Emerging challenges on ICT4D: the Latin America and Caribbean Perspective UNGIS meeting Geneva, - 19 October 2009 Valeria Jordan Innovation and Technology Unit ECLAC I The diffusion of ICTs in Latin America and the Caribbean Regional overview • Stagnation of fixed telephony penetration • Rapid expansion of mobile telephony (18% - 19%) – • Increase of Internet access – • • • from 23% in 2003 to 70% in 2008 from 11% in 2003 to 26% en 2008 Increase of broadband connections, but the penetration rate is still low (5%) Expansion of mobile broadband (1% of total) Insufficient increase of the international bandwidth Facing the external digital divide Variation of the gap between OECD and LAC countries 2002 -2008 The emerging challenges: - spread broadband access - increase access to terminals - improve the quality of service The real divide: the communication capacity (fixed and mobile telephony plus Internet) The access is not the only matter, so is the technology related Latin America has lagged other regions in third generation (3G) mobile adoption and broadband has been held back Mobile access A challenge solved? More than 80% of users are pre-paid, with no access to the Internet Fuente: CEPAL, Sistema de Información OSILAC, sitio oficial en línea http: www.cepal.org/SocInfo/OSILAC Internet at home: a necessary effort for the real digital inclusion Households with Internet access by country and income level (%) There is a significant gap between the highest income level and the lowest one, as a great heterogeneity among the countries in the region Source: OSILAC, CEPAL The rural / urban digital divide Households with mobile phone access (%) Households with Internet access (%) Source: CEPAL, OSILAC Information System, official web site http: www.cepal.org/SocInfo/OSILAC Data based on household surveys of the countries Most recent available year The data from Spain originates from the National Statistical Office of Spain (INE) In the case of Spain the urban category represents municipalities with more than 100.000 inhabitants and provinces’ capitals, and the rural category represents the average of the remaining municipalities Universal access through public access to ICT Internet usage by location (%) For the majority of the countries in the region, ICT public centers are the predominant way to get Internet access Source: CEPAL, OSILAC Information System, official web site http: www.cepal.org/SocInfo/OSILAC Data based on household surveys of the countries Most recent available year The data from Spain and Portugal originates from Eurostat’s web site II New developments… …emerging challenges co-existing with existing challenges Facing the market emerging challenges • Where a market exists, it is necessary: – to increase the network deployment, specially with new technologies – to foster affordable tariffs – to facilitate access to devices such as PCs  Market forces will react positively under an adequate regulatory framework – Regulatory reforms to enable digital convergence • elimination of entry barriers to facilitate the introduction of IP-based technologies (VoIp) • promoting more competition in the broadband market to lower prices • spectrum allocation • Complementary public policies can be undertaken to facilitate access to devices, but innovative business models are also needed (prepaid, include equipment as a Facing the emerging challenges for digital inclusion • Where there is not a market (non-profitable and rural areas) the challenge is to promote universal access to broadband Legal and institutional reforms that enable the use of existing universal access funds (12% has been used) Innovative PPP are needed • Rethink the mechanism of universal access – Deployment of infrastructure by the State – Special incentives to the operators – Network-sharing mechanisms to foster competition among services Facing the emerging challenges for digital inclusion • Continuing to support Internet public access, especially to broadband, but within an integral perspective that creates demand • Information Society national strategies to: – increase digital literacy and awareness of ICTs Public need to understand what they can with the Internet – add value to networks by developing content in local languages and useful applications for people, such as e-education, e-health, e-gov, etc – involve policy-makers from other sectors and increase their awareness of ICT uses and potential, in order to contribute to ICT4D through public to public partnerships – requires a multi-stakeholder approach, involving the community, public and private sector, donors, etc Reflections  There is not a unique solution, it depends on the characteristics of each country in terms of development degree, infrastructure, literacy, etc and priorities  In a region with such a scarcity of resources and multiple needs, it is not possible for a single actor to resolve all the issues An