Bdt: Templates

4 Conclusions

The evolution of Internet applications for development has been diverse and dynamic over the few years that the Internet has been available in most developing countries. Progress has been pronounced in Latin America, in East and Southeast Asia, in Africa with substantial levels of international support, and in numerous other countries of developing regions and sub-regions. As shown in this study, these applications benefit considerably from partnerships, not only with public agencies but also with non-governmental organizations, the international community and increasingly the private sector. Nevertheless, the applications which have been identified are often in the pilot or planning stage, and generally lag behind those of the industrialized countries in sophistication and interactivity. On the other hand, many of these applications have shown that major enabling impact of the Internet can be obtained with relatively simple tools like e-mail or basic WWW sites.

While it is difficult to precisely define “local content" or to measure the impact of public service Internet applications, it is clear that the adaptation of content and applications to respond to local needs by local institutions is a critical criterion in successfully applying the Internet in development.

However, public service institutions in developing countries – such as universities, research centres, libraries, museums, NGOs, local communities and government agencies – which are by their very nature essential actors in innovation and capacity building for the information society, are facing considerable difficulties in participating in the information revolution because of economic and regulatory obstacles, particularly where the Internet has been developed solely on a commercial basis. As opposed to the situation in the industrialized countries where the original “raison d’être” for the Internet was service to and by the academic and research communities in the public interest, regulatory practice and economic reality in many developing countries do not encourage the development of public service, not-for-profit application of the Internet which would empower and enable national development programmes as well as excluded and disadvantaged populations.

4.1 Economic obstacles

The greatest problem encountered by potential public service application developers and users in developing countries is limited availability and high costs of access to the Internet, particularly in smaller, disadvantaged and rural communities. With the exception of relatively few major institutions in developing countries, such as research centres, universities and libraries, the immediate public service need is not broadband access, nor improved reliability and security, nor other advanced technical features. It is rather universal access to basic Internet services which is the first step in narrowing the digital divide.

The problem of access costs is in large part determined by the underlying telecommunication tariffs and Internet connection charges which remain high in developing countries where Internet use is still often considered in terms of simple channel occupancy rather than as a competitive market segment, or where the Internet is seen as an elite service rather than for its vast market enabling potential. Another specific problem is that, despite the adoption by the recent World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly of a Recommendation setting out the principle of bilateral agreements between ISPs on international circuit cost sharing,³⁵⁰ ISPs in developing countries are typically obliged to pay the full cost of a leased

circuit to achieve international connectivity. In order to achieve the expected impact of the Internet on development, public authorities, users, telecommunication operators and Internet service providers should work together in their common interest to reduce costs and increase availability of the Internet, particularly for major development actors and users in rural and disadvantaged areas, as foreseen in the 1995 ITU-UNESCO study on The Right to Communicate – At What Price?..³⁵¹ In this striving for universal access it is essential that the Internet be recognized as an integral part of society’s public service infrastructure and as a basic information utility.

There are many other economic obstacles to Internet development and access to be considered by public authorities and other development actors. Even where facilities for access and content creation are widely available, the more disadvantaged potential users often cannot benefit because they lack the money to pay for an Internet subscription, buy a computer, and obtain needed training, or, even if a public Internet facility is available, they may lack the time to access it. Financial incentives such as exemptions on tax or customs duty for informatics and network equipment represent one possible useful approach in this context.

4.2 Creation of and access to content and applications

In many developing countries, and particularly the least developed which have the most to gain from local content and user empowerment, efforts to develop local content have been accorded secondary priority relative to telecommunication infrastructure and ICT industry development. It is essential that local content and ICT empowerment extend to all populations and encompass all language and cultural specificities, as one of the most important principles in the development of an equitable information society.

Public domain information is critical for research, education, innovation, social and economic inclusion, national development and the fostering of cultural diversity, and is an essential foundation for an informed, participatory and global information society. Public authorities at all levels are currently the most significant source of public sector information and have a responsibility to citizens to:

 identify and preserve existing resources of public domain information;

 expand the proportion and improve the quality of knowledge resources that are available to the public, notably by encouraging their digitization;

 promote equitable access to this information, notably through the Internet and the development of information networks and services.

The foundations and goals of intellectual property rights are, on one hand, to encourage creation by granting exclusive rights to the creator for a limited period of time and, on the other, to support and regulate the spread of cultural goods, knowledge and ideas. Present developments in intellectual property, especially in the field of copyright and neighbouring rights, could threaten this balance, while new technologies represent a threat for the normal exploitation of copyright-protected works. The balance between the legitimate interests of the right holders and the equally legitimate interests of users to have access to information and culture, and notably the established copyright exemptions for “fair use", must be reasserted in the digital environment.