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Asia Quickly Adopting Information Technology,
U.N. Agency Says
The increase in access to information technology in Asia during the past
few years suggests that English is no longer a decisive factor in a country's
quickly adopting information and communication technology (ICT), according
to the U.N. International Telecommunication Union (ITU). In a November
19 press release, the ITU said it had completed the first global ranking
of economies' access to ICTs, finding that South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore
and Hong Kong had made the greatest progress since 1998. The ranking was
made using a new transparent "Digital Access Index," the release said.
Using the index, researchers grouped countries into four categories of
access -- high, upper, medium and low. While limited infrastructure has
been regarded as the main barrier to access, the ITU's research "suggests
that education of users and affordability of access are equally important
factors," said Michael Minges of ITU's market, economics and finance unit.
In China, for example, researchers found that over half of Internet users
have university educations, the release said. Service quality was another
factor found to affect access, according to the release. Widespread access
to information technology "can boost economic development and improve
citizens' lives," the release said. An overview of the indicators used
to measure access to information technology will be included in a World
Telecommunication Development Report to be published just prior to the
December World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, the
release said.
From http://usinfo.state.gov/ 11/20/2003
TOP¡ü
Developing Nations Begin to Embrace Internet Commerce
COMMERCE is starting to find a place in some of the world's emerging
economies. Governments and businesses in a growing number of developing
nations have begun building the infrastructure needed for online commerce,
according to a report released Thursday by the United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development, or Unctad. "Governments are more and more aware
that this can be a tremendous boon to their economy," said Angel Gonzalez-Sanz,
an Unctad economist who spoke by phone from Geneva. "They're starting
to recognize that policy choices matter; the attitude of the government,
the business community. When you tackle issues like infrastructure and
lack of awareness, results come." Mr. Gonzalez-Sanz said that Thailand,
for example, is starting to see results from a government strategy that
began in 1996 and was updated in 2002. Under that plan, the nation has
moved aggressively to improve computer and Internet literacy by, among
many other things, selling $250 personal computers and $500 notebook computers
to its citizens and wiring thousands of schools for the Internet in the
last two years. The government has also set up two national Internet switching
points and created a plan to offer Internet services throughout the country.
The early results for online commerce are modest but promising. From 2000
to 2001, the latest period for which data is available, the share of Thailand's
Web sites selling goods or services online doubled, to 12 percent. The
proportion of Thailand's Internet users who live outside Bangkok, the
capital, has steadily improved, reaching 50 percent last year. Mr. Gonzalez-Sanz
said that in Southeast Asia, among other regions, "companies have been
feeling pressure from the market to get on the Internet." That is particularly
true, he said, with companies that export goods to countries where a significant
amount of business is conducted through the Internet, like the United
States. But, Mr. Gonzalez-Sanz said, not all developing countries have
followed that path. "Some countries have still had trouble identifying
the benefits" of online commerce development, he said. "In places where
most of the economy is exporting agricultural commodities, or where you're
less integrated in the global economy as a whole, you don't have that
pressure." Indeed, in countries like El Salvador, the development and
use of online commerce has been haphazard. Earlier this year, Everest
S.A., a family-run business in San Salvador, sold a 69-kilogram lot (152
pounds) of coffee beans in an Internet auction from one of its five farms
for a record price of $14.06 a pound. According to Aida Batlle, who helps
manage the farms, the family had no grand e-commerce plan. Rather, she
had heard about a coffee competition, Cup of Excellence, held in El Salvador
by a coffee industry trade group based in the United States. Ms. Batlle
entered the competition, which included 335 of the country's roughly 23,000
farms, and in early May received first prize for beans from the family's
Kilimanjaro farm. Cup of Excellence then arranged an online auction featuring
lots from the competition's finalists. Ms. Batlle sat in a hotel room
in San Salvador with 31 other farmers, watching a big screen TV that displayed
the auction's Web site, where price increases were updated every 90 seconds.
That was exciting, Ms. Batlle said, but an equally important part of the
auction was that it put her company in direct contact with buyers. In
the past, she said, local mills would buy the farms' beans and sell them
to distributors. "We've now taken the middleman out, which is huge," she
said. Ms. Batlle said she had maintained a relationship with the Norwegian
coffee distributor that bought her beans as well as a Japanese distributor
that bid $3.20 a pound for coffee from another of the family's farms in
a July auction. That change, she said, will help the farm lift average
prices above the 30 cents a pound it received last year. The entry into
the global market will also benefit the company's workers, who in past
years have earned 75 cents for every 25 pounds of ripe coffee cherries
picked. (Workers pick, on average, 250 pounds a day.) Because of better
coffee prices, Everest now pays its workers $1.03 for 25 pounds. And,
Ms. Batlle said, the nation's other farms could ultimately benefit, as
well. "This has given the country's coffee industry great exposure," she
said. For businesses that export services from developing nations, the
Internet can be equally critical. The Unctad report, for instance, noted
the rise of "business process outsourcing," in which companies in countries
with high labor costs contract information technology and other service
jobs to foreign workers abroad. Some American companies have begun to
use Indian workers to handle online monitoring of their information systems.
But successful online enterprises do not necessarily require a telecommunications
system as developed as India's, said Mr. Gonzalez-Sanz. Cambodia, which
as a nation has modest Internet access, has a small but growing outsourcing
company, Digital Divide Data, which has gained clients around the world
in the last three years. The company, a nonprofit organization started
by Americans, employs about 115 people to digitize data from maps or documents,
and then send it back to the country of origin. According to Nhev SithSophary,
the general manager of Digital Divide Data's main office in Phnom Penh,
the company hires people who might otherwise not find work, including
disabled people, workers from rural areas and women who were in the sex
trade. The workers earn $1,200 a year, which is four times the average
Cambodian's income, and receive free education while on the job. "That
way, they can move on to the next job, for higher pay," Mr. Nhev said.
"It's really helpful." Digital Divide Data will generate about $200,000
in revenue this year. In all, according to the report, global e-commerce
revenue this year will reach $1.4 trillion to $3.9 trillion, with more
than 95 percent of the transactions in industrialized countries like the
United States, Britain and Japan. By contrast, Africa and Latin America
combined will account for less than 1 percent of global online sales.
That online commerce will take years to emerge in many countries is understandable,
Mr. Gonzalez-Sanz said. "Some of these countries have been preoccupied
with very serious issues" like AIDS, he said. In those situations, he
added, "e-commerce probably won't be your first preoccupation." (by Bob
Tedeschi)
From http://www.nytimes.com/ 11/24/2003
TOP¡ü
Shanghai to Strengthen Cooperation with East Asian
Cities
China's largest industrial city of Shanghai will strengthen cooperation
with east Asian cities, said an official of the municipality at the just-closed
east Asia mayors forum. Feng Guoqin, deputy mayor of Shanghai, said at
the forum that the city will open its service industry, infrastructure
and social projects more widely to the outside world. He welcomed investors
and entrepreneurs from the east Asia cities to Shanghai for development.
The municipality will continue encouraging foreign capital to invest in
autos, petrochemical, steel and manufacturing as well asnew materials,
biological pharmacy and environmental protection, according to Feng. Shanghai
seeks to attract more multinational corporations to set up their regional
headquarters, purchasing centers and research institutions in the city
by creating a favorable policy environment, Feng said. The city also encourages
east Asian cities to participate in restructuring its state-owned enterprises,
he said. The forum was held in Kumming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan
province, from Dec.2 to 3.
From http://www.shanghai.gov.cn/ 12/07/2003
TOP¡ü
Asia to Speed Up the Information Superhighway
And an increasing number of Chinese are turning to the Internet for their
media fix. China has some 78 million Internet users. However, only one
third of these netizens use Broadband access to explore cyber space. How
to develop China's broadband industry and further promote its application
nationwide, has become a key topic at Sunday's Asia-Pacific Broadband
Summit. E-government, E-shopping, long-distance education, on-line entertainment,
all of these new Internet service trends are reshaping our lives, and
"Broadband " puts them in the fast lane. Broadband is fully deployed in
South Korea, Japan and Singapore, and has become a part of their social
infrastructure like telephone, or television. But neighboring China still
has a long way to go. When evaluating China's latest developments in the
broadband industry, one Korean expert has some other proposals. Chairman
of Internet Association of Korea Kilnam Chon said: "China should work
hard on how to harmonize the broadband development around the whole country."
Regarding the prospects for China's broadband development, Professor Wu
said he is much inspired by the Chinese government's full support to develop
the next generation of Internet. Cooperation and exchanges with developed
countries on broadband know-how are ongoing, and he is confident that
China's strategy of "Information promoting Industrialization, Industrialization
developing Information" is having a positive effect.
