Hotel Vistana, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 24-27 March 1999

Introduction

The Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) held its Regional Conference on Information Technologies in the New Millennium, from the 24th to the 27th of March 1999. The purpose of the Conference was to:

• Give participants an opportunity to discuss and review existing experiences and lessons learnt from the Asia-Pacific region.
• Provide a forum to plan UNDP-assisted IT initiatives in each country and at the regional level, and ensure their contribution to new and existing development activities;
• Enable APDIP Focal Points in each country office to familiarise themselves with IT-related issues in the region, as they will play an active role in supporting their national counterparts in developing future IT initiatives; and,
• Contribute to the development of the APDIP action plan for 1999.

The Conference targeted key Government decision-makers from 27 Asia-Pacific countries, UNDP-APDIP Focal Points, and NGO/CSO partners who have manifested a strong interest in how IT can be implemented in their countries and organisations to foster sustainable human development. Sponsors of the Conference included Wang Global, Cisco, Microsoft and Dell. All sessions were videotaped. All participants received a CD-ROM with presentations, speeches and participant/speakers information.

Report on the APDIP IT Conference - IT and Development in the Next Millenium

Day 1

The participants were welcomed by the UN Resident co-ordinator, Mr. Phillips Young, and by the APDIP Regional co-ordinator, Mr. Gabriel Accascina. Tengku Mohd. Azzman Shariffadeen, CEO of Mimos delivered the keynote address.

In his address, Tengku Azzman talked about the importance of IT in development and Vision 2020 in Malaysia. Gene Deutsch followed with an overview of what IT can do for Developing countries. Subsequently, Michael Warren from Wang Global discussed the development of National IT Plans.

In the afternoon, Ms. Laina Raveendran Greene from GetIt spoke on Internet Governance, outlining the history of Internet, the ways it has been governed over the years, and the new ICANN structures being put in place to manage the delivery of name and numbers on the Internet. Stephen Chang from Deloitte Consulting presented a paper on how governments can use IT (egovernance) to improve their business process. Finally, Roger Harris from Universitas Malaysia in Kuching, Sarawak talked about bringing IT to rural areas of developing countries.

In the evening, Mr. Fikret Akcura from UNDP Headquarters in New York presented the features of UNDP’s corporate Information Systems to UNDP focal points attending the Conference.

On a separate session, a formal Tri-Partite Review (TPR) of the Programme was held. Eighteen delegates, representing various member countries, UNOPS and UNDP, participated in the review, which was chaired by Tengku Azzman, CEO of Mimos Bhd. Participants discussed the past achievements of the Programme, as well as future directions. After deliberations with the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific at UNDP Headquarters, it was agreed that the Programme will be extended until the end of 2001. This will allow APDIP to continue the support to its member countries.

Day 2

The day started with a presentation by Mr. Karim Bangcola from the Philippines Y2K Commission on the Y2K problem. He outlined what may happen, what has been done so far to correct the problem, and what contingency measures may be taken. Mr. Bertrand Bidaud followed with a presentation about Telecoms and Internet infrastructure challenges for Asia, in which he argued for the need to have low telecom rates.

Mr. Rajiv Ramaprasad from WorldCare Health discussed Telemedicine's Role in the future Health Care. He explained how telemedicine can become the health care system of the future. His presentation was followed by a presentation on marketing in high-tech zones, by Shannon Boase from the Malaysian Multimedia Development Corporation. Dr. Balasubramaniam, from the Asian Eco-technology Network in India gave a very well-received presentation on IT for Development, a look at bringing IT to the grassroots in India.

At the end of the second day, APDIP and Cisco Systems announced their co-operation agreement to start Cisco Networking Academies in five countries around the Asia-Pacific region. APDIP will provide the cost of training for two instructors, as well as the networking equipment needed for the training rooms. APDIP will also serve as a regional networking academy to service the local academies.

During the evening, Mr. Fikret Akcura gave a second presentation about the features of UNDP’s corporate Information Systems to UNDP focal points attending the Conference.

Day 3

The third day was devoted to country presentations. A member from each delegation gave a brief presentation on IT issues in their countries. Topics ranged from solutions to the Y2K problem, to bringing IT to rural areas with most countries presenting overviews and status of Internet information.

Day 4

Day four, a half-day closing session, started with presentations about various aspects of assistance offered by APDIP to member countries and procedures to obtain various services including:

1. Seminars and workshops;
2. Regional Server Programme hosting services;
3. Internet Governance services;
4. Networking and Internet access projects;
5. Consultancies and Advisory services.

This was followed by round-table discussions about APDIP activities and the official closing of the Conference by Mr. Phillips Young.

Break-out Sessions, National delegations

During the second, third and fourth days, Programme Co-ordinator Gabriel Accascina and Programme Consultant Rogier Gruys had individual, half hour meetings with each delegation to discuss future areas of APDIP co-operation. Many of the countries expressed an interest in the APDIP IT Policy Seminars, as well advisory services, consulting and the APDIP/Cisco Networking Academy Programme.

A wide range of activities were discussed, among which:

• Development of National IT Action Plans, specifically Nepal and Iran. Several other countries manifested their interest and requested additional information;
• Establishment of an IT agenda for Civil Service Organisations and an Agricultural network in the Philippines;
• Establishment of first National Internet Service Providers in Bhutan and Tuvalu;
• Assistance in planning future stages of a Government intranet in PNG and Maldives;
• Presentation at Forum Ministerial Pacific Telecoms Conference in Fiji;
• Assistance for Internet Exchanges in Cambodia and Bangladesh;
• Assistance to a rural IT projects in China;
• Appraisal of Sustainable Development Network Programmes in Bangladesh;
• Assistance to UNDP in DPRK; and
• Evaluation missions to India and Pakistan.

Conclusion

The Conference provided useful information both to delegates and to APDIP/UNDP staff. Upon their return, participants will hopefully be able to sensitise governments, NGOs and UNDP offices to the importance of IT in development during the next millennium, and improve the status of IT in their countries. For APDIP, the information gathered at the Conference will allow staff to better plan its assistance to member countries, both operationally and financially. Running the TPR concurrently to the Conference also allowed for immediate and constructive feedback and substantial cost savings. The Conference, therefore, was a good success, and there were several requests to organise similar conferences, on a sub-regional basis, in the future.

List of Delegates: