Goh Seow Hiong on behalf of the
Authors’ Working Group on Governance

Asia-Pacific economies share many governance issues relating to ICTs. These common issues of interest are discussed towards the end of this sidebar. We will first take a look at the unique issues. Economies with the same degree of ICT uptake generally share the same sets of unique concerns. We cluster the economies into three groups along a spectrum based on the degree of ICT penetration and development: “new”, “intermediate” and “advanced” countries.

Unique issues

Legislation and regulation

“New” countries: Their common challenge relates to incomplete or outdated legislative and regulatory frameworks. Often, new laws have not yet been put in place to deal with the changing ICT environment, and existing laws were drafted at a time when the uniqueness and challenges faced in the ICT environment today were not envisaged.

“Intermediate” countries: Some ICT legislative and regulatory frameworks are in place here. However, it is not unusual for such legislative frameworks to have historically developed within the purview of different parts of governments, independently of counterparts. Hence, the challenge that has emerged for these countries is the lack of consensus and consistency between different government agencies and policies.

“Advanced” countries: Where time has allowed for coordination and consistency to be built across different agencies, the challenge is one of taking a more philosophical perspective to the approach of regulation in considering whether the government’s intervention should be proactive or reactive in nature. In the proactive approach, legislation and regulation will preemptively establish what is permissible and what is not. In reactive regulation, the approach will be for the government not to take any steps towards enforcement or regulation until an issue or problem has arisen and state intervention is required. This latter state may be more conducive for encouraging the free flow of information and ideas.

Implementation

“New” countries: Issues and difficulties often arise in the enforcement and implementation of the laws and regulations. This may be due to a variety of reasons, including the lack of the necessary expertise and capacity within the country to effectively carry out enforcement and implementation.

“Intermediate” countries: The capability and expertise exist in these countries. The challenge shifts to one of establishing an appropriate balance and cooperation between the government and the private sector, rather than a primarily government-driven or government-initiated environment. Greater reliance on industry self-regulation will also be seen rather than government regulation and enforcement. The inclusion of industry players in a regulatory partnership, and the delegation of some regulatory functions to them, means that the industry and the information that is produced can be “lightly” regulated.

“Advanced” countries: The challenges move from looking inwards at implementation and enforcement to wider cross-border issues. For instance, if a particular website is deemed inappropriate or illegal within a jurisdiction (e.g. child pornography or promotion of criminal activities), a country’s legal framework may be able to outlaw such websites. However, the likely consequence is that the site will be moved to another country and will remain accessible over the Internet. Hence, the solution to this problem is no longer domestic but requires a coordinated international effort to ensure that such illegal material is more effectively removed. An individual country on its own cannot solve these issues, so greater international cooperation and treaties will be needed to address such concerns and challenges.

Infrastructure access

“New” countries: Many countries evolve from an environment where there is a monopolistic telecommunications infrastructure provider. The challenges faced by new players in these countries in gaining access to the digital infrastructure relate to difficulties in negotiating with monopolies and in persuading them to act in a manner that responds to the emerging needs of the marketplace. Monopolies also tend to object to the introduction of competition. Negotiating with such monopolies is difficult since there are no alternatives and monopolies prefer to put their energies into maintaining the status quo.

“Intermediate” countries: As new providers of infrastructure enter the markets, the challenges in governance relate to the appropriate level of liberalisation and deregulation that should be implemented for the market. A variety of considerations, including the size of the market, the structure of the incumbent and the readiness of the industry, etc., that must be taken into account in liberalising the market.

“Advanced” countries: Where multiple players and providers of infrastructure are in the market, the governance issues that will take prominence are related to managing competition and anti-competitive behaviour between different players, and dealing with situations where there are market failures and dominance of the incumbent operator in spite of the liberalised environment. Among other issues arising is the occasional failure of the market to meet the needs of hard-to-service consumers, such as those in remote and isolated areas. Also, poorer consumers may find themselves ignored by the providers in the market. One example is where ISPs insist on a credit card number before an account can be opened.

Level playing field

“New” countries: The environment here often involves a single entity, perhaps a state entity, playing both the role of the regulator and the provider of infrastructure services. From the industry perspective, this can lead to a situation of conflict of interest, where it is difficult for a new player to deal with the regulator as the latter also has an interest as the competitor of the new player, i.e. the incumbent. There are also instances where regulators and policy makers sit on the board of state-owned telecommunications corporations.