From http://www.cctv.com 12/08/2003
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UN Holds IT Summit to "Bridge the Digital Divide"
More than 50 heads of government and some 10,000 delegates are attending
a three-day United Nations World Summit on the Information Society that
started on Wednesday in Geneva. The meeting aims to "bridge the digital
divide" between rich and poor nations. Awaiting approval from world leaders
is a declaration that challenges governments to use technology to promote
development goals such as eliminating poverty, fighting AIDS and curbing
child mortality. It calls for schools, public libraries and health centers
in poor countries to be connected to the Internet by 2015. Japan says
that development in Asia runs hand-in-hand with the expansion of broadband
across the continent. According to Taro Aso, Japanese Minister of Public
Management, Home Affairs, Ports & Telecom, "This programme prepares an
action plan to achieve its objectives of developing a broadband environment
and accessibility in Asia. I believe that the action of the WSIS declaration
of principle and action plan is vital." The meeting is setting up a working
group to ascertain the feasibility and effectiveness of setting up a fund
to advance the information society. Arun Shourie, Indian Minister in charge
of Communications and Information Technology, said, "Should such a fund
be set up, India will contribute financially in accordance with the formula
that collective deliberations shall yield. To be of even greater assistance
we will contribute in kind by training and equipping people for this new
society, by sharing the substantial experience that we have acquired in
spheres such as e-government, telemedicine, imparting literacy, information
security, language technologies and other areas." However, the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea stressed that abusing information and the means
of communication to interfere in other countries' internal affairs should
be rejected on all counts.
From http://www.cctv.com/ 12/12/2003
TOP¡ü
Digital Divide Fuels Telecom Surge in Developing
Nations
There was much discussion at the United Nations' World Summit on the
Information Society [in Geneva last] week about whether industrialized
nations should start a digital solidarity fund to help poor areas of the
world connect to communications networks, reports The International Herald
Tribune (12/13). But officials of the World Bank pointed out that there
is already a compelling business case for private investors to fund such
development: Investments in telecommunications companies in Africa, Asia
and the Caribbean are reaping rates of financial returns in excess of
25 percent on a compound annual basis. Economic returns are even higher
about 40 to 50 percent when license fees, taxes and other charges are
excluded, according to Mohsen Khalil, the World Bank's director of global
information and communication technologies. Such investments have proven
to be more stable than those made in phone companies in the developing
world, which overextended themselves during the tech bubble, Khalil said
at the summit meeting, which ended on Friday. In the early 1990's, telecom
privatization was dominated by large international operators. Examples
include MSI Cellular, which has built a pan-African cellular network;
Millicom International Cellular, which owns 16 cellular operators in 15
countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and Digicel, which is developing
a pan-Caribbean cellular network. The IFC, an arm of the World Bank and
the largest source of private equity for developing countries, has invested
in these companies and others, along with institutional and private investors
The local success of these companies, and their expansion, could have
major economic and political implications. There is a huge opportunity
for the reversal of the transfer of goods and services from north to south,
Khalil said. We are starting to see south-to-south transfers and south-to-north.
Reuters (12/12) reports that more than 170 countries approved on Friday
an ambitious call to extend the Internet and the benefits of information
technology to the poorest corners of the world, but dodged some of the
difficulties of doing so. In particular, they put off a decision on whether
to set up a special fund to finance the necessary infrastructure, for
which African countries had lobbied hard. But it was not just the wealthy
states that opposed rushing into new financing. Senior UN officials agreed
it was better first to explore improved use of existing resources from
the World Bank and other sources. Also postponed was a showdown over Internet
management, with developing countries such as Brazil pressing for a greater
role for the United Nations or intergovernmental agencies in a business
currently left to the private sector in rich states. Agence France Presse
(12/12) adds that the unruly Internet escaped new controls at a UN summit
in Geneva last week, but 175 countries pledged to look again at who should
govern the web when they reconvene in Tunis in two years time.
From http://web.worldbank.org/ 12/15/2003
Internet Democracy Elusive: Report
Australia has been ranked third in an international survey of electronic-government
readiness, according to a UN report. The report says more governments
around the globe are using the Internet, but only 20 per cent of people
with World Wide Web access use government sites and those sites rarely
encourage users to participate in making policy. Even though the 2001
terror attacks made security - rather than accessibility - the main concern
in many nations, the number of countries with at least one government
Web site continues to increase, according to the 2003 UN World Report
on the Public Sector, E-Government at the Crossroads. The report on "electronic
government" was released yesterday in Mexico City. A total of 173 of the
United Nation's 191 member nations had a Web presence in 2003, an increase
from 143 in 2001. Only 18 countries, many in Africa, remained completely
off-line. While Web-based access can link citizens to everything from
schools to hospitals and libraries, it is not the whole answer. "Only
a very few governments have opted to use e-government applications for
transactional services or networking," the report states, "and even fewer
use it to support genuine participation of citizens in politics." The
US Government led the ranking of e-government "readiness", the amount
of information, services and products it offers over the Internet, combined
with the infrastructure - telephones, computers, Internet connections
- and the education needed to access them. In that ranking, Sweden was
second, followed by Australia, Denmark, Great Britain, Canada, Norway,
Switzerland, Germany and Finland. The report, however, gave very different
marks on the quality of countries' Web sites, a ranking in which many
developing nations placed higher than their developed counterparts. "This
is a measure of how well the governments are doing in meeting citizen's
needs," Seema Hafeez, one of the report's authors, said. The United States
took top place in the Web-quality index, followed by Chile, Australia,
Mexico, Great Britain, Canada, the Philippines, Singapore, Denmark and
Sweden. In another ranking for "e-participation" - a measure of a government's
willingness to interact and dialogue with citizens over the Net - Britain
beat the United States for the top spot. While many of the same countries
- New Zealand, France, the Netherlands, and Ireland - made the Top 10
in that category, there were some surprises. Several developing countries,
such as Chile, Estonia, the Philippines, Mexico and Argentina, ranked
among the Top 10 in eparticipation. Estonia, for example, has a site known
as "Today I Decide", in which people can propose, amend, and vote on policy
issues. Officials are then required to consider those proposals. "It is
refreshing that this is not like a train that has to follow the developed
nations," Jerzy Szeremeta, an author of the report, said. "Creativity
and policy centred on human development can be located anywhere in the
world." Still, only 15 governments in the world accept Internet comment
on public policy issues. Only 33 countries allow government transactions,
such as filing forms or paying fines, over the Net. At least 60 per cent
of all e-government projects in developing countries fail, and about half
waste taxpayers' money to some extent, the report says. There are success
stories, such as Hong Kong's one-stop Electronic Service Delivery, which
allows citizens to do everything from paying taxes to renewing a drivers'
licence on the Web. Other countries publish bids for government purchasing
contracts on the Web, to help fight corruption and kickbacks. While South
Korea's OPEN application/complaint portal allows users to see exactly
where their case is being handled in the government approval process.
"What e-government does is make many things obvious," Szeremeta said.
"In Australia, to establish a firm it was necessary to go through 17 formalities.
When they put that online, they laughed - why 17?" Online, "you see the
possibility of merging things ... now they have reduced it from 17 to
2", he noted. But the report notes that "a too-grandiose approach may
result in failures or expensive white elephants". "Because of a high rate
of failure in specific government projects in developed as well as developing
nations, bricks-and-mortar public services need to be maintained even
as digital applications are increasing," the report says. In many countries,
women and the poor have less access to the Internet than other sectors.
"Security and privacy issues" also discourage use among all populations,
the report notes. Most Americans who use government Web sites do so to
get tourism information, do research for school or work, download government
forms or get information on services. "US users perceive the availability
of e-government first and foremost as an opportunity to get quick and
easy access to information," the report says. That, according to the United
Nations, is only part of the Web's potential. "Many governments turn to
Internet-based services as a way to cut red tape," Jose Antonio Ocampo,
the U.N. undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, said.
"But we also see the Internet as a means of advancing and consolidating
transparency and democracy." (by Mark Stevenson)
From http://www.unpan.org/ 11/05/2003
TOP¡ü
E-Governance Institute Ranks Digital Governance
Worldwide
NEWARK, N.J. -- The first study on digital governance in municipalities
worldwide ranked Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore, New York and Shanghai as
the top five cities, and Tallinn, Dubai, Jakarta as among the top 20 of
100 large cities worldwide. This survey was conducted jointly by the E-Governance
Institute of Rutgers University-Newark and the Global e-Policy e-Government
Institute of Sungkyunkwan University, Korea, and was co-sponsored by the
UN Division for Public Administration and Development Management and the
American Society for Public Administration. This is the first research
effort to evaluate digital governance in municipalities throughout the
world. This survey examined the largest city in each of 98 countries with
the highest percentage of Internet users, and Hong Kong SAR and Macao
SAR were included. This research evaluated the official Web sites of each
city in their native languages. Our instrument for evaluating municipal
Web sites consists of 92 measures over five core areas: 1.) Security and
Privacy, 2.) Usability, 3.) Content, 4.) Services, 5.) Citizen Participation.
Each measure was coded on a scale of four-points (0, 1, 2, 3) or a dichotomy
of two points (0, 3 or 0, 1). Then, an overall score for each municipality
(on a 100-point scale) was derived by giving equal weight to each of the
five categories. Professor Marc Holzer, chairman of the E-Governance Institute,
said, "This joint research was helpful for reducing cultural bias in our
survey methodology. During the design of the 92 measures in our e-government
index, we identified some terms which people in various cultures might
not understand. So, we developed an index which was 'culture-neutral.'"
Each Web site was assessed by two independent evaluators between June
and October 2003, and in cases where significant variation existed on
the raw score between evaluators, Web sites were analyzed a third time.
