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Status of the Regional Plan of Action (RPoA) for Building the

I f ti S i t P t 1Information Society – Part 1Mansour Farah

Chief ICT Policies SectionChief, ICT Policies Section,ICT Division, ESCWA

http://www.escwa.un.org/

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Objectives of the RPoA

• To build a sustainable and inclusive i f ti i t i th i i liinformation society in the region, in line with WSIS Geneva Plan of Action

• To propose a comprehensive strategic• To propose a comprehensive strategic framework

• To foster partnerships and propose a• To foster partnerships and propose a modality for implementation

• To achieve the Millennium DevelopmentTo achieve the Millennium Development Goals

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RPoA: Result of Collaborative EffortsCollaborative Efforts

• Arab ICT strategy, adopted by the Arab Summit in 2001P A b i l f WSIS i C i J

Listed in chronological order

• Pan-Arab regional conference on WSIS, in Cairo, June 2003, including Cairo declaration

• Tentative plan of action for the information society in the region produced by ESCWA in December 2003the region, produced by ESCWA in December 2003

• WSIS-Geneva global Plan of Action (PoA)• Series of round tables planned by ESCWA during 2004

to address regional specificityto address regional specificity• Efforts of the Taskforce on Realization of the Arab

Strategy• Feedback from the ESCWA Second Regional Preparatory• Feedback from the ESCWA Second Regional Preparatory

Conference for WSIS and an online forum

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Evolving RPoAThe RPoA can assimilate future needs of Arab countries along with a The RPoA can assimilate future needs of Arab countries along with a mechanism to periodically introduce new regional strategic actions, report on progress of work, and adjust the plan accordingly. Considerations include:

• Partnership• Decentralization

R l b d

• Rolling projects • Leading responsibility

• Results-based management (RBM)

• Modularity

• Implementation upon maturity

• Periodic monitoring• Modularity • Open-endedness • Government priority

• Periodic monitoring and reporting

• Online follow-upGovernment priority p

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Strategic FrameworkStrategic Framework

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Main components of the strategic frameworkof the strategic framework

The strategic framework aims at streamlining actions at the regional level and at promoting the development of national capacity for The strategic framework aims at streamlining actions at the regional level and at promoting the development of national capacity for

Action lines

achieving the transition towards the information societyachieving the transition towards the information society

Areas

Action lines

Programmes

Projects

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WSIS Action Lines(International partnership)(International partnership)

• C1: The role of public governance authorities and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development

• C2: Information and communication infrastructure• C3: Access to information and knowledge• C4: Capacity building

C5: Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs• C5: Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs• C6: Enabling environment• C7: ICT Applications: e-government, e-business, e-learning,

e-health, e-employment, e-environment, e-agriculture, e-, p y , , g ,science

• C8: Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content

• C9: Media• C9: Media• C10: Ethical dimensions of the Information Society• C11: International and regional cooperation

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Areas of interest to the region(Regional partnership)(Regional partnership)

• Policies and strategies• ICT infrastructure• Access to information and knowledge• Capacity building• Building confidence, trust, and securityBuilding confidence, trust, and security• Enabling environment• ICT Applications• Cultural linguistic and Arabic content• Cultural, linguistic, and Arabic content• Media• International and regional cooperation

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Regional plan of actiontowards the Information Society

Main areas of action Project 1

Empowering Arab NGO’s in the information society

Developing e-government services

ICT for economic developmentPartnership programmes

Project 2

Project nth

erat

ion

onte

nt

secu

rity

wle

dge

Women empowerment in the information society

Developing the ICT sector

Developing telecommunications infrastructure

frast

ruct

ure

city

bui

ldin

g

d re

gion

al c

oope

stic

, and

loca

l co

Appl

icat

ions

and

stra

tegi

es

g en

viro

nmen

t

nce,

trus

t, an

d s

mat

ion

and

know

Med

ia

Increasing community access with emphasis on

ICT in education and scientific research

Information society measurements

Promoting digital Arabic content (DAC)

Project 1

Project 2

ICT

in

Cap

a

Inte

rnat

iona

l and

Cul

tura

l, lin

guis

ICT

A

Pol

icie

s

Ena

blin

Build

ing

conf

ide

Acc

ess

to in

form

Nth Programme

g y pthe marginalized and disabled

WSIS Global plan of action

Project 2

Project nth

IB

WSIS Global plan of action

Arab ICT Strategy Axis 1 Axis 7

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Lists ofProgammes and ProjectsProgammes and Projects

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1. ICT for economic 1.1 CyberPort for trade and transport

