Priorities are, by definition, issues that should be dealt with first. Too many priorities means that too little attention is devoted to any of them, both by their proponents and by the wider community to whom they are proposed. It suggests that agreement is being reached by listing aspirations rather than by choosing those issues that require most or most immediate attention (a common failing in international negotiations).
Interviews with non-African delegates at the Geneva WSIS meeting suggest that Africa’s priorities were unclear to them. Organisations might consider how the process of developing African input to the second phase could identify clear and clearly thought-out priorities on which delegates could focus their attention during negotiations. The intended focus of the second phase on practical implementation should be borne in mind in this context.
Again, much the same question could be directed to civil society organisations as to Africa as a whole. One way in which ‘real’ priorities can be identified is to require meetings to narrow down lists such as that emerging from the Paris meeting until a maximum of, say, five issues remains on which resources can then be concentrated.[i]
The Bamako Bureau’s list of 21 ICT priorities, which was drawn up during Prepcom 2 and reported to Prepcom 3 in September 2003 are the following:
By 2005, Europe should have:Compare also the African Information Society Initiative’s (AISI) condensation of issues:and, as an enabler for these
- modern online public services
- e-government
- e-learning services
- e-health services
- a dynamic e-business environment
- widespread availability of broadband access at competitive prices
- a secure information infrastructure[ii]
AISI is a common vision for Africa’s quest to bridge the digital divide. Several implementation activities have taken place in the following areas:Both the European Commission and the AISI have focused on a small number of priorities. In the second phase of WSIS, two policy issues were prioritised for special attention: Internet governance and financing ICT for development. The WSIS plan of Action established a Working Group on Internet Governance and a Task Force on Financial Mechanisms to address these issues. The WSIS Plan of Action directed governments to produce national e-strategies. However, there may be a case for developing regional e-strategies to enhance policy coordination across national borders.[iv] This could be done with the participation of all stakeholders and the policy window opened by the WSIS process has created a good context and environment to do this.By the year 2010, AISI intends to realize a sustainable information society in Africa.[iii]
- Policy awareness;
- Democratising access to the Information Society;
- Infrastructure development and internet connectivity;
- National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) plans;
- Development information;
- Sectoral applications; and
- Training and capacity building.
During the first phase of WSIS, civil society produced a set of seven ‘musts’ i.e. norms that should inform the development of ICT policy for a global information society. These are also important in terms of setting policy priorities for ICT as they emphasise the underlying norms and values from which policy positions must be built. The seven musts include:
Can we prioritise five ICT issues for Uganda?
As applicable, do indicate examples and/or best practices of what we have in Uganda today.
[ii] Commission of the European Communities*: eEurope 2005: an information society for all*, June 2002, p3
[iii] Economic Commission for Africa: *E-Strategies: National Sectoral and Regional ICT Policies, Plans and Strategies*, October 2003, p 1; http://www.uneca.org/aisi/docs/E-Strategies.pdf
[iv] Willie Currie: *E-Strategies and the World Summit on the Information Society*, prepared for the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2004: http://rights.apc.org/documents/estrategies.pdf
This discussion paper has been adapted from an Africa Civil Society in the Information Society (ACSIS) discussion paper on the topic “ICT Policy Priorities in Africa”.
For further information about the WSIS 2005 online forum, please send e-mail to ictpolicy@wougnet.org. For more information about WSIS preparations in Uganda click here.