approach involving multistakeholder partnerships is essential in order to move forward  Finally, national coordination and intraregional cooperation are the efficient ways to work towards achieving common goals eLAC2010 Regional Action Plan for the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean • • Regionally concerted strategy that conceives ICTs as instruments for economic development and social inclusion Based in short-term action plans with quantitative and qualitative goals • • eLAC2007: 30 goals and 70 activities (2005-2007) eLAC2010: 83 goals (2008-2010) Functional structure of eLAC2010 Observers Private Sector Civil Society The priorities of eLAC2010 e-Education Access and infrastructure e-Health Public management and e-gov Access Skills Production sector and e-business Policy instruments and strategies Content & applications Thanks for your attention Innovation and ICT Unit Division of Production, Productivity and Management (DPPM) Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) http://www.cepal.org/socinfo/ [...]... Regionally concerted strategy that conceives ICTs as instruments for economic development and social inclusion Based in short-term action plans with quantitative and qualitative goals • • eLAC20 07: 30 goals and 70 activities (20 05 -20 07) eLAC2010: 83 goals (20 08 -20 10) Functional structure of eLAC2010 Observers Private Sector Civil Society The priorities of eLAC2010 1 e-Education 2 Access and infrastructure 3... universal access to broadband Legal and institutional reforms that enable the use of existing universal access funds ( 12% has been used) Innovative PPP are needed • Rethink the mechanism of universal access – Deployment of infrastructure by the State – Special incentives to the operators – Network-sharing mechanisms to foster competition among services Facing the emerging challenges for digital inclusion... priorities  In a region with such a scarcity of resources and multiple needs, it is not possible for a single actor to resolve all the issues An approach involving multistakeholder partnerships is essential in order to move forward  Finally, national coordination and intraregional cooperation are the efficient ways to work towards achieving common goals eLAC2010 Regional Action Plan for the Information Society... challenges • Where a market exists, it is necessary: – to increase the network deployment, specially with new technologies – to foster affordable tariffs – to facilitate access to devices such as PCs  Market forces will react positively under an adequate regulatory framework – Regulatory reforms to enable digital convergence • elimination of entry barriers to facilitate the introduction of IP-based technologies... policy-makers from other sectors and increase their awareness of ICT uses and potential, in order to contribute to ICT4D through public to public partnerships – requires a multi-stakeholder approach, involving the community, public and private sector, donors, etc Reflections  There is not a unique solution, it depends on the characteristics of each country in terms of development degree, infrastructure,... Continuing to support Internet public access, especially to broadband, but within an integral perspective that creates demand • Information Society national strategies to: – increase digital literacy and awareness of ICTs Public need to understand what they can do with the Internet – add value to networks by developing content in local languages and useful applications for people, such as e-education,... technologies (VoIp) • promoting more competition in the broadband market to lower prices • spectrum allocation • Complementary public policies can be undertaken to facilitate access to devices, but innovative business models are also needed (prepaid, include equipment as a Facing the emerging challenges for digital inclusion • Where there is not a market (non-profitable and rural areas) the challenge is to... infrastructure 3 e-Health 4 Public management and e-gov Access Skills 5 Production sector and e-business 6 Policy instruments and strategies Content & applications Thanks for your attention Innovation and ICT Unit Division of Production, Productivity and Management (DPPM) Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) http://www.cepal.org/socinfo/ ... and social inclusion Based in short-term action plans with quantitative and qualitative goals • • eLAC20 07: 30 goals and 70 activities (20 05 -20 07) eLAC2010: 83 goals (20 08 -20 10) Functional structure... Households with mobile phone access (%) Households with Internet access (%) Source: CEPAL, OSILAC Information System, official web site http: www.cepal.org/SocInfo/OSILAC Data based on household surveys... eLAC2010 Observers Private Sector Civil Society The priorities of eLAC2010 e-Education Access and infrastructure e-Health Public management and e-gov Access Skills Production sector and e-business