What's ICT Policy?
ICT policy generally covers three main areas: telecommunications (especially telephone communications), broadcasting (radio and TV) and the internet. It may be national, regional or international. Each level may have its own decision-making bodies, sometimes making different and even contradictory policies.
Although policies are formally put in place by governments, different stakeholders and in particular the private sector make inputs into the policy process and affect its out-comes. Thus, for example, in the International Telecommunications Union, an intergovernmental body for governments to coordinate rules and regulations in the field of telecommunications, the influence of multinationals has grown enormously. Privatisation of state-owned companies has meant that governments can rarely control telecommunications directly. The privatised telecom companies, often partly controlled by foreign shareholders, look after their own interests. In the context of globalised markets, large and rich corporations are often more powerful than developing countries’ governments, allowing them to shape the policy-making process.
Two sets of issues in ICT policy are critical to civil society at the moment: access and civil liberties. Access has to do with making it possible for everyone to use the internet and other media. In countries where only a minority have telephones, ensuring affordable access to the internet is a huge challenge. Much of the response would lie in social solutions such as community or public access centres. In richer countries, basic access to internet is available almost to all, and faster broadband connections are fairly widespread. Access to traditional media is now a key concern, as new technologies make community video, radio and television more feasible than before.
The other set of issues, civil liberties, includes human rights such as freedom of expression, the right to privacy, the right to communicate, intellectual property rights, etc. These rights as applied to broadcast media have been threatened in many countries, and now the internet, which began as a space of freedom, is also threatened by government legislation and emerging restrictions. Some of the most blatant attacks on freedom of expression come from developing countries such as China and Vietnam, but even in countries which have a long tradition of freedom of expression, such as the USA, there are new attempts to restrict internet users’ privacy and to limit their right to choose. At the same time, restrictions that are intended to limit media monopolies are being weakened and pushed aside.
Involvement in ICT policy
Why should we, as citizens, become involved in ICT policymaking? The obvious answer is that, as shown above, ICTs are so central to contemporary society that they affect us continually in many ways. So, for example, if a government decides to promote free software, we are more likely to enjoy the benefits of free software (better security, lower cost, easy adaptation to local conditions and needs, etc). If a government decides to introduce a new form of censorship on the internet, or fails to protect citizens’ rights to privacy, then we will suffer too. If the telephone companies keep prices artificially high for broadband, or refuse to introduce a cheap flat rate for modem access, then we may have to pay too much to access the internet, the same as everyone else. If telecommunications companies are not encouraged or obliged by regulation to roll out services in rural areas, people there will have to rely on more expensive mobile phone services. If governments do not make it legal for wireless internet services to operate, development and community workers in ‘unconnected’ parts of the world will not be able to benefit from the power of online communication and information access. The internet makes it possible for local voices to be heard throughout the world but, if policy and regulation limit their access, they will also limit their reach.
These self-interested reasons are not the main ones. Other reasons have to do with the nature of global society. If we want to promote social justice, then ICT policy will be a key factor in this battle, and we cannot afford to remain outside the ICT policy-making process.
More about ICT policy can be read in "ICT Policy: A Beginner's Handbook"
