universal Access programs – (can contribute to the UNDP APDIP regional research agenda)
3. The Question of Agency in InfoComms Policy Development: An evaluative history of Philippine ICT governance from an institutional standpoint (NICT, ITECC, towards CICT and a Department of ICT); orientation to evolving institutional multi-stakeholder models of governance; with implications for the CICT. – (can contribute to the UNDP APDIP regional research agenda)
4. Free/Open Source Software (FOSS): Evolving a Policy Framework and Action Plan for the Philippines (particularly in the area of the country’s Education Sector/Human Capital Formation/ Human Resource Development) – (specifically oriented to the thematic focus of Dr. Emmanuel Lallana within the CICT)
5. WSIS@PH : An Assessment of Philippine Participation in International Spaces, National Processes. Harmonizing WSIS priorities with the country’s own policy frameworks towards identifying other gaps; also to explore global/regional spaces (ITU/Asia Pacific Telecommunity; UNESCO, ASEAN, APEC, etc.). Will seek to recommend a medium-term WSIS implementation plan for the Philippines.
6. Locating the "Digital Divide" in the Philippines: a reassessment of the quantitative and qualitative indicators utilized, and evolving more appropriate frameworks to the country unique contexts (e.g., its archipelagic character, its leading role in SMS/mobile telephony, etc.).
7. Mainstreaming Gender Issues in ICT Policy Development: Identifying Gaps and Formulating Strategic Recommendations for Legislation and Executive Action

4.2 Research Mechanics and Methodology

Mechanics: Each of the abovementioned thematic areas represents a specific research initiative within this overall project. A Research Consultant will be contracted for each area, and his/her task is to lead the process below, towards producing a 20-25 page research paper.

Thematic Roundtables: The Project Proponent with the help of the Research Consultant will convene Round-Table Discussions (RTDs)—small focused discussions with invited experts, resource persons, and other stakeholders—in each particular policy area. The objective will be to present the research paper outline, and derive comments and key issues and concerns which the paper should address. It will also pinpoint key informants for interview.

Data Gathering and Research Writing : The Research Consultant, with the support of two (2) Project Research Assistants will proceed to gather data to produce the draft research report. (See Research Methodologies below).

Research Validation Workshops: After the previous phase, the Project Team will convene a multi-stakeholder Research Validation Workshop where key stakeholders to that particular thematic area (i.e., government regulators, legislators, local government executives, policymakers, private sector representatives, service providers, academics and researchers, NGOs and sectoral organizations, consumer and advocacy groups) will be invited. Here the highlights of the research paper will be presented and comments will be solicited as a last input to the final draft. (Advance copies of the draft report may be circulated to specific people, e.g., to a multi-sectoral panel of reactors). It is hoped that this process not only succeeds in validating the main research conclusions but also evolves into a multi-stakeholder consultative body for each thematic area, which will be crucial in program implementation and in further research.

Publication and Dissemination: The seven final drafts will be prepared for publication, with editorial and pre-press support. (The proponent will endeavor to source additional funds for the print production of the monographs/volume from other sources as part of its counterpart to this project.) Copies of the publication will be distributed to main stakeholders in infocomms policy development, both locally and abroad, using existing networks as well as new ones established during the course of this project.

For example, FMA will work with the ICT4D Steering Committee of which it is a member. The committee is a project advisory group of the IDRC-funded project run by the Department of Science and Technology. Also as member of the Advisory Panel of APDIP’s ORDIG project, FMA will also utilize the broad network of this initiative.

Simultaneously, the research outputs will also prepared for distribution in offline formats (CD) and through online publication in a website to be prepared by the project proponent. This site could have interactive features (discussion board, polling modules) and will link to an ICT Policy Portal that the proponent is also constructing in cooperation with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC; www.apc.org), of which FMA is a member. (APC is a member of the Working Group on Internet Governance and the Task Force on Financial Mechanisms of WSIS).

4.3. Research Methodologies

The research methods to be utilized in this research project will include:

• Review of literature and documentation (previous studies, reports, policy documents and briefs, position papers, websites, government documents, local and international case studies, etc.) – print and online
• Focus group discussion – the RTDs will be an organic part of the research process and other group interviews may be convened as necessary
• Key informant interviews – with resource persons, representatives of interest groups/ stakeholders to the thematic areas (face-to-face or via email under certain considerations)
• Research validation workshops. (See above.)
• Informal purposive surveys as needed.

5. Project Team

The Project will be directly managed by the Executive Director of the proponent, Alan G. Alegre; The Project Coordinator will be supported by the Research Coordinator of FMA, Philip Arnold Tuano, who may also act as a Research Consultant for one of the Thematic Areas. (The resumes of Alegre and Tuano are attached as Annexes A and B.). In addition, two Project Research Assistants will be engaged, who will do research support for the various Research Consultants, in addition to performing secretariat functions in convening the RTDs and Validation Workshops.

Role of the Project Partner

The CICT will be the proponent’s partner at each step of the way. A representative of the Commission (until further confirmation, this will be Commissioner Emmanuel Lallana) will be invited to sit in all relevant Project Meetings, and will have a big input into the research direction of the project. FMA will work closely with CICT in convening the round-table discussions and research validation workshops. The CICT has an institutional stake in the project as the outputs of the project are geared towards supporting the policy development function of the Commission. Similarly, the multi-stakeholder process which will be embedded into the project will hopefully provide the CICT with a template in which to evolve its own policy processes at this early stage of its organizational life. It is assumed that CICT will provide necessary logistical and research support to the project activities.

6. Project Mobilization, Monitoring, and Evaluation Meetings

• A Project Mobilization Meeting will be convened once the project is approved, the Project Team is organized and the Research Consultants are engaged. This will serve as the main Planning Meeting of the project.
• Research and consultation plans will be drafted to be the basis of monitoring of the work of the Research Consultants. Of course, Project Team meetings will be regularly convened.
• An initial assessment meeting will be convened after the first drafts are finished, for all the consultants to compare research notes and plan for the Validation Workshops. A follow-up meeting will be convened after the first of the Validation Workshops is held in order to learn from the initial process. At the conclusion of all the Validation Workshops, a Midterm Assessment will be convened to again derive learnings and address research implications for the final draft phase, and to plan for dissemination work. (Interim Project Reports will be submitted as necessary or upon request of Pan Asia.)
• A Final Evaluation Workshop will be held at the end of the project. All documentation reports will be submitted and successor projects may be designed if the situation warrants.

7. Project Timetable

The project duration will be twelve (12) months. (For the purposes of initial projections should the project proposal be approved, the timetable below will assume project mobilization will commence on June 2005, and conclude on November 2006.)

8. Project Sustainability

8.1 Institutional Sustainability

The institutional sustainability of the Philippine infocomms development process is the primary concern of this project—meaning, the extent to which the project partner, the CICT, is able to benefit from this research initiative both to positively utilize the outputs of this project via policy implementation; and, the extent to which CICT may use this process as a template for its own policy development activities. On another level, the proponent seeks to sustain the multi-stakeholder constituencies that will have been formed by this project, thereby institutionalizing the collaborative and participatory process which WSIS endorses.

8.2 Financial Sustainability

Firstly, it is hoped that other policy stakeholders will see the value of this process and agree to support successor projects and activities. Government, private sector, donor agencies, and even other civil society organizations will hopefully underwrite successor projects and activities of this nature.

Upon consultation with Pan Asia, the proponent may explore the sale of the publications that will be the products of the project, and the proceeds of such an envisioned sale may also go towards funding other thematic researches.