IT policies and E-development in Lao PDR

Transcription

1 Seminar on Information Technology management Under common program of CLMV initiatives and JICA-ASEAN October 8-10, 2002, Vientiane, Lao PDR IT policies and E-development in Lao PDR Phonpasit PHISSAMAY Director of Information Technology Center Science Technology and Environment Agency Prime Minister s Office Telecommunication development. Lao PDR has made a number of changes to the structure of its telecommunication sector over the last decade. This includes introducing private investment through a joint venture (1994) as well as separating posts from telecommunications (1995). A new telecommunication law was passed in 2001 and will soon be implemented. At least in theory, the sector has been open to competition since the beginning of November The nation faces immense technical and commercial challenges in expanding telecommunications. Most of the population resides in rural areas, transport and electrical infrastructure are scarce and incomes are low. The traditional money earner for the industry, international telephone calls, is under mounting pressure globally and local tariffs have not kept up with the recent pace of inflation and currency devaluation. Universal telephone service where almost every family has a telephone is still a long way off for Lao PDR. It is estimated that fewer than four per cent of Laotian households currently have a telephone. Less than half of Lao PDR districts (58 out of 142) have fixed telephone services and only urban areas in half of the provinces are covered by a mobile cellular signal. There is no specific plan for developing universal access to telecommunications. The Ministry of Communication Transport Post and Construction has set a target of teledensity of three by 2005, but again there is no clear mechanism of how this will be reached. It is interesting to note that according to official reports over 8,897 people in Vientiane only were on the waiting list for a fixed telephone line at the end of The connection charge for the fixed telephone network is just Kip 400,000 (US$40). This amount is equivalent to roughly 13 per cent of household yearly consumption expenditure. Though this seems large, it is a one-time investment to get connected to the network and is far below the actual cost of providing service. After that, monthly expenditures for phone service seem manageable for wealthier households. For example the monthly telephone fee plus 100 minutes of local telephone calls (Kip 15, ,500 = 19,500) is equal to 10.3 per cent of average monthly household consumption.

2 An AMPS analogue cellular network was launched in 1993 serving Vientiane and a year later a GSM 900 network was introduced (December 1994). The AMPS network has since been shut down. The GSM network is now available in nine of the country s eighteen provinces. As coverage is usually available only in the largest town of the province and does not fully extend down the nation s main highway, it is estimated that less than ten per cent of the population is covered by a mobile signal. Despite eight years of mobile cellular implementation, Lao PDR has not yet experienced a wireless boom to the same extent as other developing nations. At September 2001, mobile subscribers accounted for one third of the total telephone subscribers in Lao PDR and mobile density was a mere 0.25 per cent. There are several possible explanations. Lao PDR was the last country in the region to introduce competition in the mobile sector. It also only recently launched prepaid service in Some argue that the country s economic and geographic situation work against wide mobile penetration. Incomes are low, the vast majority of inhabitants are rural and much of the terrain is mountainous. The number of subscribers grew by 75 per cent between January and September 2001; significantly above the annual average growth of 44 per cent a year between One factor has been the start of the M-Phone prepaid service. Launched in 2000, there were 5,402 prepaid subscribers at September 2001, accounting for 21 per cent of all mobile cellular subscribers. Internet development. Lao PDR has been one of the last countries in the Asian region to establish full Internet connectivity. While Internet usage in the region has mushroomed over the past few years, Lao PDR has largely remained disconnected from transnational world of cyberspace. In Lao PDR, the lack of connectivity has, however, become an obstacle to the country s development, and over the years measures have been taken toward establishing full Internet connectivity among selected users. A variety of internal and external players have been involved in this process The Internet Administration The Lao National Internet Committee (LANIC) was formed in the year 2000 under the decree of the Prime Minister. LANIC was given jurisdiction over matters regarding national Internet policies. The following is a list outlining some of LANIC goals: Set up a one-gateway system for the Lao PDR Increase efficiency of information exchange both inside and outside the country, which will contribute to the dissemination of the government s social and economic policies. Increasing the efficiency of Internet regulation with an emphasis on security and restriction of information that may damage Lao culture, society and economic. Develop and expand a government intranet system for ministries, provinces, and the public within the Lao PDR. Generate revenue for the government budget