Based on the evaluation of 100 cities, the top 10 cities are as follows:
Top 10 Cities in Digital Governance Worldwide
RANKING CITY SCORE
1.) Seoul 73.48
2.) Hong Kong 66.57
3.) Singapore 62.97
4.) New York 61.35
5.) Shanghai 58.00
6.) Rome 54.72
7.) Auckland 54.61
8.) Jerusalem 50.34
9.) Tokyo 46.52
10.) Toronto 46.35
New York City was ranked No. 1 worldwide in terms of content. Among the
top 20 cities, three are from developing countries: Tallinn (Estonia)
14th, Dubai (United Arab Emirates) 18th, and Jakarta (Indonesia) 20th.
This research identified a digital divide gap between developed and less
developed countries. Although the average score for all cities is 28.10
out of 100, the average score in OECD countries is 36.34; however the
average score in non-OECD countries is only 24.26. In addition, 67 percent
of cities selected in Africa have not established official city Web sites,
whereas only 3 percent in Europe have no city Web sites. Sungkyunkwan
University is holding an international conference to present best practices
cases based on this survey and is giving a "World Cities Best Practices
E-Government Award" to the top five cites on November 21 in Seoul. Professor
Seang-Tae Kim, president of the Global e-Policy e-Government Institute,
said, "Government services can be improved remarkably by e-government,
but the digital divide is a problem to be solved. We can encourage e-government
among cities in the world by measuring them and giving this kind of award."
From http://govtech.public-cio.com/ 11/17/2003
TOP¡ü
The First Study on Digital Governance in Municipalities
Worldwide Ranked Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore, New York, and Shanghai as
the Top Five Cities
NEWARK, N.J. (PRIMEZONE) -- This survey was conducted jointly by the
E-governance Institute of Rutgers University-Newark and the Global e-Policy
e-Government Institute of Sungkyunkwan University, Korea, and was co-sponsored
by the UN Division for Public Administration and Development Management,
and the American Society for Public Administration. This is the first
research effort to evaluate digital governance in municipalities throughout
the world. This survey examined the largest city in each of 98 countries
with the highest percentage of Internet users, and Hong Kong SAR and Macao
SAR were included. This research evaluated the official Web sites of each
city in their native languages. Our instrument for evaluating municipal
Web sites consists of 92 measures over five core areas: 1. Security and
Privacy, 2. Usability, 3. Content, 4. Services, 5. Citizen Participation.
Each measure was coded on a scale of four-points (0, 1, 2, 3) or a dichotomy
of two points (0, 3 or 0, 1). Then, an overall score for each municipality
(on a 100-point scale) was derived by giving equal weight to each of the
five categories. Professor Marc Holzer, Chairman of the E-Governance Institute
said, "This joint research was helpful for reducing cultural bias in our
survey methodology. During the design of the 92 measures in our e-government
index, we identified some terms which people in various cultures might
not understand. So, we developed an index which was 'cultureneutral'."
Each Web site was assessed by two independent evaluators between June
and October 2003, and in cases where significant variation existed on
the raw score between evaluators, websites were analyzed a third time.
Based on the evaluation of 100 cities, the top 10 cities are as follows;
Top 10 Cities in Digital Governance Worldwide (ranking/city/score): 1
Seoul 73.48; 2 Hong Kong 66.57; 3 Singapore 62.97; 4 New York 61.35; 5
Shanghai 58.00; 6 Rome 54.72; 7 Auckland 54.61; 8 Jerusalem 50.34; 9 Tokyo
46.52; 10 Toronto 46.35. New York City was ranked No. 1 worldwide in terms
of content. Among the top 20 cities, three are from developing countries:
Tallinn (Estonia) 14th, Dubai (United Arab Emirates) 18th, and Jakarta
(Indonesia) 20th. This research identified a digital divide gap between
developed and less developed countries. Although the average score for
all cities is 28.10 out of 100, the average score in OECD countries is
36.34; however the average score in non-OECD countries is only 24.26.
In addition, 67% of cities selected in Africa have not established official
city websites, whereas only 3% in Europe have no city Web sites. Sungkyunkwan
University is holding an international conference to present best practices
cases based on this survey and is giving a "World Cities Best Practices
E-Government Award" to the top five cites on November 21 in Seoul. Professor
Seang-Tae Kim, President of the Global e-Policy e-Government Institute
said, "Government services can be improved remarkably by E-government,
but the digital divide is a problem to be solved. We can encourage e-government
among cities in the world by measuring them and giving this kind of award."
(Tel 82-2-760-0374, e-mail kimst@skku.edu) Scores and ranking of all 100
cities are online at http://www.andromeda.rutgers.edu/ egovinst/Website/
CONTACT: Professor Marc Holzer (973) 353-1351/5504, Ext, 23 mholzer@pipeline.com
Mr. Chan-Gon Kim chankim@pegasus.rutgers.edu http://www.pressreleasenetwork.com/newsroom
.
From http://www.unpan.org/ 11/17/2003
TOP¡ü
The Internet in 2004: Challenges and Solutions
in Key Areas of Concern
The Internet is already revolutionizing not only the corporate business
world, but the lives of ordinary people. Yet many challenges remain. What
progress will be made in 2004 toward overcoming the various challenges
that affect Internet usage? This week's feature looks at possible solutions
and likely directions in some key areas of Internet infrastructure and
utilization.
Broadband Services: Wireless and Long-Distance DSL Technologies
Over the past year, the number of subscribers to flat-rate, always-on
broadband services grew by 80%, topping 12 million at the end of September
2003. But to maintain this rapid pace of growth, providers need to expand
their potential user base. Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) is not well suited
to existing apartment complexes because of the difficulties involved in
laying fiber to individual apartments. Asymmetric digital subscriber line
(ADSL) technology, on the other hand, because of its transmission characteristics,
declines sharply in performance at distances further than 4km or 5km from
the NTT central office. Technologies and services that can overcome these
obstacles to broadband penetration will become increasingly important
in the future. One way of enabling FTTH is to use very high data rate
DSL (VDSL) for communications within each of the apartment buildings in
a complex. Such services are being provided by Tokyo Electric Power Co,
Inc, NTT East Corp and NTT West Corp, and by KDDI Corp. Other services
use radio signals from the nearest power pole. Using the 26GHz band, the
two NTT regional carriers offer data rates of up to 32Mbps upstream and
46Mbps downstream. ReachDSL, a proprietary technology from Paradyne Worldwide
Corp, is one way of increasing the number of households that could potentially
use ADSL for broadband. The latest version, ReachDSL 2.2, enables connection
at maximum speeds of 2.2Mbps both upstream and downstream over distances
of more than 5km-7km. It is being used by Softbank BB Corp and other carriers.
Affordable ADSL services are also appearing, aimed at those who don't
access the Internet very often. Such services offer limited downstream
data rates of up to 1Mbps for a monthly fee of no more than 2,000 yen,
including line rental and connection charges.
Home Networking: Real Demand for Intrusion Detection Sensors and Surveillance
Cameras
Spurred by the growth of residential broadband access, many consumer electronics
manufacturers have been intent on offering greater added value by linking
up a variety of electronic and electric products over a network. As yet,
however, manufacturers have not discovered any strong or widespread demand
for networked appliances. Take household appliances, for example. Various
ideas have been mooted for controlling appliances via the Internet, including
presetting air conditioners and washing machines, delivering recipes to
microwaves, and checking what's in the refrigerator. But it is not clear
how much consumers might be willing to pay for such functions. Audio-visual
equipment enabled for content delivery has similarly failed to open up
any new possibilities in the market. Against this background, anti-theft
and surveillance functionality looks set to become an emerging trend in
home networking in 2004. Surveillance functions include checking video
and still pictures from surveillance cameras installed in the home via
a mobile phone, receiving mobile phone alerts whenever anything unusual
is detected by the sensors installed in the home to detect intruders or
opening and closing of windows, and turning lights on and off remotely
so that the house appears to be occupied. A large number of vendors, such
as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, Ltd, have started selling Net-enabled
security devices and home networking services. Unlike Internet appliances,
security devices are apparently attracting an increasing number of users
who want them, regardless of expense. But cost remains a significant issue.
Installing a home controller and security devices entails an initial outlay
of around 150,000 yen to 500,000 yen, plus central server access charges
of approximately 1,000 yen to 2,000 yen per month. Moreover, having installed
the equipment, the user is still obliged to respond to any security breaches.
Having security personnel come as required would require a separate contract
with a security service.
Online Payments: Mobile Hookup to Facilitate Procedures
The user accesses the MyJCB site and launches the authentication "i-Appli"
Java applet. The user places his/her index finger on the fingerprint sensor
on the mobile phone. If authentication is successful, the user can then
access the Website. The user must first download the i-Appli. Payment
at e-commerce Web sites is generally a worrying and unsatisfactory business.
But the situation will completely change in 2004. The key to improvement
is user authentication services and mobile phones. First of all, use of
credit cards with authentication functionality will become widespread.