Programmes Projects (1/4)

developmenty p

1.2 CyberHaven for regional tourism development

1.3 Connecting Arab ATM networks1.4 ICT Hub for SMEs

2. Developing e-government services

2.1 Enhancing government decision support capabilities in the socio-economic fieldsg

2.2 Regional e-government portal

3. Empowering Arab NGO's in the

3.1 Arab NGO's information network3 2 Arab civil society academy for capacityNGO s in the

information society3.2 Arab civil society academy for capacity

building

4. Developing telecommunications

4.1 Towards an integrated regional telecommunications networktelecommunications

infrastructuretelecommunications network

4.2 Enhanced broadband access through pilot national applications

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5. Developing the ICT 5.1 Legislation model for an ICT enabling

Programmes Projects (2/4)p g

sector environment5.2 Establishment of ICT incubators5.3 Partnership space for incubating

telecommunications projectstelecommunications projects

6.1 Women empowerment through ICT6.2 Promoting the rights of women and children

th h th f ICT

6. Women empowerment in the information society through the use of ICT

6.3 Enhancing Arab women’s role in development and decision making through the use of ICT

information society

6.4 Gender evaluation methodology for ICT initiatives (GEM)

7 Information society 7.1 Core ICT indicators7. Information society measurements

7.1 Core ICT indicators7.2 ICT indicators database7.3 Capacity building for information society

measurement

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Programmes Projects (3/4)8. Promoting digital 8.1 Establishing a digital Arabic library*g g

Arabic content (DAC)

8.2 Connecting Arab documentation centres*8.3 Developing an Arabic search engine*8.4 Arabized ICT e-glossary8 5 A bi d i t (ADNS)* These projects have 8.5 Arabic domain name system (ADNS)8.6 Arab region network for document

cataloguing and processing8 7 Memory of the Arab world

These projects have been earmarked as most important by

Arab Ministers of Telecommunications

and Information Technology 8.7 Memory of the Arab world

9.1 Regional Hub for capacity building in open source software for education and research

9 2 IT teacher training framework

9. ICT in education and scientific

h

gy

9.2 IT teacher training framework9.3 Regional scheme for deployment of

technical computing software9.4 Lifelong learning for socio-economic

research

g gdevelopment.

9.5 Networking academies9.6 Learning object repository in Arabic (LORA)

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Programmes Projects (4/4)10. Increasing 10.1 Empowerment through community access:

l *g

community access with emphasis on the marginalized and disabled

total access points*10.2 PC for Every Home* 10.3 Information technology clubs*10 4 E t f th i ll di bl dand disabled 10.4 Empowerment of the visually disabled

through ICT10.5 Market information systems for agriculture

and fishing businesses* These projects gp jhave been

earmarked as most important

by Arab Ministers of Telecommunications

and Information Technology

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RP ARPoAMethodology for

Programmes

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Programme DetailsEach programme in the RPoA is presented by its champion-partner using the following structure:Each programme in the RPoA is presented by its champion-partner using the following structure:

• Conceptual overview;• Mapping to the areas presented in the

strategic framework of RPoA;• Outline that includes the programme’s

i bj ti h llmain objectives, challenges, implementation strategy, expected accomplishments and indicators ofaccomplishments and indicators of achievements.

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Criteria for adding Programmes

• Presented in a clear and concise format

A programme can be added once it satisfies the following criteria:A programme can be added once it satisfies the following criteria:

• Presented in a clear and concise format by its champion-partner (RPoA uses the Results-Based Management paradigm);g p g );

• It has a coordinating agency/institution (usually the champion-partner);

h h h b f• It has a high impact on a number of areas that are identified in the RPoA strategic framework.strategic framework.

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RPoAMethodology for Projects gy j

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Projects: Actions translated into resultsinto results

The list is an evolving one and will be adjusted as changes on existing projects are made and as new projects are added.The list is an evolving one and will be adjusted as changes on existing projects are made and as new projects are added.

• Originally, there were 38 projects proposed by various partners and distributed among 10 programmes;E h j t h di ti /l di• Each project has a coordinating/leading agency;

• Projects are regional in nature, with most having national components;Implementation sta ts pon mat it• Implementation starts upon maturity;

• Regional projects recommended by the Working Group on the Realization of the Arab Strategy are included and flagged as most important for theincluded and flagged as most important for the Arab Governments.

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Implementation ModalityImplementation Modality

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Online Partnership Space

On-line subscription Transfer of ownership

RPoA Strategic Framework

Main areasof action

Implementation phase

Development of Knowledge repository

PartnershipMechanism

Flexibility toupdate/addprogrammes

successesShared failures and

Implemented projects:building blocks

for developing theinformation societyMechanism

Flexibility toupdate/addprojects

On-line forum to C l i f j

Project monitoring

Project evaluationProgrammes

maturity levelOn-line forum to

solicit comments andidentify partners

Development ofpartnership networks

Completion of project

Project

Project

Project Project Project

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Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!

farah14@un.org