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ICT Access for All -- A Challenge for the Commonwealth

15 September 2005

 CTO
Governments need to adopt policies that allow for wider access to basic ICT services.
The challenge of access to information and communication technology (ICT) for the user and industry is recurrent and multi-dimensional, including the areas of governance and the digital divide, said Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO).

He made this point at the CTO Forum in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on 5 September 2005, titled 'ICT Business and Development: The Challenge of Access'.

Dr Spio-Garbrah said the contrast between the information-rich and the information-poor becomes more severe as countries become more technology-affluent in the face of globalisation.

"One must realise that individuals, businesses and communities who cannot use ICTs in their daily business in a context of global deregulation are not just left to a standstill: because of their inability to advance or compete with the rest of the world, they are inevitably pushed towards a state of dependence," he stated.

Dr Spio-Garbrah highlighted three challenges for ICT development in the areas of policy, legislation and operations. He stressed the need for governments to adopt policies that allow for wider access to basic ICT services.

"Translating policy frameworks into fair and enforceable rules and regulations that deliver on the promises of policy-making institutions by ensuring investor confidence, inter-operability and consumer interests, while at the same time responding effectively to previously unknown technological advancements, is another challenge."

The third challenge, he said, is to develop and expand profitable markets while attempting to ensure seamless access in an industry that "increasingly finds its incentives in cost reduction rather than in increased average revenue per user."

 

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 252, 14 September 2005

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