3 Encourage and support expansion of information service business. The market today The Lao National Internet Committee has just certified three official ISP licenses to LaoTel, LaneXang Internet and Campalao Internet companies. It is also discussion on extending the right of ISPs licenses for GlobeNet and PlaNet, which has obtained the service licenses from former committee, if those two companies will follow the new regulations issued by LANIC. At September 2001, they had around 2,900 subscribers with LaoTel controlling around three quarters of the market. It doesn t mean that LaoTel have a better service or cheaper prices, but it s because other ISPs have a limited telephone line, which also limited them to increase the number of users. Based on a multiplier of the number of subscribers, it is estimated that there were around 9,000 users in the country in September This results in a ratio of 1.63 Internet users for every 1,000 inhabitants of Lao PDR. Put in another way, the number of Internet users has increased from one per 10,326 inhabitants in 1998 to one in 615 by September Approximately 60 Internet cafés operate in Vientiane. The combined computers available at cafés in Lao PDR are estimated by an operator of a chain of five Internet cafés as being about 480 terminals nationwide. Considering the amount of use each Internet café terminal receives, Internet cafés arguably provide more hours on the Internet than any other form of Internet access in Lao PDR. If compared with the previous year, the Internet Users has grown by up to 50% How much does it cost. The ISPs and Internet Café were individually setting the prices based on Location, users demand and market competition, however most of them are targeting foreigners and big companies, which are limited to Laotian who are not using the Internet for commercial purpose. Dial-up Internet access tariffs are priced in United States dollars. Telephone usage charges also apply; they are 45 Kip per minute (34 US cents per hour). Unlimited dial-up packages are not currently available nor are pre-paid cards. Dial-up Internet pricing is relatively expensive for the South East Asia region. Internet cafés in Lao were charging between Kip per minute (US$ 0.55 US$1.51 per hour) for Internet access in November GlobeNet charges US$200 per month for its wireless solution. The advantage is that the service charges a flat fee so heavy users do not have to pay local telephone charges. A typical installation costs around US$2,500. Compared with the previous year, prices have come down by 50 to 75%. The Internet Users Government as a user covers the ways in which the administration uses ICT technologies internally to increase its efficiency. The Lao government does not extensively use the Internet or ICT in general. Although most ministries have some kind of computer network, they are very basic, allowing them to share printers and files. Not all ministries have Internet access and for those who have, the access is also limited to a few Internet accounts. The average number of PCs with Internet access in each ministry is about 10 to 15 PCs, limiting access to the top administration. Consequently, only few government employees have their own account at work. Although most ministries are planning to set up their own web site, so far only three ministries are currently online ( The Foreign Investment Management Committee, with assistance of the World Bank, has an

4 investment portal, which provides information for investors and online investment applications ( IT applications. Computer Estimates from the Science Technology and Environment Agency, suggests that there are about 10,000 computers in Lao PDR and growing at about 400 per month currently. Even if the current annual growth rate decline steadily, perhaps due to some saturation of the market, from about 40 % per annum at present to about 10 % by 2005, there would still be about 50,000 computers in Lao PDR by These are mainly owned and being purchased by Government Ministries and Agencies, UN and other NGO's and other Aid Agencies. Very few Lao non- Government commercial entities (i.e. local businesses) currently own or are purchasing computers. Most of these computers are presently located in Vientiane, but an increasing number are being purchased for use in provincial centers where they are being used for word processing, but also for the compilation of statistical information in a format compatible with requirements in the Vientiane Head Offices of the various Ministries. Most of the PCs used are unbranded; as the equipment cost is cheaper and spare parts are easier to find in the Local market. Networks Currently, in a number of Ministries, information is being collected in the Provinces and being sent to Vientiane on computer floppy discs. However, there are moves to establish LANs in various Ministries in Vientiane and, ultimately, to use common databases. A variety of LAN software is being used. In many Head Offices of Ministries in Vientiane there is a lack of common purpose between different Departments in establishing such LANs and sharing common databases. This is inhibiting the beneficial use of such networks. However, the power and usefulness of computers, their ability to interact over local and wider ranging networks and the benefits, which follow, is being recognized in a number of areas. Plans are being formulated in a number of Departments of Ministries, to extend data networks into the Provincial centers to gather and exchange information. This was observed in the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Commerce. At this stage, the objectives are limited to the collection of statistical information on a more regular and timely basis. Unfortunately, there appears to be a tendency for individual departments within the same Ministry to plan, individually, their own regional networks, thus failing to capitalize on the economies of scale possible for Ministry networks or large public service network. This suggests that the scarce skilled resources that are in the country should be grouped into units of sufficient size to form a critical mass of expertise to undertake these projects. Intranet. With the framework of establishing the National Internet Gateway, LANIC also created the government intranet system. So far 12 government offices have been connected to each other

