The 24th Policy and Regulatory Forum, convened by the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT), was held recently in Chiang Mai, Thailand. With 193 participants from a spectrum of stakeholders, the forum addressed the development of ICTs in the region. Members of the APC community participated in this year’s edition in sessions related to complementary connectivity, sharing perspectives and experiences on community-centred initiatives for digital inclusion.
The Policy and Regulatory Forum (PRF) is an annual event in which the APT provides a ground of collaboration and interchange. Founded in 1979 as a the joint initiative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), APT is an intergovernmental organisation, with a membership comprising 38 member states, four non-state associate members and 135 affiliate members who are representatives of private companies and academia. This year’s 24th forum, held in hybrid form, is the first time that APT evaluated the implementation of its recently developed strategic plan for 2024-2026, which proposes “to accelerate the development of telecommunication/ICT for fostering growth of economy and society in the Asia-Pacific region by enhancing digital connectivity, digital transformation, trust and safety, digital inclusion and sustainability”.
This edition involved a high-level dialogue with ministers, vice-ministers and officials, a roundtable of government regulators and business dialogue sessions for the private sector and industry representatives. The forum also proposed five thematic sessions addressing issues that involve convergent scopes of ICT evolution in the region, like complementary solutions for connectivity, innovative policy approaches, cyber wellness, climate change and bridging the digital divide strategies, with most of them addressing universality and inclusiveness of connectivity as an objective and also an outcome. Sessions also involved the participation of international and regional organisations like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Internet Society (ISOC) and APC.
Community connectivity needs and challenges
This year, APC was invited to participate in two thematic sessions developed with the collaboration of APT and ISOC. “Connectivity Catalysts: Advancing Access with Complementary Solutions” shared best practices and developments in the Asia-Pacific, especially in relation to supporting rural and remote populations. The session was presented by Adrian Wan, manager of policy and advocacy at ISOC, and included presentations by Carlos Rey-Moreno, manager of the LocNet initiative developed by APC and Rhizomatica; Kanchana Kanchanasut, research professor of the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand; and Gustaff Iskandar, director of APC network member Common Room Networks Foundation.
Iskandar and Kanchanasut shared their experiences of community-centred initiatives they have participated in. Kanchanasut presented the TakNet Community Network in the Thai Samakkhi village, Tak province, Thailand, highlighting developments like the Baengpun Platform, a distributed ledger in Thai, and a training session at the THNIC Academy. She also discussed the impact of these developments on the community, like the promotion of an online market, the focus on safety, local information and communication resources, and the impact of climate change. Iskandar's presentation was on connectivity and digital divide issues in Indonesia, highlighting the challenge and complexity of community-centred connectivity, and describing the governance policy ecosystem in his country, including lessons learned from the Ciptagelar Indigenous community there. The session concluded with Rey-Moreno’s presentation where he shared a process being developed by the LocNet programme for the categorisation of community-centred connectivity providers, as well as the evaluation of their role in different stages of development, based on the experiences of community networks in South Africa, Kenya, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina and initiatives supported by ITU, UNESCAP, ADB, ISOC, ASEAN and G20.
The next session was a continuation of the first and focused on policy approaches and needs for complementary access solutions to unserved areas. This session was moderated by Naveed Haq, regional director of ISOC, and facilitated by most of the presenters of the previous session, and with the participation of Gomer Padong from APC network member Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia (ISEA) and Asia Policy and Regulations coordinator at the LocNet programme.
In a breakout discussion, the participants, divided into four groups, were asked to discuss solutions to the following questions:
- Who are the “unconnected” from your perspective? Where are they?
Why is it so hard to connect with unconnected people?
Do you think community-centred connectivity initiatives such as the ones presented in the earlier session can be part of the solution?
If you would like to do something about it, what tools do you have to enable them and what tools are you missing?
The groups reported back saying they defined the unconnected as people who do not have access to connectivity, who do not have necessary literacy skills, who cannot afford connectivity, those living in islands and remote areas, and people with disability and special needs. They expressed that it is hard to connect the unconnected because of high costs, spoke of issues regarding commercial viability of the areas concerned, and the difficulties of certain terrains. Other factors mentioned were cultural, community, environmental and religious reasons and also the lack of cross-sectoral collaborations.
When evaluating whether community-centred connectivity initiatives can be part of the solution, the unanimous answer was a “yes” while participants pointed to the need for sustainable funding, education, cross-sectoral involvement and technology neutrality. And finally, in their answers concerning available and missing tools for enabling community-centred connectivity, they recommended a holistic approach by the government and society, a role for Universal Service Funds, removing regulatory barriers, constant monitoring, skilled human resources, adequate funding and public-private partnerships. The discussions and the agreements reached were described by participants as “a great success”.
A strategic conversational space
In the closing session, during the evaluation of the forum, APT officials highlighted collaborative sessions with international organisations arguing that they expanded the scope of cooperation, new partnerships and capacity-building.
Session participants highlighted that having the opportunity to develop conversations around community-centred connectivity initiatives together with regulatory bodies was very valuable. “The APT Forum is a strategic space for building synergies between what governments, regulators and companies are doing and what our organisations and communities are doing for bridging the digital divide,” said Rey-Moreno. “In this sense, APT PRF-24 was great to set the scene for upcoming activities that will lead to a more enabling space for community-centred connectivity initiatives in the region.”
Explore more:
- Podcast on the Ciptagelar Traditional Village in West Java
- Podcast on TakNet, Thailand’s first community network
- Routing for Communities podcast series
Image credits: Naveed Haq, ISOC.
Florencia Roveri has a degree in Social Communications from the National University of Rosario in Argentina. She has been a member of APC network member Nodo TAU since 2003, involved in communications and coordination of training workshops on popular communication tools and digital rights. She is the author of several Argentina national reports for APC’s flagship publication, Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch), and is currently collaborating with the LocNet initiative as a communications associate.