Visa International took the initiative in July 2003 when it introduced
the Visa authentication service, which permits payment only after cardholders
have identified themselves by password. Other credit card companies have
started similar services. Services utilizing mobile phones rather than
credit cards promise even greater security and operability. For example,
from March to August 2003, KDDI conducted field trials of an automatic
payment service called Kei-Credit, which utilizes credit data stored on
a tiny smart card called a User Identity Module (UIM). The user inserts
the UIM into a mobile phone, and the Kei-Credit service reads the data
via software installed inside the phone. Even more sophisticated authentication
functions based on fingerprints have emerged too. In November 2003, JCB
Co, Ltd launched a trial that utilizes the fingerprint authentication
capability provided in mobile handsets when users access the MyJCB site
for cardholders with mobile accounts (Photo 1). Mobile phones will also
make electronic money more convenient. For example, with the emergence
of mobile handsets equipped with the FeliCa contactless smart card, users
should be able to deposit money and make credit payments online via the
"Edy" electronic money service using just their mobile phone.
E-Japan: Success Depends on Security and System Linkage
A traceability system for domestic beef got underway on Dec 1, 2003. Consumers
who bought beef can access the Website (http://www.nlbc.go.jp/link/id.html)
of the National Livestock Breeding Center, an independent administrative
institution. By entering the ID written on the beef label, the consumer
can then check the meat's history. In July 2003, the government announced
the second phase of its "e-Japan strategy" with the goal of making Japan
a leading IT nation by 2005. The plan aims to establish lifestyle amenities
and social infrastructure based on information technology. Central government
agencies along with local authorities, medical institutions, the private
sector, and various other community organizations are now involved in
efforts to realize an IT society. The central government has already computerized
more than 97% of official application processes, enabling people to complete
applications online. The National Tax Agency has systematized the filing
of blue returns and tax payment procedures, and will start operating the
"e-Tax" electronic tax declaration system. The Nagoya Regional Taxation
Bureau will start accepting e-Tax declarations in February 2004, followed
by all other tax bureaus in June or thereafter. In August 2003, the Cabinet
Office announced its "e-Japan Priority Policy Program," spelling out in
practical detail the second phase of the e-Japan strategy. The program
sets out the planned initiatives and quantitative targets in seven categories.
Among these, the food category is one that will develop significantly
in 2004. A traceability system for foodstuffs will be introduced, enabling
consumers to check the producing area and distribution route of a food
product via a Website. The main concern is domestically produced beef.
The system was prompted by the BSE (mad cow disease) scare and has led
to the exposure of illegal labeling. On Dec 1, 2003, the government instigated
special measures relating to the management and communication of information
for identifying individual cows, and launched a beef traceability system
(Photo 2). Distributors, retailers, and restaurants will have to comply
with beef ID labeling requirements by December 2004.
From http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/ 01/13/2004
TOP¡ü
Global Internet Users Near 600 Mil
GENEVA - The number of people using the Internet has reached 591 million
as of the end of 2002, roughly one out of every 10 people in the world,
the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said Thursday.
UNCTAD, however, warned that the so-called digital divide between the
developed and developing countries are widening, saying that Africa and
South America together account for less than 1% of the entire electronic
transactions conducted in the world.
From Kyodo News 11/21/2003
TOP¡ü
Canadian Project to Bridge Digital Divide in Asia
Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) announced an
initiative--Pan Asia Networking Local Language Project--during the World
Summit on the Information Society held this week in Geneva. The project
aims to help people in Southeast and South Asia browse the Internet using
their local language. The initial three-year project valued at C$1 million
between IDRC and the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences
in Pakistan, involves linguists, communications technology researchers,
practitioners, academics, policy-makers and representatives from the private
sector. Asian countries participating are Bhutan (Dzongkha language),
Bangladesh (Bangla), Laos (Lao), Cambodia (Khmer), Sri Lanka (Sinhali
and Tamil) and Nepal (Nepali).
From Canada NewsWire 12/11/2003
TOP¡ü
Asian Online Game Providers Rush to Nasdaq
A Sino-Korean war on virtual games is expected in the United States as
the nations' top onlinegaming companies start to rush to the tech-heavy
Nasdaq. Webzen, South Korea's secondlargest online game developer, raised
$97.2 million with a surprise Nasdaq listing Dec. 16. Chinese bellwether
Shanda Networking has also filed to make an initial public offering next
year, reportedly hoping to snap up around $300 million. "The potential
offering of Shanda will lead to stiff competition between the two companies
in the Nasdaq. It is really intriguing to see which will trigger investors'
appetite more," said Han Ik-hee, an analyst from Hyundai Investment &
Securities. Both companies' have the same immediate aim to enhance the
recognition of investors in the firm and to make money. But their long-term
goals are different, according to Han. Webzen is looking for a new source
of revenue like its local competitor and business leader NCSoft, which
keeps trying to make inroads in the American market.
From http://www.mic.go.kr/ 12/22/2003
TOP¡ü
Asia-Pacific to Lead STB Rebound
According to IMS Research, the worldwide market for digital set-top boxes
(STB) is poised for growth after a slow 2002, with box shipments expected
to reach 74.8 million units by 2008, from an estimated 36.4 million in
2003. Much of the growth will come from the Asia-Pacific region, specifically
China and India. The research firm expects that 25% of all TV households
will opt for digital services by 2008. Nevertheless, digital DTH set-tops
will retain the largest share of worldwide shipments, at 42% by 2008.
Digital cable boxes are forecast to account for a 39% share by 2008, while
advanced STBs will account for a 23% share.
From http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/ 01/01/2004
TOP¡ü
Broadband Lines Surpass 100 Million Worldwide
According to a survey by British firm Point Topic, worldwide broadband
Internet lines surpassed 100 million in 2003. The company said that the
total number of lines rose to more than 89 million in September, an increase
of more than 10 million lines. A spokesman said that the same percentage
growth in the fourth quarter of 2003 would push the global total of lines
past 100 million, making broadband Internet one of the fastest growing
technologies in history.
From http://govtech.public-cio.com/ 01/06/2004
TOP¡ü
Linux Platform Being Developed for Asia: the New
Server Platform Is Going to Be Called Asianux
( IDG NEWS SERVICE ) - Japan's Miracle Linux Corp. and China's Red Flag
Software Co. are jointly developing a Linux server platform for corporate
and government users in the Asian market. Working together at Oracle Corp.'s
China Development Center in Beijing, the companies plan to collaborate
on creating Asianux, a Linux server operating environment providing a
common kernel, library and packages for server operating systems, the
companies said today. The overarching goal to is to build Linux standards
in the Asian market, the companies said. Red Flag, a Linux operating system
vendor, and Miracle Linux, a Linux server operating system developer,
will individually distribute and market Asianux and plan to base new products
such as Red Flag DC 4.1 and Miracle Linux Version 3.0 on Asianux. Miracle
Linux and Red Flag, along with Oracle, will offer joint technical support
for all Asianux-based products. Oracle owns a 58.5% stake in Miracle Linux,
according to the company's Web site. Representatives from Red Flag and
Miracle Linux couldn't immediately comment on when products using Asianux
will be available. Hardware and software from Oracle and other companies
that take advantage of Asianux will be certified at Oracle's China Development
Center. The advantage of such a joint certification program will be in
getting products to market in a more timely fashion while offering consumers
a greater choice of software and hardware products using Linux, the companies
said. In addition to the Asianux collaboration, Miracle Linux is also
looking into distributing Red Flag's desktop operating system in Japan
in collaboration with Red Flag, the companies said. Following a desire
to crack the dominance of Western software companies in the operating
system and applications market in Asia, the governments of Japan, China
and South Korea have actively been promoting the development of Linux
as an alternative to Microsoft Corp.'s products. In September, the governments
launched a joint open-source software project aimed at developing desktop
applications, embedded programs, middleware and operating systems. (by
Laura Rohde)
From http://www.computerworld.com/ 01/07/2004
TOP¡ü
Asian ADSL Subscribers Soon to Surpass Those of
US
(TOKYO) -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United
States announced in December 2003 its summary report on the country's
number of broadband subscribers as of the end of June 2003. The report
was published on the FCC's Web site saying that the number had reached
16.3 million at the end of June 2003, out of which asymmetric digital
subscribers lines (ADSL) accounted for 7.7 million. ADSL subscribers in
Japan outnumbered those of the US and Korea in the first half of 2003.
According to the statistics of Japan's Ministry of Public Management,
Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT), the subscribers reached
8.26 million at the end of June 2003, overwhelming 7.7 million of the
US and 6.3 million of Korea. As of the end of November 2003, the number
went up to 9.91 million. Japan almost caught up to Korea in the total
number of broadband lines in June 2003. Japan's broadband lines reached
11 million including Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), which was close to the
11.1 million of Korea. But the number has still been behind that of the
US, where subscribers have been increasing at a pace of 0.5 to 0.6 million
per month, with a steady growth of CATV Internet. A newcomer recently
appeared in the race of Japan, the US and Korea, and is almost keeping
abreast of or may even be getting ahead of the three. The new player is
China, the broadband lines of which totaled about 9 million at the end
of June 2003 and have been increasing at a rate of 0.6 million lines or
so per month. China is expected to surpass Japan and Korea soon, and will
compete with the US. In 2004, China may seize the top position in the
broadband arena.
From http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/ 01/08/2004
TOP¡ü
Busan Finalized as Host City of 2004 ITU Telecom
Asia
Korea's southeastern port city of Busan won the right to host the 2004
ITU (International Telecommunication Union) Telecom Asia, the largest
IT trade show in Asia. The Ministry of Information and Communication reported
on Monday (Oct. 13) that Chin Dae-je, Minister of Information and Communication,
and ITU Secretary General Yoshio Utsumi reached an agreement on selecting
Busan as the host city of the event and concluded the agreement at the
ITU Telecom World 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday. ITU Telecom
Asia 2004 scheduled for Sept. 7-11 will feature an international telecommunication
exhibition and a special session of the world telecommunication forum.