5 through the National Internet Gateway in the 2 Mbps wireless link. However, no concrete applications for such an Intranet system have been defined. IT industry. The IT industry in the Lao PDR was established very early with some companies dating back to the 1980s. However, due to the small population of computer users, the IT industry has not developed much since then. In the early stages, the Lao IT industry was limited to small computer stores. These computer stores were generally willing to accept any IT related projects, including software development and computer related training. It was not unusual for company to sub-contract parts of its projects to its competitors to fulfill requirements that it could not meet by itself The current IT industry in Lao PDR can be divided into four sectoral categories: Computer retailers: Computer retailing and servicing; LAN design, installation and maintenance; software development; training; consultancy. (Estimate about 20 companies) Internet Service: Provided Internet Access (ISP and Internet Cafe, Design and host web sites). (Estimate about 5 ISPs and 60 Internet Café) Education: IT related training (Estimate about 6 companies) Wireless Network Solutions: Design, Install and maintain wireless LANs and WANs (estimate about 3 companies) No specialization in one particular sector of this market is usually profitable. This is particularly true for computer retailers. All computer-retailing companies in the Lao PDR are highly diversified. Besides computer retailing and service, their activities usually include software development, consultancy, training, LAN design and installation. The Lao IT market is very small and, therefore, most computer service companies are located in the capital city, and only a few smaller companies are serving the provinces (Estimate the average number is 3 companies in each province). Most of the big computer companies have a foreign share from 50% up to 100%. Some of them also have a distributor license or dealership with Global companies. Since this sort of arrangement is restrictive, most of the companies tend to operate independently from major suppliers. Instead, companies import specific hardware and brand names based on customer s request. Low-cost computers are usually imported by retailers from Thailand or assembled locally from imported parts. Larger retailers import brand name equipment mostly from Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. There is a 5% tariff on all imported hardware. There is also a 10% turnover tax applicable to all computer retailers. These two taxes are passed on directly to customers, along with an additional 20%-50% mark-up profits. Most retailers (mainly the big companies) rely heavily on sales to international organizations, projects and the government; these sales, on average, account for 85% of all their

6 computer sales. Private businesses are the next largest customers, accounting for 13% of total sales. Sales for personal computing only accounts for 2% of total sales. Small shops usually target the low-end computer market, providing cheap computers to customers with tight budgets. IT education. The percentage of expenditure on tertiary education as a percentage of all levels, in Lao PDR is the lowest of all ASEAN countries, at 7.4%. In Singapore, the most developed ASEAN country, this figure is at 34.8%. The education system is comprised of General Education, Technical/Vocational Training (including teacher training), and Tertiary Education. Likewise, the education system of Lao PDR can be conceptualized as three interrelated systems, through which both children and adults acquire knowledge and skills. The three systems are formal education, non-formal education, and informal education. Each of these systems has differing but overlapping goals, organization, curriculum, and pedagogy. IT or computer science related education is only available at the tertiary level. The following is a list of some institutions and centers that provide the computer subject: Information Technology Center of STEA National University of Lao PDR Training Center for engineer. Lao Japan Technical Training Center. Center for Skill development: Lao Germen Technical Training Center: PAKPASAK Technical Training Center: Vocational education training center Agriculture training center The private training school. The demand for IT related training is growing rapidly in the Lao PDR. This is reflected by the shortage of IT skilled workers in the workforce. Since the public system lacks the capacity to meet growing demand, the private sector plays a vital role in providing IT training for the general public.

7 Companies currently providing IT related training courses fit fewer than two main categories: 1. Business Administration schools provide IT related training as a part of their general business administration courses. The aim of the IT training course is to prepare student for modern office environment. 2. Computer retailers provide specialized and general short term IT training on popular software application. IT Policies and strategies A major development has taken place among advanced countries with the creation of the Internet and the Information Super Highway. These facilities make it possible for those with access, to readily obtain up-to-date knowledge of the most recent developments in many fields. Developing Countries with both the policies and facilities, which provide access, enjoy the benefits, which such information provides. Lao is a country beginning to transform itself into a modern economy. It intends to do this by marshalling its natural resources, both human and material. Because it currently it does not have all the knowledge and expertise within the country to maximize its development process, it must gain access to this information from external sources, to allow it to accomplish its development objectives. Much of the information it needs is available outside the country in electronic form on the Internet at costs, which are far less than the benefits this knowledge can deliver. Hence, it is essential to develop the skills to exploit such a facility and find the funds to acquire the necessary infrastructure. In order to promote ICT utilization and development in Lao PDR, the Politburo of Party Central Committee has adviced the following: Expectations: Utilization of ICT should be expanded to all areas to become one of the priority factors for social-economy development and national security matter. The National Telecommunication Network should be extended throughout the country, with the capacity and capability to carry more data at higher speed, better quality and cheaper prices in order to increase the number of Internet users to many times more than the current number. The Nation's economic capability should be further exploited by encouraging the implementation of new economic strategies in order to accelerate the modernization of Lao economy, increasing the opportunity for competition among enterprises as well as to assist cooperation with overseas partners. The living standard of Lao population should be improved as this is an important factor for elevating the country to the industrial and modernize era. National security as well as national culture should be preserved.

