The digital divide is here - between most of ASEAN and others in the Asia-Pacific, within ASEAN itself, and within most ASEAN countries. Estimates indicate that in 1999, the combined individual Internet users in five ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore) were only 3.74 million or 1 percent of their population.

ASEAN countries must embrace ICT, its development and use, if they are to sustain economic growth and remain competitive in the global market place. Toward this end, the ASEAN leaders have agreed to promote collective efforts to complement national development strategies in this sector. The e-ASEAN initiative establishes a region-wide approach to making comprehensive use of information and communications technologies in business, society and the government.

In November 2000, ASEAN entered into the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement to facilitate the establishment of the ASEAN Information Infrastructure - the hardware and software systems needed to access, process and share information - and promote the growth of electronic commerce in the region. A high-level private-public sector task force formulated the framework. e-ASEAN binds the member countries to facilitate interconnectivity and technical interoperability among their telecommunication systems and equipments. A high-level private-public sector task force, which was set up at the end of 1999, formulated the framework.

As envisioned, the ASEAN Information Infrastructure would link ASEAN with other major ICT efforts in the region and in the world, such as the Asia-Pacific Information Infrastructure and the Global Information Infrastructure. It would build upon the ICT plans of individual ASEAN member countries, such as Brunei Darussalam’s RaGAM 21, Indonesia’s Nusantara 21, Malaysia’s Multimedia Super Corridor, IT21 of the Philippines, and IT2000 of Singapore.

ASEAN governments commit themselves to foster a favorable legal and policy environment for the development and use of ICT. e-ASEAN aims for the liberalization of trade in ICT products and services and the promotion of investments in the production of ICT products and in the provision of ICT services. ASEAN countries will eliminate duties and non-tariff barriers on intra-ASEAN trade in ICT products in three tranches. Liberalization will be completed over a three-year period beginning on 1 January 2003. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Viet Nam will undertake the same measures beginning on 1 January 2008. Moreover, ASEAN will conclude mutual recognition arrangements covering ICT products.

Subject to the provisions of the ASEAN Investment Area Framework Agreement of 1998, ASEAN economies will immediately open their ICT sector to investments by ASEAN investors. They will also immediately extend to ASEAN investments in ICT treatment no less favourable than those accorded to their own national investors.

Electronic commerce will be facilitated through the adoption of laws and policies based on international norms that promote trust and confidence of the general population and, in particular, those who transact business over the Internet. This task will involve the establishment of a system of mutual recognition of digital signatures; secure electronic transactions, payments and settlements; protection of intellectual property rights arising from e-commerce; measures to promote personal data protection and consumer privacy; and dispute settlement mechanisms. A Certification Authority Forum has been organized to look into cross-border certification issues, including mutual recognition of digital signatures. A private sector-led ASEAN Internet Service Providers (ISP) Forum has been convened to explore ways of promoting the more efficient flow of Internet traffic, including the setting up of national and regional Internet exchanges and Internet gateways.

The e-ASEAN Working Group, through its sub-working group on legal infrastructure, has been established to promote coordination in the formulation of e-commerce laws and regulations, which shall be in place by 2003.

To promote an e-ASEAN community, member countries will encourage the development of peoples’ knowledge and proficiency in using ICT, particularly the Internet, through formal education, training for professionals, and community learning institutions. The more advanced member countries with ICT training facilities will offer training courses for less developed member countries.

The e-ASEAN initiative demonstrates ASEAN’s recognition that information and communication technologies stand out as the driving force of today’s economy. The information revolution has created challenges and opportunities for all countries in the increasingly global economy. They are potential integrators of an increasingly seamless global village.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can promote economic growth, social development and better governance. They enhance access to information and news; enlarge employment opportunities; increase economic output; protect consumers; provide more efficient access to a range of government services; make distance education and training more effective; improve delivery of health services, including through the application of tele-medicine; reduce election fraud; and promote transparency in public procurement. The applications of ICTs empower more people, hitherto unreached or underserviced, and accomplish a deeper geographic penetration, especially to rural areas, than is the case with traditional means and modalities. ICTs allow access to information sources worldwide; promote networking transcending borders, languages and cultures; and help spread knowledge about "best practises" and experience.

The e-ASEAN Task Force has approved a number of private sector-funded pilot projects, which aim to demonstrate the potential and benefits of using ICT by ASEAN companies, particularly small and medium enterprises and individual entrepreneurs. Pilot projects are also expected to promote skills building and increase awareness of and trust in the Internet. More information on the pilot projects and other activities of the e-ASEAN Task Force can be found at http://www.e-aseantf.org.

• ASEAN Regional Internet Exchange or ARIX: an infrastructure for exchanging ASEAN Internet traffic. (ASEAN Secretariat)
  
  

• Coke e-Learning Community Centers: community multimedia centers to be linked with the ASEAN SchoolNet. (Coca-Cola and UNDP)

• ASEAN eTourism Portal: portal for tourism industry (KUB Systems Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia)
  
  

• ASEAN World.com: a regional information/transactional portal to house/link with regional applications that may already exist as well as those to be accredited. (Oracle, Sun and Connect! Singapore)
  
  

• EastASEANbiz.net: portal for EAGA SME's (BIMP-EABC, Brunei Darussalam)
  
  

• GM SupplyPower: Business-to-Business (B2B) marketplace for automobile parts. (General Motors Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines)
  
  

• Knowledge Workers Exchange: ASEAN portal for skilled-labor HRD activities. (MSC Development Corporation, Malaysia)
  
  

• Real Estate in Cyberspace: ASEAN marketplace for real-estate trading, information sharing, and collaboration. (e-ASIANproperty.com., Brunei Darussalam)
  
  

• WeASEAN.com: a collaborative B2B e-commerce community for ASEAN SME'S. (WeThai co. Ltd., Thailand)

• ASEAN Educators On--L-i-n-e: A teaching community portal. (Assumption University of Thailand)
  
  

• ASEAN Infonet: an on-going project to build network of library services on-line.
  
  

• ASEAN SchoolNet: a project to link up ASEAN schools, build computing facilities with broadband capabilities and develop multimedia learning/teaching contents. (One Virtual Corporation, Philippines)
  
  

• e-Entrepreneurship: an HRD scheme to help SME's transform their operation into e-business.
  
  

• ASEAN Incubator Project: a facility to nurture net-preneurs and e-business start-ups.
  
  

• ArtPortAsia.com: a portal for arts related information. (ArtPortAsia Pte. Ltd., Singapore)

• Cyberlaw Training Workshop for legislators, government counsels and judges of CLMV. (University of Philippines, Philippines)

At the dawn of the new millennium, advances in information and telecommunications technologies are changing the way people work, live and think. These innovations are certain to create opportunities that will make profound contributions to sustaining economic development and improving the people’s quality of life. The e-ASEAN project will give Southeast Asia a blueprint for plugging itself into the global e-space. The development of e-ASEAN will create many opportunities for foreign direct investments, which continue to play an increasingly important role in the region’s greater economic growth and integration.

Internet data for selected Asia-Pacific countries, 1999

Source: ITU Web Site (www.itu.int). *China excluding Hong Kong