The exhibition will bring together the displays of the latest telecom
technologies and services, while the forum will address the latest telecom
issues in the region. The ministry expects that the show will draw about
500 IT companies all over the world and more than 50,000 foreign visitors
including such dignitaries as ministers of various countries and CEOs
of the world's renowned IT firms during the show period.
From http://www.mic.go.kr/ 10/15/2003
TOP¡ü
Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) Decides to Hold
Asia Broadband Summit
The 27th Session of the Management Committee (27th MC) was held in Macao
Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China from October
21 through 24, 2003. At the 27th MC, a work program, annual budget, etc.
were approved by Members after discussions thereon. In addition, the 27th
MC decided to convene the Asia Broadband Summit (Asia Pacific Ministerial
Conference on Broadband & ICT Development) in 2004 for the commemoration
of APT's 25th Anniversary. At the Summit, with the purpose of deploying
broadband platforms at an early stage in the Asia-Pacific region, telecommunications
ministers from around the Asia-Pacific region will convene and deliberate
upon broadband policies, regulations, technologies, etc. in order to announce
action guidelines for the introduction of broadband platforms. At the
MC, a work program for 2004 was adopted that includes i) holding of an
"Asia Pacific Telecommunication Development Forum (ADF)" for bridging
the digital divide, ii) frequency coordination in the wireless service
field, iii) standardization activities, iv) holding of the "APT Wireless
Forum" for the purpose of effective collaboration on activities for human
resources development, etc.
From http://www.soumu.go.jp/ 11/17/2003
TOP¡ü
Korea, Japan Hold City Development Cooperation
Conference
Korea and Japan are holding their 21st "City Development Cooperation
Conference" in Seoul November 17-21, the Ministry of Construction and
Transportation (MOCT) reported. The discussions focus on such issues as
traffic problems, city development policies, park construction projects,
and the improvement of sewage systems, the ministry said. Korean and Japanese
representatives will also address policy changes, revisions, and modernization
efforts regarding land development projects and the administrative procedures
to implement them. The restoration of the Cheonggyechon waterway in Seoul
and the Japanese endeavors to revitalize cities and improve their scenic
views will also be part of the conference. MOCT and the Japanese Ministry
of Land, Infrastructure and Transport are co-sponsors of the conference,
which first began in 1983 with the aim of enhancing the two countries'
cooperation on city development endeavors. A number of government agencies
and civilian research organizations, including the Ministry of Environment,
the Seoul city government, the Korea Land Development Corporation and
the Japanese Measurement Planning Institute, have dispatched representatives
to the conference. The results of the conference will be reflected in
the city development policy-making process at central and regional government
levels, the ministry added. The 22nd conference is scheduled to take place
in Tokyo next year.
From http://www.kois.go.kr/ 11/18/2003
TOP¡ü
Regional Conference on Digital Divide Opens in
Seoul
More than 200 participants from around Asia gathered together in Seoul
Tuesday (Dec. 2) to share views on how to bridge the gap across the digital
divide. Hosted by the Ministry of Information and Communication, the 2003
International Symposium for the Narrowing of Digital Divide in East Asia
is aimed at studying ways to cope with the inequitable distribution of
information technology. On hand at the two-day conference are the government
representatives of Korea, China and Japan, and ASEAN, Kim Hak-su, executive
secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(UNESCAP) and high-level officials from the ASEAN's Telecommunication
Senior Officials Meeting (TELSOM) and major UN organizations, and scholars
from Korea and abroad. At the opening ceremony, Yang June-chul, the ministry's
international cooperation officer, said that at a time when the world's
IT environment is rapidly moving toward the ubiquitous network era, it
is urgent to narrow the digital divide among the member countries of the
ASEAN Plus Three. The international forum draws particular attention because
it is expected to provide a forum for regional cooperation on digital
divide ahead of the opening of the World Summit on the Information Society
this month in Geneva, Switzerland.
From http://www.mic.go.kr/ 12/03/2003
TOP¡ü
Korea, Iran Hold Communication Cooperation Conference
The 5th Korea-Iran Telecommunication Cooperation Commission meeting began
a 5-day run in Teheran on Thursday (Dec. 4), the Ministry of Information
and Communication (MIC) reported. Byun Jae-il, MIC Deputy Minister, and
his Iranian counterpart, Ali Kermanshah, are chairing the conference where
discussion will focus on measures and projects that would enhance the
level of bilateral Korea-Iranian cooperation, especially in the field
of communication and telecommunication, the ministry said. In particular,
Mr. Byun will meet with Seyed Ahmad Motamedi, Iranian communication minister,
and Mr. Ali Sanati, head of the state-run Telecommunication Company of
Iran, to ask for greater participation of Korean companies in the Iranian
fixed-line/mobile telecommunication network expansion projects that are
currently under way. The two countries first began holding the telecommunication
cooperation commission conferences in 1991, and the 4th meeting took place
three years ago, in 2000. Korea's information technology (IT) exports
to Iran are estimated at $120 million.
From http://www.mic.go.kr/ 12/04/2003
TOP¡ü
2003 International Symposium on Digital Mobility
and Mobile Government
On December 18, 2003 the Ministry of Information and Communication hosted
the 2003 International Symposium on Digital Mobility and Mobile Government.
On December 18, 2003 the Ministry of Information and Communication hosted
the 2003 International Symposium on Digital Mobility and Mobile Government.
The symposium was organized by KISDI and co-sponsored by the Korea Council
of Economic and Social Research Institute. Experts in e-Government and
m-Government from the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, and Japan made presentations
and had an in-depth discussion on a mobile government, which was the focus
of e-Government projects.In the opening address, KISDI President John
H. Lee said that objective of the e-Government project of the Participatory
Government was to make people's life more comfortable and happy and that
he hoped an m-Government would increase transparency in the administration
and people's participation in the government. In the following congratulatory
remarks, Suk Nam Moon, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Korea
Council of Economic and Social Research Institute said that this international
symposium was very timely and significant as mobile technology had contributed
to increasing efficiency in the administrative system and that this symposium
would bring the world one step closer to the era of Mobile Government.
In the first session presided by Yoon-Shik Lee, a professor of the Public
Administration Department at Soongsil University, participants had a discussion
on "m-Government, the Extended mobility of e-Government." Jerry Mechling,
a professor at John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University,
made a presentation on "E-Government Progress and Digital Mobility: Where
Now and Next?" and Bo Yeoul Hwang, a professor at KAIST on "m-Government
Initiatives for Korean e-Government." In his presentation, Mr. Mechling
said, "e-Government means not only more efficient administrative services
and process but also creating public good and value using information
technology." He proposed that the top priority of e-government and m-government
should be to explore how to minimize inequality in providing civil services
and how to encourage the public to raise its voice in government administration.
Dr. Mechling forecast that e-government projects would be expanded driven
by wireless and broadband technology and administrative structure and
services would be not only changed but also re-invented. He added that
the success of m-government initiatives would depend on the leadership
of the government in charge. In the following presentation, professor
Hwang introduced 31 action plans of Korea's m-government initiative with
his paper on "m-Government Initiative for Korean e-government." He also
proposed future implementation strategies. In the second session on "M-Government
Applications and Services" chaired by Yong-duck Jung, a professor at Graduate
School of Public Administration of Seoul National University, detailed
strategies to implement a m-government were presented. Gareth Morgan,
the Managing Director of Ferret Information Systems, a British consulting
company specialized in e-government projects, made presentation on "Local
and central government partnerships with m-Government services" and introduced
the British situation, in which central and local governments had been
in a constant conflict with each other in order to gain more power as
in the case in Korea. He focused on the fact that the U.K. case is a lot
more complicated as historical and religious issues are intertwined and
Wales and Scotland are trying to gain independency.Mr. Morgan said that
the central government of the U.K. plans to reduce alienation felt by
local governments and achieve national unity by implementing an m-government
initiative by 2005. In the second session, attention was drawn to the
presentation on the mobile government initiative of Swedish government.
Olov Ostberg, the Organizational Director of the Swedish Agency for Public
Management, said that Sweden's geological, demographic, and political
factors contributed to the development of mobile telecommunications industry
of Sweden. He introduced "An Information Society For All," a national
project pushed forward by the Swedish government. Shirai Hitosh, the General
Manager of the Electronic Government Project Development Operation Center
of Government and Public Corporation Information Systems Group of Hitachi,
said in his presentation on "e-Government, e-Governance and Mobil Life"
that e-Government projects would change the Japanese government into more
strategic, participatory, and transparent one.In his presentation on "M-Government
Applications in Korea: Cases and Lessons", Sang-Young Shin, an Associate
Research Fellow at the Center for Urban Information System of the Seoul
Development Institute, said that in a society where mobile services are
popular like Korea, an e-government project would inevitably develop into
an m-government project. He emphasized that security concerns must be
addressed for the success of e-government and m-government projects as
the recent NEIS stalemate had showed. The five hour long symposium was
a great success with the 200 seats full throughout sessions. In particular,
employees and executives from about 80 companies in the mobile telecommunications
industry participated in the symposium showing their interests in m-government
projects.
