The ASEAN Telecommunications Ministers (TELMIN) met on 27-28 August 2002 and signed the Manila Declaration resolving to exploit ASEAN’s competitive edge in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.
Terms of references and work programs have been developed for the five TELSOM working groups on information infrastructure, undertaking capacity building, universal access and digital divide in ASEAN, intra-ASEAN trade and investment in the telecommunications and IT sectors, and positive use of the Internet. The e-ASEAN Initiative has been transferred from the purview of the ASEAN Economic Ministers to the ASEAN Telecommunications and IT Ministers (TELMIN), except for elements relating to trade and investment liberalization and e-commerce promotion.
The e-ASEAN Working Group continued to contribute to the implementation the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement, covering the intra-ASEAN activities, cooperation with Dialogue Partners, and streamlining the current and future direction of EAWG functions. The EAWG has developed a funding mechanism to build sufficient financial resource with fast track approval process. The e-ASEAN operational mechanism has been restructured to reposition and enable the EAWG to respond to the need for convergence of information infrastructure and IT applications.
ASEAN Information Infrastructure
In order to develop a technical architecture framework to provide linkages of infrastructure and application system among members, a study is being conducted to determine common requirements for high capacity information processing and high-speed communications for the next two to ten years. Discussions have also been held on establishing an ASEAN Broadband Network. In addition, there is an initiative to conduct a study on each country’s technical architecture for e-Government systems to enhance interconnectivity of design and standards of the national information infrastructure.
e-Commerce
A Common Reference Framework for e-Commerce Legal Infrastructure has been published to assist the countries without or with inadequate e-commerce legislations. An e-commerce white paper to share available information on each country’s initiatives and development is under preparation. Cyberlaws seminar was held in order to share best practices and learn from the experiences of the more developed countries in ASEAN. The e-ASEAN Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Forum has also been established. The study on cross-border harmonization of e-transactions and e-signatures legal frameworks are underway.
e-Commerce incubator activities have been implemented to create business environment that support e-commerce development in the region and to support ASEAN small and medium enterprises (SME) and entrepreneur in international trade. To speed up the development and acceptance of e-commerce in CLMV countries, appropriate business models are being developed through ASEAN e-commerce program. Experts from more developed countries in ASEAN are sharing the best practices for consideration and adoption where applicable.
The TELSOM Working Group on information infrastructure has initiated the setting up of Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) in all ASEAN Member Countries.
Trade Liberalization and Facilitation
The ASEAN Sectoral Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for electronic equipment has been signed. Preparations for an online database of key policies and regulations of ASEAN member countries on ICT trade and investment are underway. ASEAN is also working on a common and standard system of evaluating IT professional skills with a view to including an ASEAN MRA on IT professional skills. ASEAN is planning to develop a common certification standard for ICT Skill Competency in the region in order to define a common framework for developing professionalism in ICT and model of standard on certification of ICT professionals. A series of “Capacity Maturity Model (CMM)” training courses for ASEAN members are under preparation. Member Countries have agreed to the elimination of tariffs on a wide-ranging number of ICT products by 2005.
Capacity Building and e-Society
A number of ICT training programs, workshops and seminars have been conducted in order to share and learn from the experiences of the ASEAN members, such as the SchoolNet seminar and forum to encourage and enable schools and universities to implement distance learning via the Internet and Asia Incubator workshop to assist SMEs and entrepreneur groups. Preparations for workshops on multi-lingual machine translation and on measurement of digital economy are underway.
The e-ASEAN Open Source Software (OSS) Working Group has been established to collate, exchange information, and share best practices in order to provide a cost-effective alternative computer software development. OSS seminars have been organized. The ASEAN e-Measurement Forum has been established to develop a comprehensive set of ASEAN ICT indicators, which will help monitor the progress in ICT sector in the region.
Several public awareness programs have been conducted, including ICT road shows/technical forums, e-ASEAN Business Forum, e-ASEAN Industry Dialogue, as well as promotion of e-Commerce and e-Government. A number of ICT training programs have also been conducted for the CLMV countries under the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI). This includes a Primer on Cyberlaws for senior public officials held in Singapore in November 2002 with participation from all ASEAN countries.
e-Government
A series of e-government training courses and seminars have been conducted in various Member Countries in order to raise awareness and build capacity in this area. Inter-country government online applications are being explored, such as the usage of a common e-passport smart card system to facilitate the movement of citizens in some member countries. Cooperation to build capacity in customs administration to facilitate trade has also been undertaken.
Private Sector’s Pilot Projects
Under the leadership of the former e-ASEAN Task Force (EATF), about 40 private sector's pilot projects have been endorsed to leverage the profile of the ASEAN ICT companies and encourage their participation in ICT development. Such projects include (a) ASEAN Trade Electronic Data Interchange (TEDI), which aims to create an ASEAN ecosystem for e-trade utilizing Internet technology and standards such as UNEDIFACT and ebXML; (b) Cybermatrix, which aims to establish zoned Internet in ASEAN enabled by intelligence overlaid on regional and national telecommunication networks; (c) ASEAN SchoolNet aimed at enabling ASEAN students and teachers to tap into the wealth of information and learning resources on the internet; (d) ASEAN Incubator Network, which aims to help ASEAN SMEs and entrepreneurs to network with venture capitalists and techno-preneurs; (e) ASEAN Services Access Platform (ASAP), which promotes the creation of a pan-ASEAN infrastructure for member countries to very rapidly launch services that other countries can leverage on to build even more complex services; and (f) ASEAN Regional Electronic Payment Gateway Solution, which aims to develop and implement solutions to facilitate cross border e-clearing of retail payments in ASEAN using agreed currencies by clearing through existing efficient national clearing houses and/or payment processing centres in ASEAN.
Cooperation with other countries
ASEAN cooperation with other countries in the field of ICT continued. The following activities were held over the last year: ASEAN-Japan Workshop on ICT Applications for Trade Promotion; ASEAN-China Seminar on ICT; Symposium on Bridging the Digital Divide with Korea; and a project on the establishment of harmonized legal, regulatory and institutional environment for e-Commerce with Australia.
An ASEAN-China MOU on Mid- and Long-Term ICT Cooperation has been finalized for the signing of ASEAN Ministers and the Minister of Information Industry of China. The areas of cooperation include HRD, technology development, information infrastructure, ICT applications, and others. China has organized a series of ICT training workshops, such as in telecom network management, wireless Internet & 3G mobile communications for ASEAN members.
A Road Map on ASEAN-Korea Cooperation has been finalized, which outlines the following areas of cooperation: sharing best practices; promotion of private sector investment; building of trust and confidence, particularly in the area of content development; lowering the cost of IT accessibility; and infrastructure and applications development including policy implementation.
