October 18, 2003

PAKISTAN is in serious danger of missing the boat again. And apart from the government, no one in Pakistan except for national and international information and communications technology (ICT) experts seems to have heard about it. This article will attempt to provide some background and discuss issues which Pakistan needs to deal with if it’s to make its presence effectively felt at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

The WSIS will be held in two phases. The first phase will take place in Geneva hosted by the Government of Switzerland from Dec 10-12, 2003. It will address the broad range of themes concerning the Information Society and adopt a Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action, addressing the whole range of issues related to the Information Society.

The second phase of the World Summit will take place in Tunis hosted by the government of Tunisia, from Nov 16-18, 2005. Development themes will be a key focus in this phase, and it will assess progress that has been made and adopt any further plan of action to be taken.

According to information available on the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) website on the WSIS , as per Resolution 73 of the ITU (Minneapolis, 1998), the organization began exploring the possibilities of holding such a summit under the United Nations’ patronage. In 1999, the UN agreed, with ITU taking lead responsibility for the preparations.

The UN General Assembly Resolution 56/183 recommended that preparations for the Dec 2003 Geneva Summit take place through an open-ended intergovernmental Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) that would define the agenda of the Summit, decide on the modalities of the participation of other stakeholders in the Summit, and finalize both the draft declaration and the draft plan of action. Three PrepComs defined the agenda and themes of the Summit; five regional preparatory conferences addressed the specific concerns, needs and priorities of the various regions. Out of the eleven meetings held so far, Pakistan participated in five, and was represented by the following delegates:

1. July 1-5, 2002 - First Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the WSIS (PrepCom-1), Geneva: The objective was to work on determining the agenda, themes and outcomes for the WSIS.

2. Sept 16-18, 2002 - Informal Meeting on Content and Themes, Geneva.

3. Jan 13-15, 2003 - Asia-Pacific Regional Conference, Tokyo: Information and communication technologies will play a key role in the future development of the whole of Asia. The Tokyo Declaration reflected the interests, opinions and vision of the Asian countries. It included Pakistan as a UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap) member state.

4. Feb 17-28, 2003 - Second Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the WSIS (PrepCom-2), Geneva: The meeting produced two working documents for a draft declaration and action plan, which lay the groundwork for the WSIS, the first-ever global summit on ICT. It outlined key principles needed to extend the benefits of the information society to all and recognized that it will be necessary to formulate an agenda for action aimed at achieving specific objectives.

5. Sept 15-26, 2003 - Third Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the WSIS (PrepCom-3), Geneva: As an ongoing event, the meeting will continue work on a draft Declaration of Principles and Action Plan in order to harness the power of ICT as a tool for development and to create an information society that benefits people of all regions in the world. The draft Declaration and Action Plan will be submitted for the approval of heads of state attending the summit.

The UN invited governments, the private sector, civil society, mass media, multilateral organizations, women, youth and the United Nations agencies to actively participate in the intergovernmental preparatory process and the summit itself.

So is it just me, or did anyone else also note that only representatives from Pakistan at the government level have so far participated in meetings leading upto the Geneva phase of the Summit? Till date, the website of the Civil Society’s Division of the WSIS has no governmental contact, national commission, national declaration, list of NGOs active at the WSIS, projects and activities in progress from Pakistan.

Now, the issues to be debated at the WSIS, outlined by the Action Plan working document, include:

1. Information and communication infrastructure: financing and investment, affordability, development, and sustainability.

2. Access to information and knowledge.

3. The role of governments, the business sector and civil society in the promotion of ICTs for development.

4. Capacity building: Human resources development, education, and training.

5. Security.

6. Enabling environment.

7. Promotion of development-oriented ICT applications for all.

8. Cultural identity and linguistic diversity, local content and media development.

9. Identifying and overcoming barriers to the achievement of the information society with a human perspective.

Time is short for Pakistan, the challenge herculean. A fundamental change from an industrial to information-based society is taking place. This information revolution affects the way people live, learn and work and how governments interact with civil society. This is more apparent in the developed countries, where technology impacts people’s daily lives, fueling the demand for new products and services, as well as ways of conducting business and commerce.

Information is a powerful tool for economic and social development and this summit will provide a unique opportunity for all key players to contribute actively to bridge the digital and knowledge divides.