From http://www.kisdi.re.kr/ 12/19/2003
TOP¡ü
International Conference on ICCIT Begins at JU
The 6th International Conference on Computer and Information Technology
(ICCIT) began at Jahangirnagar University (JU) here on Friday. Education
Minister Dr Osman Farruk formally inaugurated the 3- day conference, organised
by the JU Electronics and Computer Science Department, as the chief guest
at the university auditorium. Speaking on the occasion, the Education
Minister said the government has integrated IT education with the secondary
school curricula and has also taken up appropriate measures, such as,
information and communication technology(ICT) scholarship for girls, as
part of the overall development of ICT in the country. About 50,000 computers
and hardware's have been distributed among the secondary schools to promote
IT education, and diploma courses on ICT have also been introduced in
government higher- education institutions, he said. "ICT has become a
thrust-sector, a national policy on ICT has also been formulated, and
the government is going ahead with the action plan to bring about the
development of this sector and towards giving it a really global competitive
edge," he added. In this regard, he cited the establishment of the ICT-
incubator, entrepreneur funds, and the progress towards the establishing
of E- governance. "We've already liberalized the telecommunications regulations
and the sector has largely been digitised for the infrastructural development
of the ICT to cope with global competition" the Minister said. He hoped
that the ICCIT-2003 would generate a great level of enthusiasm, and also
create opportunities for more cooperation in this regard among the participating
members. Presided over by JU Vice -Chancellor Prof Jasim Uddin Ahmed,
the inaugural session, was also addressed, by Dr.Zahidur Rahman, chairman
of the conference organising committee and Prof Mohammad Ataul Karim,
Dean, School of Engineering, City College of the City University of New
York. Over 200 papers are expected to be presented in 39 sessions during
the 3-day conference focusing on the various fields of ICT including E-Commerce,
E-Governance, Bengali Processing, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.
ICT specialists from IT countires including the USA, UK, Canada, Japan
and Australia and a number of specialists from Bangladesh are attending
the conference.
From http://nation.ittefaq.com/ 12/19/2003
TOP¡ü
WSIS Held in Geneva
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), organized by the
United Nations with the preparatory process led by the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU),was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from December 10 to 12, 2003.
The Summit addressed the establishment of a common vision concerning the
Information Society and adopted a "Declaration of Principles" and "Plan
of Action." About 20,000 visitors from 176 countries/economies took part
in the Summit, including heads of government from 54 countries and 83
ministers in charge of ICT. From Japan, His Excellency Mr. ASO Taro, Minister
for Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications participated.
From http://www.soumu.go.jp/ 12/26/2003
TOP¡ü
Asia-Pacific Telecom Sector to See Growth in 2004,
Says Gartner
January 21, 2004 (HONG KONG) -- Better economic conditions, improving
carrier financial performance and a decline in price competition will
see the fortunes of the Asia-Pacific telecom sector brighten in 2004,
according to Gartner. "This will not only result in new service offerings
but it will also lead to the first growth in telecom investment in the
region for five years," said Bertrand Bidaud, vice president of Industries
at Gartner. But despite improving conditions, the situation is not rosy
for everyone. "Some sectors of the industry, such as long distance and
international, will continue to feel the pain of over-capacity. The effect
of a renewed focus on growth will be patchy and not yet pay dividends
for many carriers during 2004," added Andrew Chetham, principal analyst
at Gartner research. In 2004, Asia-Pacific carrier investments in telecom
infrastructure are expected to start to grow again for the first time
since 1999. During the year investment is expected to be 9% higher than
in 2003. It will still remain however, 11% lower than the record levels
reached during the boom in 1999. One noteworthy feature of the market
will be the increasing spending on next-generation technologies, bringing
voice and data together on the same networks. Increasingly carriers building
in green-field locations, especially in China and India, will move straight
to next-generation networks rather than deploy older style switched infrastructure.
During 2004 the Asia-Pacific region will add another 125 million phone
connections across fixed and Mobile services - equivalent to a growth
of around 13% over 2003. By the end of 2004 there will be 1.1 billion
phone users in the region. But this subscriber growth will come at the
expense of customer yields which will dampen revenue growth. Revenue growth
across fixed and mobiles services combined in 2004 will reach around US$17.1
billion - only around 7% up on 2003.
China: Largest DSL Market
The Chinese broadband market has built up huge momentum during 2003 making
it the fastest growing major DSL market. Japan only just took over from
the US, which itself only just took over from Korea. Japan is still growing
quickly but now has around 10 million DSL connections, and is increasingly
becoming a mature DSL market. In China, penetration is still relatively
low and the carriers are offering their customers some of the cheapest
broadband services in the world, as low as US$6 a month, to tempt them
to use the service. China is also one of the most vibrant markets for
mobile phones. Gartner expects sales there to exceed 70 million units
in 2004. The market's sheer size will propel one of the leading Chinese
handset brands into the worldwide top 10 biggest phone manufacturers during
2004. Ningbo Bird has already achieved this feat on a quarterly basis
during the third quarter of 2003. In 2004, Gartner expects one of the
larger China brands to secure a position in the global top ten, backed
by growing export volumes in addition to continued strong sales in the
China domestic market. Chinese manufacturers account for 38% of sales
in China in 2003
From http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/ 01/21/2004
TOP¡ü
WSIS
The
From
TOP¡ü |
|
| |
AZERBAIJAN: Azercell Telecom and Base NV/SA
Concluded Agreement
The joint venture Azercell Telecom concluded third roaming agreement
in Belgia. Particularly, it signed agreement with Belgium-based BASE NV/SA,
operating cellular communication, concluded third agreement. Agency "Trend"
reports earlier JV Azercell inked agreements with Belgacom Mobile and
Mobistar S.A. According to Azercell Telecom, all three operators are included
into the roaming network of Azercell Telecom. It should be noted Azercell
Telecom maintains roaming with 172 operators from 79 countries worldwide.
From http://www.bakutoday.net/ 11/11/2003
TOP¡ü
CHINA: Hong Kong Government Supports Use of
Open Source Software
The Government is committed to supporting the development and use of
open source software, the Acting Director of Information Technology Services,
Mr Stephen Mak Hung-sung, said today (November 4). Officiating at the
Linux Business Adoption Award Presentation Ceremony and the opening of
the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo Hong Kong 2003, Mr Mak said the Government
welcomed the broadening of product choice brought by the development of
open source software. "In selecting software products and services, the
Government emphasises value for money and interoperability, with no preference
for brand names or particular technologies," he said. Various policies
and measures to promote open source software as a viable option for deployment
have been adopted and Government departments have been installing such
software progressively. Nearly 1,000 open source software solutions have
been installed on computers and servers in about half of all Government
departments. The Government recently issued a public consultation paper
on the 2004 Digital 21 Strategy. Among other things, the strategy reinforces
the Government's commitment to facilitate the development of innovative
applications, deepen the e-government programme and foster the development
of open source software through funding and other support measures. To
promote the use of open source software in Hong Kong, the Information
Technology Services Department, the Hong Kong Productivity Council and
the Hong Kong Linux Industry Association have jointly organised the Linux
Business Adoption Campaign. The Linux Business Adoption Award is one of
the key activities of the Campaign. Fourteen organisations were recognised
for successfully deploying Linux in their applications. The awards covered
a wide range of sectors and application areas, comprising office automation
and business application, infrastructure building and communication, education
and Linux appliance. The winners included small and medium enterprises
as well as large enterprises, schools, tertiary institutions and a government
department. The Drainage Services Department received the Merit Award
in the Infrastructure Building and Communication Application category.
From http://www.itsd.gov.hk/ 11/04/2003
TOP¡ü
Software Enhancement Key Gov't Priority
The Government supports the information technology industry in enhancing
software engineering practices to produce high-quality software, Director
of Information Technology Services Alan Wong says. Speaking at the opening
ceremony of the Asia Pacific Software Engineering Process Group Conference
2003, Mr Wong said he recognised the importance of software quality as
people relied more and more on IT and telecoms services. The Government
fully supported the adoption of quality management systems and accreditation
by the IT industry, he said. $5 million funds grant to improve software
development To assist local software vendors in improving their software
development processes through adopting the Capability Maturity Model,
he said, the Government has allocated $5 million to launch a Capability
Maturity Model Assessment Grant through the Innovation & Technology Fund.
The funding was awarded to 15 software vendors, which are expected to
attain Capability Maturity Model Level 2 or above by early 2005. The Trade
& Industry Department has also provided, through the Small & Medium Enterprise
Development Fund, financial support to IT professional bodies to conduct
CMM training courses. Training courses well received About $2 million
has been approved so far for this purpose and the training courses have
been well received by IT practitioners. Mr Wong said that the Information
Technology Services Department was also committed to improving the Government's
software process and quality management. The department has more than
700 IT professionals involved in software-engineering projects or management
of software-driven computer systems. To maintain their professional standards,
regular training and refresher programmes are provided. The department
is also establishing a knowledge-management system to promote a culture
of knowledge creation and sharing, including in the field of software
engineering.
