Thursday, October 19, 2006
(Summary of Chapter 11 - National IT Strategy for Knowledge Based Development)
(Summary of Chapter 11 - National IT Strategy for Knowledge Based Development)
Maureen A.I. Okafor (PGDIM/53705/2005-06)
Gladys Inemesit Gbema (PGDIM/EDUC/52255/2005-06
Introduction:
Maureen A.I. Okafor (PGDIM/53705/2005-06)
Gladys Inemesit Gbema (PGDIM/EDUC/52255/2005-06
Introduction:
ICT revolution is a challenge to the government of various countries of the world, politicians and business sector, thus the leading national and international organizations are reshaping themselves to increase their responsiveness in the face of market changes.
This chapter discussed the strategies and policies adopted for the implementation of ICTs and information infrastructure in the developing countries so as to bridge the gap between industrialized countries and the developing countries of the world. An international consensus emerged on the urgent need for developing countries to prepare national ICT strategies to provide a framework to govern the allocation of resources among different groups of users and sectors. However, some countries strategies and policies were mentioned they include Bermuda, Singapore, Malta Thailand Malaysia and Jamaica. In Malaysia for instance an ICT policy was introduced and the planning is the responsibility of numerous committees, and the countries strategic approach includes the establishment of National IT Council (NITC) which provides consultative assistance and also ensures that the social implications of ICT are considered along with the need to develop human and technical capabilities. The strategy is linked to Vision 2020 development policy which emphasis that the ultimate purpose of development should be for human development.
A call by the Information Society and Development (ISAD) conference held in South Africa in 1996 called for coordinated action by the G-7 countries and the developing countries to promote the use of ICTs to meet people’s basic needs, for all sectors of the society, innovation, human resource development, support for business particularly small and medium size, support for good governance, promotion of cultural heritage, infrastructural development using appropriate technology, linked with universal goals and for special assistance for countries with special circumstances.
This chapter offers some guide to the response on the new consensus on the importance of global information infrastructure and the emerging national information infrastructures in developing countries. Attention was drawn on some of the strategies that are already in place, steps necessary in mobilizing resources to develop the national information infrastructure. In addition it offers guidelines for policy makers and stakeholders in the business community to assist in devising ICT strategies that will be effective and responsive to development priorities.
In line with the above, the guideline for designing and implementing national ICT strategies are enumerated below:
v There are risks that may be encountered as a result of the ICT such as loss of jobs, effect on cultural and so on. In order to avoid some of these risks necessitated by the emergence of ICT, the strategies need to create relationship between technological and human resources which will be devoted to producing, maintaining and using ICTs applications.
v National ICT strategies should encourage government and civil society to complement one another by using ICT to enhance skills, formal education and informal learning processes. This is necessary because of the constant changes in ICT, new applications are being created daily and this result in continuous change in skills requirement.
v Before the advent of ICT the organizations approach to work is mainly manual, but with the advent of ICT new forms of organization is required with informed managers to act as intermediaries to integrate, coordinate and disseminate information drawn from scientific and technical research and the practical experience about the production and use of ICTs.
v Again the design of infrastructure should encourage ICT development that will be responsive to the needs of all section of the population because of the risks of social exclusion if business and citizens do not have access to adequate national information infrastructure.
v It is necessary that any existing ICT strategy addresses the issue of finance. Operational guidelines on how to raise and combine fund from the domestic, regional and international community because the market mechanism alone are unlikely to be sufficient to generate adequate fund.
v In order to develop a national information infrastructure, developing countries should mobilize and pool large amounts of investment and expertise. This can be done by creating a market friendly environment. Without this it will be difficult to mobilize substantial fund.
v Existing governance process should be reviewed and adjusted in line with the initiatives in industrialized and newly industrializing countries. Developing countries should seek to complement the market mechanism by decentralizing decision making structures with institutional frame works that encourage participatory planning procedures.
ICT offers huge potential for creating economic and social benefits for all citizens. The chapter suggested that and ICT policy should partly cover the following:
Ø Technology policy which stimulates the development of new technologies
Ø Industrial policy involves the shaping of industrial structures stimulating structural changes and supporting competitiveness.
Ø Media policy defines the framework for provision of electronic media content and the
Ø Telecommunication Policy which creates and shapes the transmission infrastructure.
The key to rapid ICT development and the national information infrastructure is a market friendly environment; given the existence of market failure a national strategy that complements the market mechanism is required. To achieve development, it has to be planned and developed and an integral part of each county’s overall development strategy.
It has to be treated as a profit sector. The national strength and weakness in production and maintenance should be defined so that this development will not be over import dependant development. ICT applications are important tools to increase the productivity of firms and of organizations profitability. Profitability should be balanced against social welfare considerations to avoid the development of two tier knowledge societies.
This chapter also stresses on the need for economies of scale and cooperation – this is a situation where designs are integrated with regional, continental or international network which may result in cost effective solution. Economies of harmonization which encourages competition and stimulate market growth and investment costs of installation of networks may be shared by different user group and savings can be achieved by permitting the interconnection of private and public networks such as the use of tele kiosk, access points and so on are examples of ways in which economies of joint use can be exploited at a reasonable cost.
In conclusion, the advent of ICT has improved the lot of man and man’s effort. It has enhanced productivity and governance and improved human resources.
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