“Intermediate” countries: It is expected that the market forces of industry players will reduce the role of the state as an operator of infrastructure and, over time, will marginalise it. The challenge may then be how the state-owned infrastructure can be evolved to become privately owned.

“Advanced” countries: Issues of equality may emerge. The electronic and network environment poses new challenges in the form of a silent majority and a noisy minority. In such an environment, the voices of a few can dominate and make a minority perspective appear larger than it truly is. There may even be long-term implications for the concept of democracy or equal representation if the minority views continue to dominate and overshadow the majority views. At a less philosophical level, issues of equality also arise in providing a sound and level playing field for all players. The divide between the young and old, urban and rural, genders, and educational levels may become more prominent as electronic services become mainstream over traditional services, and those with difficulty accessing electronic services will become disadvantaged and potentially prejudiced. This is particularly the case where resources are progressively removed from face-to-face service networks as online services are rolled out. Commercially, there are also governance issues in balancing the bargaining powers of an incumbent versus a new player so that new players are not stifled in the market.

Common issues across economies

Convergence

There is accelerating technological convergence between IT, telecommunications, broadcasting and media and this phenomenon is taking place irrespective of the stage of ICT development in a country. As such, it is necessary to consider the issues and implications of convergence and to put in place the appropriate policy and legal frameworks to deal with the changing environment.

Expertise

The challenge of having the appropriate expertise is an age-old problem, both within government and the private sector. At each point of the spectrum, a government needs to have the right mix of skills and expertise, with the right mindset, within its ranks to be able to manage and regulate the environment effectively. The industry similarly needs skilled technical expertise to develop, grow and contribute towards the economy.

Forums

The issue of forums can be divided into two areas. Domestically or locally, the challenge is to find or establish an appropriate forum where industry and government can dialogue effectively. Such a forum allows for feedback on the issues and difficulties faced, and for the feedback to be systematically followed up and action and rectifications put in place.

Internationally, the issue is in relation to the lack of representation and participation by Asia-Pacific countries and economies at various international forums, such as ICANN, WIPO, ITU, ISO, etc. (see sidebar on “Internet politics”, p. 18).  There are unique challenges such as language, font, domain name and other standardisation efforts faced by many Asia-Pacific countries and economies, and their voices are under-represented at such international forums. It is not uncommon for decisions affecting Asia-Pacific countries and economies to be taken without seeking the input and consensus of the stakeholders.

Security

Concerns about security risks and exposures in relation to the use of electronic services rise with the growth of the electronic environment, especially if such risks are not commonly or well understood. Over time, the electronic environment is likely to control or connect the critical infrastructure of a country. Adequate measures will need to be taken to ensure that security concerns are addressed to protect the electronic environment from attacks. Mechanisms will also need to be established for reporting and resolution of security incidents.

The government as user and promoter

Many of the challenges and issues identified above deal with infrastructure and content issues, where the government has a large role to play in terms of enacting legislation and creating a framework for regulation. In contrast, the layer between infrastructure and content – relating to computers, IT applications and services – is less likely to be regulated. In this regard, the challenges may relate more to the government acting as a user of technology, rather than a regulator of it. For example, some governments are considering whether to make a policy decision to use open source technology rather than proprietary systems. Such policies, when implemented, usually require implementation in government-related agencies only, and not the private sector.

Another aspect of governance is the promotional role of the government in adopting and championing ICTs and providing services using digital means. A related governance consideration is the appropriate incentives or supportive schemes that can be instituted to help the industry develop and innovate, and that can motivate consumers to learn and adapt to technology. The industry development role of the government should not be neglected at the expense of the industry regulation role, though it need not be performed by the same agency.

Conclusion

The responses that different countries and economies have taken to deal with these challenges vary. It is worthwhile noting as a parting remark that, while the issues are presented as a spectrum above, it is not necessarily true that a country growing through the different stages of ICT development will necessarily face all the challenges depicted in the spectrum above sequentially. As each environment is unique and different, it is possible for a country or economy to “leapfrog” some issues. The intent of this discussion is to highlight the common themes of the challenges so that the policy maker and interested citizen can have a broad perspective and can assess what is most relevant and necessary to address within his or her environment.