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| Foreword |
Building
information societies: |
The key development parameters of the recent past are not predominantly about economic productivity, but have more to do with equity and access to information and enhancing the knowledge base. Thus the most important assets of nations are not raw materials, physical goods or economic production, but human resources keyed into the information and knowledge revolution. (Schoolnet Research, 2002) The Digital Review of Asia Pacific reports on the state of deployment and innovation of ICT in the region. It also attempts analytical syntheses of how the region deals with issues and concerns that come to the fore as new technologies are deployed to advance the socioeconomic development of Asia-Pacific information societies. Four organisations collaborate in this initiative as co-publishers: the Pan Asia Networking Programme (PAN) of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communications (Orbicom) in close collaboration with Southbound. This publication is the second volume in the series. It incorporates data from the Digital Divide Index, an initiative of Orbicom directed by George Sciadas.¹ While the 2003/2004 edition focused on initiatives to transform the digital divide into digital opportunities in 27 economies and a subregion, the 2005/2006 edition focuses on the use of ICT for development and in building information societies. A panel of distinguished authors from 29 economies in the region convened at the ASEAN Foundation in Jakarta, Indonesia under the kind auspices of the ASEAN Secretary-General, H.E. Ong Keng Yong, and the leadership of the chief editor, Chin Saik Yoon, to prepare the present edition. The 2005/2006 edition provides updates on the 27 individual economies covered in the last edition and extends coverage to two additional economies: Iran and the Maldives. An entirely new thematic section is included which introduces a series of discussions on (1) bridging the digital divide, (2) Internet governance , (3) the social, political and cultural aspects of ICT, and (4) appropriate ICT. This edition also provides regional overviews of the Pacific island states, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). In their research and debate on how ICT for development contributes to the building of information societies in the region, the authors invite all of us, from the government, industry and civil society, to face a major challenge in terms of converging divergent interests :
While other regions of the world, such as Europe and the Americas, shift progressively towards regional integration, the Asia-Pacific region faces the threat of fragmentation. This challenge is so important that it will continue to be present in the dynamics of development well beyond the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Fragmentation may constitute a very important risk in the current globalisation process, which helps to "flatten" the world. The globalisation process involves workflow software adoption, open-sourcing, outsourcing, offshoring, supply-chaining, insourcing and other components elucidated by Thomas L. Friedman (2005) in his latest book, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. While some talk about the knowledge society or the information economy,² others, like Friedman, argue using the metaphor of the "Flat World". They posit that, while some rituals and debates are taking place at WSIS and elsewhere, globalisation forces continue to grow (bringing with them successes as well as discontent) and that some economies may face a new type of dependency within our networked society which may be manifested in very different ways from those anticipated by Kenichi Ohmae (1995). If appropriation of information and ICT were to be the building blocks of an information economy and of a knowledge society, our authors warn us of another major and urgent challenge confronting all of us:
And beyond the challenge of removing this type of stranglehold on knowledge, another issue remains regarding the urgency of including and involving all sectors of society in ICT policy dialogues: In Asia Pacific, where governments and inter-governmental organisations tend to dominate the policy-making arena, we should ensure that ICT policy dialogues include all sectors. In particular, the role of civil society, which is often the missing player in these discussions, needs to be strengthened. The Geneva summit recommended that institutional arrangements for the governance of the Internet and the drafting of ICT policy should be multilateral, transparent, democratic, and open to all stakeholders. These principles for good Internet governance should be embraced in our region. (p. 28) Should this principle of inclusion be progressively implemented in terms of an enabling environment in a region that aims to move progressively towards coherence rather than fragmentation? And should we also recognise that "the most important assets of nations are not raw materials, physical goods or economic production, but human resources keyed into the information and knowledge revolution"? Our acceptance of both would lead us to shape a participatory paradigm of communication for development that goes beyond the modernisation and dependency paradigms. The corresponding emphasis on the role of human capital in building the knowledge economy, and its central function of nurturing information societies, in turn assigns to ICT significant promise that these new technologies may help us achieve the Millennium Development Goals, which include all of the above challenges. These are only a few of the many challenges that are discussed by our panel of authors in the thematic chapters. We are most grateful to the panel of authors from 29 economies in the region for their case studies, and for their joint research and debate around the themes for this edition, and to the chief editor, for presenting the results of this research and debate. We certainly hope that readers of the Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2005/2006 will find this volume a useful guide for future research that contributes insights to help all of us to bravely encounter the Flat World.
Claude-Yves Charron
Maria Ng Lee Hoon Shahid
Akhtar Notes
References Castells, M. (1998). The Information Age I: The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford: Blackwell. Friedman, T.L. (2005). The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Ohmae, K. (1995). The End of the Nation State: The Rise of Regional Economies. New York: Free Press. Schoolnet Research (2002). Enhancing Human Capital Index: New Approaches for the Knowledge Economy. Education background paper presented at the GIIC Conference, New Delhi, 14 - 15 March, by Schoolnet India Limited, Mumbai. Available at http://www.giic.org/events/indiaconferenceConferenceBackgroundPaper.pdf. |
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2003/2004 edition 
2005/2006 edition