From http://www.news.gov.hk/ 11/19/2003
TOP¡ü
Six Measures Initiated to Boost Information
Industry
China will initiate six measures to facilitate technical innovation and
industrialization of scientific research and to boost the information
industry, said a ranking official with the Ministry of Information Industry
in Beijing Thursday. Lou Qinjian, vice-minister of information industry,
said China's information industry should target the domestic market while
exploring and developing the international market, and forge a market-oriented
system for technical innovation, in which companies should play leading
roles with governmental support. China should guarantee the implementation
of a law on intellectual property protection and strengthen information
collection and analysis, Lou noted. Research and development centers set
up by multinationals and domestic companies should be encouraged to accumulate
self-developed patent technology. Local companies' awareness of intellectual
property should also be enhanced. He said there was still a big gap between
China and developed countries in the information industry sector. Since
China is short of nuclear technology in some important areas, multinationals
have occupied the market with better and more funding and technology.
Although the annual increase rate of patent applications remained at over
23 percent in recent years, most Chinese companies still needed to strengthen
their awareness and management of intellectual property. The added value
of China's exporting commodities was relatively low because of the lack
of intellectual property. Statistics showed the growth rate of China's
information industry was twice or even three times the country's gross
domestic product (GDP). Despite the impact of severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) disease earlier this year, China's information industry
still completed an added value of 530.4 billion yuan (about US$64 billion
US dollars) from Jan. to Oct., accounting for 5.7 percent of the GDP.
From Xinhua News Agency 11/28/2003
TOP¡ü
Beijing Special Program for Construction of
Digital Olympics
"Digital Olympics" is the epoch feature of "High-Tech Olympics", developing
means of "people's Olympics" and important back-up of "Green Olympics".
In accordance with the objectives and tasks set in "Action Plan for Beijing
Olympic Games", this program has been especially drawn up so as to provide
best information service for 2008 Olympic Games by integrating with development
strategy of informatization in Beijing. ¢ñ.Objective and Strategy 1. Objective
The following is the overall objective of "Digital Olympics": ensuring
successful hosting of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, establishing a comprehensive
information service system based on individuality and tasking people as
a dominant factor, conforming to international norms and demonstrating
Chinese characteristic, speeding-up construction of "Digital Beijing",
promoting industrial development and showing the standards and achievements
of China's informatization. The imagery objective of "Digital Olympics"
is: by and large ensuring that anybody at any time and in any place related
to the Olympics can enjoy in a secure, convenient, swift and efficient
manner the information service that is affordable, diversified, multi-linguistically
intellectualized and individualized. 2. Strategies Internationalized strategy:
Aiming at top international standards, "international outlook, international
talents and standards" are reflected in the process of making and implementing
this program. Strive for breakthrough in system and technological innovation.
Strategy of applying advanced and matured technologies: Applying advanced,
matured, secure and reliable technologies so as to ensure all work will
go on smoothly during the Olympic Games. Strategy based on taking people
as a dominant factor: Taking into full consideration the needs of every
Olympic participant so as to meet his individualized need. Strategy for
the central and municipal governments to join: The central and municipal
governments join forces so as to share resources for better results. Strategy
for promoting industries: Promote the development of information industry
by making use of "Digital Olympics" opportunity. Strategy for sustainable
development: Various facilities built by "Digital Olympics" will not only
play an important role during the Olympic Games, but also continue to
be used for a long time after the Olympic Games so that sustainable development
can be achieved. ¢ò.Major Tasks of "Digital Olympics" 1. Communication
Services On the basis of communication network existing in Beijing, building
advanced communication facilities of various types must be sped up so
as to provide eventually a broad band digitalized communication system
which is highly reliable and flexible, can be expanded, be given to building
transmission network for new technologies. Priority should be given to
building transmission network for the Olympics and Olympic comprehensive
telecom bureau. Infrastructures including various communication networks,
seabed optical fiber, satellite communication system, digital trunk network,
radio network and Internet should be actively used so as to offer services
conforming to the communication standards of various countries in the
world. 2. Broadcast and TV Services Broadcast and TV special network must
be built for Olympic stadiums and gymnasiums so as to create a reliable
platform for TV broadcast relays of the Olympic Games and signal transmission,
and facilitate the people throughout the world to enjoy Beijing's spectacular
Olympic Games in 2008. Bring about the technological change from analogue
to digital in broadcast and TV sector. Set up digital cable TV network
in cities, digital satellite live TV system, and digital TV system on
the ground and digital broadcasting system. Services will be expanded
in a big way in order to provide the Olympics with diversified digital
broadcast and TV programs as well as their value-added service. 3. Event
Information System Assist the Olympic Organizing Committee of Beijing
in fully cooperating with technological partner of cooperation appointed
by the International Olympic Committee. Build a leading information system
in the world for both Olympic and Paralympics which will meet the demands
of the International Olympic Committee. 4. Buildings Symbolizing Digital
Olympics Build an Olympic hub of comprehensive information with the aim
of providing multi-functional comprehensive services so as to support
and ensure Internet and inter-communicating, resources-sharing and commanding
and decision-making among various information systems. After the Olympic
Games, this hub can be used again as a commanding center for major activities
in China and Beijing, and the control center of informatization for "Digital
Beijing". 5. Comprehensive Pipelines for Olympic-Based Communication Make
a unified plan of and build common pipelines for Olympic-based communication
lines. Make rational use of space resources belonging to communication
passage. Build telecom, cable TV and computer networks in a planned way
so as to avoid repetition of construction of this kind. Make a unified
plan of the increase of pipeline resources, make best use of their storage
and provide fair services. 6. Comprehensive Information Service for the
Public Establish a comprehensive information service system for the public
based on individuality, taking people as a dominant factor, conforming
to international norms and demonstrating Chinese characteristics, and
the need of the disabled and retarded for information service is taken
into special consideration. Coordinate various social information resources
to establish information service data banks for the public. Make good
use of such means as digital TV and broadcast, computer networks, mobile
telecom facilities and telephones to ensure by and large that anybody
at any time and in any place related to the Olympics can enjoy in a secure,
convenient, swift and efficient manner the information service that is
affordable, diversified, multi- linguistically intellectualized and individualized.
Priority should be given to building information kiosks within easy reach
of ordinary people, satellite-positioning system, giant-screen systems
at public places, short-time weather forecast and warning system for small
areas as well as virtual Olympic museum. 7. E-Business Platform for the
Olympics Build and perfect the back-up environment for E-business. Establish
back-up systems with international standards for certificate authority,
payment and delivery of E-business needed in the services for the Olympics.
Develop in a big way such E-business services as accommodation, catering,
tourism and shopping helpful to the Olympics. 8. Sports Informatization
and Fitness-for-All Campaign Enhance the information system concerning
Beijing's sports industry and the city's Fitness-for-All campaign in a
planned way. Conduct researches on building a health information platform
which provides information on fitness, physical checkup, entertainment,
health consultation to meet Beijing citizens' increasing demand for physical
culture. Priority should be given to improve the information technology
content in sports facilities and sports training. 9. Comprehensive Traffic
Information Services Build intelligent traffic management information
system and public traffic information services system. Users' friendly
traffic services will improve Beijing's general traffic management and
meet the traffic demand during the Olympic Games period. 10. Olympic Logistic
Information Services A highly efficient and secure Olympic logistic coordination
platform will be built to provide sufficient logistic management and real-time
supervision for Olympic projects and other logistic services including
that related to competition events and garbage recycle. 11. Use of I.C.
Making use of I.C. technology provides a secure, reliable, convenient
and unified intellectual means for persons related to the Olympics in
the process of multi-individualized information services such as the Olympic
registration, certificate authority, payment and service. Promote the
use of various cards such as communication card and bank card and formulate
relevant policies. Establish card payment networks, terminal and their
corresponding information applicable system throughout Beijing which meet
the international standards and need for future development. Create a
sound environment for card payment so as to provide all- dimensional service
for various payments and use during 2008 Olympics. 12. Multi-Linguistic
Intellectual Information Service Make use of artificial intelligence technology
to understand natural languages so as to remove language barriers and
offer multi-linguistic intellectual information service for the people
related to the Olympics at any time, in any place and with facilities
of various kinds. As a result, people can get to know each other with
the help of this technology so that friendship and mutual understanding
will be promoted and the goal of "people's Olympics" better realized.