The Global Information Technology Report 2002-2003 is a comprehensive assessment of “networked readiness” - how prepared an economy is to capture the benefits of technology to promote economic growth and productivity. As the world experiences an economic slowdown, the Report highlights that the use and application of ICT remain among the most powerful engines of growth. This year’s Report benchmarks the performance and monitors progress in networked readiness of 82 countries. According to its Networked Readiness Index (NRI http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/GITR_2002_2003/GITR_Rankings.pdf), Finland is the world leader, followed by the United States, Singapore, Sweden, Iceland, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Taiwan and Germany. South Asia is represented: India is at number 37, while Pakistan was not assessed because of - surprise! - lack of data. Sri Lanka is at 54, Bangladesh is at 77, with Haiti at the bottom of the list with number 82. That says a lot for how ready we are to participate effectively in the WSIS, doesn’t it?

We in Pakistan — sadly, a minority elite — are only now beginning to gradually experience, yet are still unable to comprehend the significance of, the accelerating convergence between telecommunications, broadcasting multimedia, such as new television channels, and information and communication technologies (ICT).

As will be evident in Pakistan, commercial, social and professional opportunities will explode when World Trade Organization rules open new markets to competition, foreign investment and participation (telecommunications deregulation in 2003, followed by free trade in textiles - Pakistan’s single largest export - in 2005). But as revealed in the Federal Bureau of Statistics’ Pakistan 2003 Statistical Pocket Book , we are more ill-prepared than ever before, and are in danger of regretting lost time as opportunities slip through our fingers altogether, because we were either too complacent when the opportunity first presented itself, refused to accept and/or implement reform, or learn lessons from other nations’ experiences before jumping into the fray ourselves:

1. Pakistan’s population is 145.96 million, growing at a rate of 2.16 per cent (Pakistan Integrated Household Survey).

2. Pakistan’s literacy rate is 48 per cent (Pakistan Integrated Household Survey).

3. There are 164235 primary schools, 50 public, and 42 private universities/degree awarding institutes (2001-2002).

3. 35.58 per cent of Pakistan’s workforce is employed by 0.78 per cent employers. 42.23 per cent are self-employed, 21.41 per cent are unpaid family helpers (Labour Force Survey, 1999-2000).

4. Number of (registered) television sets in Pakistan are 3598768 (Pakistan Television Corporation, Islamabad).

5. Newspapers and periodicals number 138 in 2001 (Provincial Public Relation Departments).

6. Pakistan has 3000,000 internet users (IT & Telecom Division, Islamabad).

How can we contribute constructively to the WSIS when these statistics, and related tables, reflect the state of our economy, education, health, gender imbalance and employment? As we sit on the sidelines twiddling our thumbs, the modern world is transforming from the 20th century’s industrial society to the information society of the 21st century. This dynamic process promises a fundamental change in all aspects of our lives, including knowledge dissemination, social interaction, economic and business practices, political engagement, media, education, health, leisure and entertainment.

The WSIS will provide a unique opportunity for all key stakeholders to develop a better understanding of this revolution and its impact on the international community. Pakistan needs to be a proactive part of this process. Short- and medium-term, the key lies in changing the attitudes and mindsets of people who are in positions of power to get them to push the pen and make a difference. The government of Pakistan, with the help of national and international ICTs experts within and outside the country, the donor community and the civil society, can still develop a clear statement of political will and a concrete plan of action for achieving the goals of the “information society” in the light of ground realities faced by Pakistan, otherwise we can’t win. How can we just up and go to the WSIS and expect to contribute constructively to it without knowing what we’re dealing with here? This requires developing consensus through meetings, workshops and consultations to fully reflect all the different interests at stake. These include people from all age groups from different ethnic, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. Input is needed from all public and private entities, youth, women, the media, and intellectuals, especially at the marginalized grassroots level.

Let us not ignore the rural areas for once, which are rich in indigenous knowledge. Their verbal and written heritage is in danger of being lost forever if we don’t find the means to preserve and document them in accessible formats for future generations. Such partnerships need to be actively sought in the little time we have left before the Summit. Some suggestions of future development come to mind:

1. Attention, and funding, is needed in software, graphics and Web-related technologies’ development in national, regional and local languages, using proprietary or open source software in different media of ICT, such as radio, TV, and the Internet. But solutions need to be found, because how can developing countries like Pakistan afford to buy such expensive licensed hardware, software or books?