8 The following directives must be included in the policy : The increased utilization of ICT is a priority in the national strategy for socialeconomic development. ICT is also the basic tool to accelerate the development and expansion of the industry and to reduce the gap with other developed countries. All key sectors such as economy, culture, social, defense and national security have to use the ICT. To create conditions that will encourage the increased utilization of Information Technology and its deployment in the national telecommunication network (which will be the infrastructure for social-economy development) and to ensure that the network has high speed, good quality and cheaper prices. To create and increase the human resources on ICT fields as this is necessary for improving ITC utilization and development in the country. However there is no clear mechanism and concrete plan as to how this can be achieved. The organization structure for responsibility of ICT in Lao PDR is still not clear. There is still no national ICT committee, board or single organization that is responsible for ICT matter. Currently Science Technology and Environment Agency (STEA) is the most relevant agency handling national ICT matters. STEA is the body for national IT policy and planning and the primary agency for the research and development of science and technology matters. STEA has a key role at the national level in the planning and co-ordination of development activities involving ICT. The following is STEA s vision for ICT development in Lao PDR: General Target Building a network system of computers and media linked together in the networks with sufficiently strong software and information systems and database with a capacity to serve the state management activities and crucial activities of the economy. Some domestic information systems are linked with international information networks. Extensively developing the application of IT to contribute to the improvement of productivity, quality and efficiency of manufacturing and business activities, modernizing gradually the important industries of manufacturing, service, defense and security. Increasing the application of IT in the activities of basic investigation, exploration and survey of national resources and environment, scientific research and other activities. Disseminating Information Culture in the society to create an environment to facilitate the formation of an Information society Building basics for an IT industry, with the ability to create valuable products and services of information, giving priority to developing software industry, at the same time to make best use of capabilities to transfer technology to appropriately develop the basic infrastructure of modern information supplies and equipment production.

9 Key sectors: Education and Training: There is an urgent need to provide full time training to create a team of experts specializing in IT fields, general education on IT in secondary school, dissemination of knowledge on IT society as well as increasing the application of IT in the education and training branch itself. The number of staff estimated for demands up to the year 2005 will be not less than 1,300 experts, of which more than one half are programmers, about ¼ are analyzers of system. Research and development of IT: Research and development of IT in the coming years will focus on applied research on the basis of constant improvement of qualification, approaching and applying successfully the state-of-art ideas, methodology and achievements on IT in the world. Our institutions of research and development shall be given favorable conditions to be frequently updated with modern knowledge in preparation for technology transfer. The latest achievements of IT in the World shall be disseminated in an active and creative manner, so that these institutions can contribute to the improvement of quality and efficiency of the application of IT in Lao PDR. The activities of basic research will be further encouraged in some directions where we have enough capacity and conditions. Thereby to set forth measures to re-orientate and increase the research staff, material and technical fundamentals for research and development activities. Development of IT industry: In Lao PDR, the foundation for an IT industry has yet to be established. Therefore, the development of the IT industry should be implemented actively, but this requires careful analysis and consideration to avoid possible risks and wastage. Data communication: The national IT programs will focus on rapid application of IT in the state management systems and modernization of information structure of the country in general. This requires the building and development of many projects of nation-wide scale, which have large potentials for data communication. On the basis of current situation, the IT program shall give priority to meet the demands on data communication for initial stage in these fields: State management: The demands on data communication in public agencies at central level and linked to the local authorities, particularly of primary importance are Electronic mail services, collecting and reporting statistic information etc (Egovernment) Financial and commercial sector: Automated data communication assisted financial transaction, banking payment services, information exchange in business and trade activities, etc.. Sector education, research and development: To assist information exchange, information retrieval and updating in the extensive activities of training, scientific and engineering staffs The demands on data communication are also rapidly increasing when Lao and its economy merge more deeply and largely into the ASEAN and International community. Conclusion