2. This, in case of the internet, currently the word’s largest global medium, can cater to the ethnic, tribal, linguistic diversity inherent in the Pakistani community living here and abroad. Those developing websites related to Pakistan have undertaken a major responsibility: the image is what we make it, but make sure it’s real, and it’s updated.

3. As far as local language TV channels are concerned, subtitles in all regional languages other than the one the programmes is broadcasting can promote national harmony instead of splintering it further.

4. The memories of the generations that saw Partition and its aftermath can be documented in electronic and accessible formats so that future generations never forget their past.

5. As part of their policy of corporate social responsibility, companies can put up gender-sensitive public service messages; information about peoples’ laws and rights in pictures or simple language; religious edicts, keeping minorities’ sensitivities in mind; quotations from our national heroes and literary legends on billboards, as they are publicly visible modes of communication.

6. Slowly but surely, progress is being made in the case of the e-government initiative. But knowledge networks can also be customized for the special sector ; research, science and technology; the environment; business and corporate sector (for which the issues of connectivity, use of personal information and cyber security need to be dealt with); the health profession; education, population and development sectors; population and human resources. Information networks can be tailor-made for our minorities, lawyers, teachers, students, jobless youth, young children, women, seniors, farmers, law enforcement agencies, journalists, to promote sports and cultural activities. People working in urban and rural areas for the rights, and against the abuse of, domestic and bonded labour and jailed inmates, for example, can advocate more effectively for legislation through made-to-order networks, leading to innovative brainstorming, social rehabilitation, information dissemination, and indirectly, poverty alleviation.

The creative synergies, linkages and possibilities are endless.

Long-term, we need to come up with a “Plan”.

The key, alas, again lies in the laborious and time-consuming process of building up consensus, legislation, effectively implementing existing policies, and keeping people informed of their interests and rights through formal and informal networks. It’s a lot easier to say it in airconditioned hotels and seminars, but harder to practically enforce on the ground in the face of insurmountable odds and cultural traditions. Countless idealists before me have said it as well, before becoming cynical realists, but I’ll repeat it again:

Step 1: Abuse of any form anywhere and against anyone begins with frustration, and some would say that it doesn’t even stop despite education. Nevertheless, education is the key to jobs, economic prosperity, improved quality of life and access to new knowledge. Gradually convince local influential people who are afraid of relinquishing power and are hence against the idea, about the importance of providing communication, health, drinking water, educational infrastructure and jobs to people throughout Pakistan across the board near their homes.

Step 2: Keep local cultural sensitivities in mind. Use media technologies such as local language radio and TV channels, which are popular and accessible modes of communication. They can be effective tools in educating illiterate and semi-literate families about topics which are of interest to them. Broadcast programmes about sending their children, especially girls, to schools. Women can be provided skills and small loans to start small handicraft businesses, for example, in the privacy of their own homes.

Step 3: Simultaneously upgrade the textbooks and curriculum of all our rural and urban educational institutions.

Step 4: Motivate teachers and doctors with incentives to serve in all areas of Pakistan and provide arrangements for their security. Train them in new teaching methodologies and technologies.

Step 5: Just making school and hospital buildings is not enough. Provide the teachers, affordable books, doctors and inexpensive medicines, furniture, etc.

“But”, wail you, “from where to get the money to pay for all this stuff?” Good call. Ask those who, from top to bottom, after craving, getting and/or losing power, blinded by personalities and vaulting ambition, got their priorities badly mixed up, lived beyond their means, and ended up toeing somebody else’s line. For answers, contact the tiny minority of well-meaning people who have the expert knowledge, but are frustrated by the snail’s pace with which things happen, plans are frustrated, and reach completion stage, if ever, in Pakistan.

But it’s never not too late to right the wrongs. It will take an evolution, not a revolution, to bring it about, but for that we need to think global, act local. Invest in people. If Pakistan’s citizens are healthy and educated, they will be more open to expanding horizons through exposure to new technologies; will respect cultural differences and the environment.

Imagine an educated Pakistani workforce well-versed with the latest knowledge and communication technologies, coming up with new ideas, transforming Pakistan’s economy, conducting cutting-edge research throughout the world. The WSIS will contribute to Pakistan’s future. If we have to make a difference, we must act now!

The writer works as content developer for SDNP/IUCN Pakistan’s Education, Communication and Knowledge Management (ECK) Group

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)