10 The application of IT in Lao PDR is at the infant stage as compared to other countries in the region. Compared to the whole population of Lao PDR, the percentages of those who are currently utilising computers are still below 1%. In general, it could be said that this might be due to the spending power of the population. But when compared with the buying patterns for other items such as Motor Vehicles, Motor Cycles, Television etc. the purchasing patterns of PCs are not only monetary based but other factors such as lack of awareness, lack of knowledge and lack of skills also contributes to the low percentage of computer usage in Lao PDR. Thus the key issue here is the awareness and the importance of education for IT Application in Lao PDR At present, the growth pattern of computer usage in Lao PDR is considered to be at a slow pace in relation to population growth trends and economic developments. The usage is also sporadic and not through any guided direction or campaigns. In today's trend of rapid technological advancement worldwide, IT Applications have become an essential aspect for everyday life. Therefore, it is important to educate the people on the awareness of such importance and equip them with the necessary skills together with the guided directions set for IT, which could be communicated through campaigns. ICT represents an important tool in fighting existing knowledge gaps. Currently the educational infrastructure in Lao PDR is inadequate, especially with regard to written material in the Lao language. A considerable amount of existing information is out-of-date, especially that which deals with modern science and technology. Because of this situation, Lao PDR is slipping behind in gaining current information. This situation must be addressed urgently. The Lao PDR has good electronic connections through its international telecommunications network, with the rest of the world. Its national telecommunications network is developing and is able to provide good telecommunications between many, and soon, all provincial Centers. On these networks, Informatics facilities can be installed. Hence the level of 'electronic connectedness is developed to a fair degree at present and progressively getting to a stage where it should be able to meet actual demand by 2005, providing adequate levels of investment are maintained for the near future. A number of institutions have installed Informatics networks in their Vientiane offices and are considering establishing computer networks to interchange information between their Vientiane Head offices and their branch offices in the provinces. These are seen as a requirement for the effective delivery of effective government, banking and NGO services outside of Vientiane. A growing awareness exists of the benefits of gaining access to timely information, especially that which can be accessed through computer networks within the country, and to an increasing extent, outside the Lao PDR. There is no central entity charged with the responsibility for addressing the problem of developing the best solution for the public service as a whole. Nor is there an appreciation of how Intranets could benefit the working efficiency of Ministries and how these may be inter-connected. The following is a list of inhibitors for IT development in Lao PDR 1. Lack of Coordination: Many areas of overlap and redundancies in current activities regarding IT development. Systematic coordination must be in place to manage resources, to minimize inefficiencies, and to maximize development output and benefits.

11 2. Lack of Standards: There are virtually no IT standards. Both private and public sectors use several conventions to integrate IT into their current organization structure (Character sets & software and Hardware for LAN, WAN and Intranet) 3. Lack of IT knowledge Capacity: The government has a lack of expertise in areas relating to formulation, implementation, maintenance of National IT strategies and policies. The educational institutions have a lack of resources and knowledge base for the integration and promotion of IT. 4. Infrastructure: The current telecommunication infrastructure does not support technologies for high-speed information access. The poor power supply, which suffers from frequent failures, unstable voltage and frequency 5. The low level of purchasing power for computers by both private and public in general. Localization issues (Software in Lao platform, Content & book in Lao language ) Further Developments A major development has taken place among advanced countries with the creation of the Internet and the Information Super Highway. These facilities make it possible for those with access, to readily obtain up-to-date knowledge of the most recent developments in many fields. Developing Countries with both the policies and facilities, which provide access, enjoy the benefits, which such information provides. Lao is a country beginning to transform itself into a modern economy. It intends to do this by marshalling its natural resources, both human and material. Because it currently do not have the knowledge and expertise within the country to maximize its development process, it must gain access to this information from external sources, to allow it to accomplish its development objectives. Much of the information it needs is available outside the country in electronic form on the Internet at costs, which are far less than the benefits this knowledge can deliver. Hence, it is essential to develop the skills to exploit such facilities and find the funds to acquire the necessary infrastructure. An Informatics Policy cannot be implemented without a critical mass of skilled technical personnel who can plan, design, install, and operate such technology. In addition skilled resources are needed to compile the information for publication on the Internet. 1. The urgent and greatest need in the country is for skilled professional and technical informatics experts to plan, design, install and maintain information facilities. 2. National IT policy and Master plan must be developed. 3. Create the environment for coordination among specialists, teachers and researchers (Society, Association, Etc)

12 4. Strengthening the promotion of IT education and Localization (timely updating the curriculum and more producing the technical book in Lao language 5. Strengthening the Internet penetration and E-business opportunity 6. Create the Government Intranet and E-society. 7. Strengthening the creation of National standard (Code page, Coding system and etc..) Encouraging and promoting IT industry (Tax promotion, IP & Copy right of Local developers)