13. Safeguards for Information Security and Comprehensive Security Establish
insurance system for the Olympic information security to ensure the security
for the Olympic networks and information and smooth functioning for various
information systems and guard against such criminal acts as the attack
from hackers and damage caused by viruses. Provide information and back-up
technology for the Olympic networks and information security system so
as to effectively impose supervision and control. Coordinate information
resources in Beijing; establish comprehensive security information system
so as to provide support for handling unexpected incidents, preventing
terrorist activities and ensuring public security. 14. Radio Control Strengthen
overall planning of radio frequencies in order to make good preparations
in terms of frequency for the Olympics and meet the need of Beijing and
other 5 Olympic-event holding cities for radio frequencies so as to render
service to the Olympics. Speed up establishing the back-up system for
radio management technology in Beijing, Improve compatible analysis and
test of frequency usage so as to prevent frequency interference. Improve
management of frequency spectrum, radio signal monitoring, interference
analysis and testing capability for radio equipment. 15. Olympic Project
Management Carry out system innovations to promote the development of
Olympic construction project management system toward standardization
and internationalization. Build information system for Olympic construction
project management; Combine such government agencies related to the Olympic
construction as planning, municipal construction, environmental protection,
municipal administration, communication and information under Beijing
Municipal Government in order to strengthen unified and coordinated management
and supervision over projects. 16. Back-up Information System for Olympic
Venues and Facilities In accordance with functioning demand on the facilities
of the Olympic venues, intellectualized standards and norms must be drawn
up for them. Improve intellectualized levels of venues; make an overall
planning of comprehensive line-fixing systems in venues and build comprehensive
monitoring system in these places so as to impose concentrated and visualized
coordinated control and supervision over key facilities in them. Priority
should be given to building 3D simulated information system in venues
so as to render service to commanding and decision-making for leadership,
coordinating work among various departments and participation of the whole
nation. 17. Platform for Sharing Commanding and Decision-Making Information
Supported by building symbolizing Digital Olympics, make comprehensive
and integrated use of information infrastructures for the Olympics such
as digital trunk system and build a platform for sharing comprehensive
command and decision-making. Build sub-commanding systems for competition
events, traffic, health care, security and fire emergency so as to realize
interconnection and intercommunication of various information systems
and sharing of information resources and coordination of commands and
decision-making. 18. Comprehensive Emergency Safeguard Information System
Perfect various customer service centers to enhance the social collaboration
system. Build a comprehensive emergency safeguard system. 19. Back-Up
Environment for Information Industry Sound back-up environment for Beijing's
information industry is basic support and guarantee for the success of
"Digital Olympics". In accordance with requirements for successfully hosting
the Olympics, proper readjustment concerning "Tenth 5-Year" Program for
Beijing's information industry development must be made, building "Digital
Beijing" sped up, priority given to the construction of Beijing's information
industry in the key fields and sectors such as comprehensive sector (E-government,
and broad band and network connecting project), resource and environment,
planning and construction and people's economy all closely related to
the Olympics so as to create powerful back-up environment for "Digital
Olympics". 20. Key Technology and Information Industry Bring the role
of "Digital Olympics" in promoting "Digital Beijing" into full play, and
upgrade in an overall manner comprehensive standards of Beijing's information
environment. Priority should be given to conduct researches on the key
technologies such as multi-language translating, biological technology
and broadband wireless interconnection, IC, real-time information services
and information security. Promote industrialized standards of such manufacturing
industries as I.C. and I.C. corresponding equipment, information terminal
equipment, digital media equipment, and sports digital equipment so as
to give a push to the development of such industries as software, database,
information system, information security, electronic game, and information
service. ¢ó. Safeguard Measures In order to realize the objective and task
of "Digital Olympics" Program, and ensure the implementation and completion
of the action plan, sound and effective safeguard measures must be worked
out. 1. Strengthen Coordination of Leadership and Assurance of Organization
Establish the leading and executive organs for "Digital Olympics", and
create an organizing system that will ensure smooth implementation of
the Action Plan for "Digital Olympics". Headed by Beijing Municipal Office
of National Information Infrastructure under the leadership of a mayor
in charge of this sector from the municipal government, together with
other municipal departments concerned, coordinating and specialist committees
will be formed. "Digital Olympics" Office will be established so as to
work closely with the technology projects for "Digital Olympics". 2. Strengthen
Building of Human Resources In accordance with the schedule, make overall
planning, introduce professionals, mobilize volunteers, intensify training
of prospective professionals, and establish multi-tiered system for providing
human resources so as to ensure professionals of various types available
in time for the construction and service of the Olympics. 3. Promote Operational
Innovation and Multi-Channel Fund-Raising In accordance with the rules
of market economy, keep making explorations and innovations in terms of
operational mechanism concerning project construction, encourage social
investment by making use of small amount of start-up capital so as to
bring into play good results of making use of capital. Investment relations
must be very well coordinated between the municipal government, the Olympic
Organizing Committee and enterprise community. Operational mechanisms
popular internationally at present must be extensively applied so as to
introduce and absorb foreign capital, raise social fund, put it under
efficient management and make fair use of it. 4. Promote in an Active
Manner Further Development of "Digital Olympic" Strengthen propaganda
work for "Digital Olympics", and bring into full play wisdom of the entire
society. March forward together with our times, keep improving this program
and promote further development of "Digital Olympics". In the spirit of
taking in everything, learn experiences from other Olympics-hosting countries
and introduce advanced international technologies and management. Work
for holding "Digital Olympics" forum on international information technologies
and its equipment exhibition respectively in 2003 and 2006 so as to promote
international exchanges in this area and further development of China's
information technologies and the industries concerned.
From http://www.bnii.gov.cn/ 12/03/2003
TOP¡ü
Hong Kong Opens Wireless Development Center
With funding support of HK$12 million from the Innovation and Technology
Fund of the HKSAR government, the Hong Kong Wireless Development Center
(HKWDC) was opened to support the development of the local mobile and
wireless industry. Located at the Cyberport in Pokfulam, the HKWDC was
established by the Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association
(WTIA) with technical support from the Hong Kong Productivity Council
(HKPC). Speaking at the opening ceremony, Duncan Lau, chairman of WTIA,
said, "The opening of the HKWDC will play an important role in Hong Kong's
development as a mobile and wireless hub in the Asia-Pacific region. The
center offers an open platform linking vendors, operators and developers,
and facilitating the development and application of mobile and wireless
solutions in Hong Kong." The HKWDC supports the development of the wireless
industry in three major areas, including the testing of wireless and mobile
applications, the provision of technical consultancy and business support,
and the promotion of wireless application technology across different
industry sectors. It is expected to provide infrastructure and software
support, technical consultancy and quality assurance services to industry
players. It also keeps the industry updated on the latest in technology
trends and standards, as well as technical and market information pertaining
to research and development, according to Lau. In addition, a series of
training seminars and partnership events will be organized to facilitate
knowledge sharing and business collaboration among industry players and
other sectors. For developers with new applications, the HKWDC also includes
a showcase area for the display and demonstration of their wireless solutions.
HKWDC has a focal feature in its five individual development suites, which
are the only testing facilities in Hong Kong that enable wireless solutions
developers to test their new applications within the same network or across
different operators' networks. This reduces their development time and
costs. These suites have direct connectivity to all mobile network operators
in Hong Kong in CDMA, GSM, GPRS, 802.11, EDGE and future 3G models, and
have a full range of handheld devices available in the market for testing
purposes.
From http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/ 12/17/2003
TOP¡ü
Shanghai Sets Targets for 2004
The Shanghai Committee of the Communist Party of China set targets for
the city's economic growth, unemployment rate and consumer price index
for next year at a two-day plenary session that ended Wednesday. The gathering
called for economic growth to exceed 10 percent next year, compared with
the 11.8 percent growth the city expects to report this year, and the
official unemployment rate to remain just under 5 percent. The consumer
price index should hover around 102 next year. It currently sits at about
103. The conference also passed a plan to make the city more competitive
by investing more in science and technology through 2010, when Shanghai
will host the World Expo. The plan said over 40 percent of the city's
GDP will be generated by new and high-tech industries in 2010. "The city's
economic development must be headed by innovation and high-caliber brains,"
Party Secretary Chen Liangyu told the 60 attendees of the meeting held
Wednesday. In response, the city's Science and Technology Commission said
Wednesday it will increase its financial support to research and development
from last year's 1.89 percent of GDP to 2.5 percent in 2007. "We expect
to push ahead a batch of state-of-the-art research projects over the next
seven years," said Li Yiping, director of the commission.
From http://www.eastday.com 12/18/2003
TOP¡ü
Local Firms, HKO Win Global IT Awards
Six local IT companies and the Hong Kong Observatory have been named
winners in this year's Asia Pacific Information & Communications Technology
Awards 2003 held in Thailand in early December. More than 120 projects
from 10 Asia-Pacific economies were entered in this year's contest. The
Hong Kong Computer Society nominated seven local entries to contest the
seven categories. Four of them won grand prizes and the rest took certificates
of merit. Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry & Technology Francis
Ho said the awards recognise Hong Kong's outstanding achievements in the
development of IT applications and e-Government services. They also prove
that the level of local IT applications has reached international standards,
Mr Ho said. The awards will not only enhance the local IT industry's international
image, but also help the sector gain a foothold in overseas markets, he
said. Background The Asia Pacific Information & Communications Technology
Awards is an international award programme founded in 2001 in Malaysia.
It aims to encourage IT innovation in small and medium enterprises and
individuals in the information and communications technology industry.
It also provides a platform to showcase the latest information and communications
technology from the Asia-Pacific region. The awards serve to stimulate
economic and trade relations, technology transfer, and provide business-matching
opportunities for the participants. Hong Kong's winning entries The seven
local winners are: * Best of Health Organisation: SoftEnable Technology
Limited Project: CASSOS Computer - Assisted Simulation System for Orthognathic
(dental/facial) Surgery * Best of Business Applications - Finance Organisation:
2GoTrade Limited Project: Go.ExchangeVS - Real Time Brokerage Application
Platform/ASP * Best of Communications Applications Organisation: Outblaze
Limited Project: Outblaze Messaging System * Best of Research & Development
Organisation: ShaoLin Microsystems Limited Project: ShaoLin Aptus 2.0
* Certificate of Merit of E-Government and Services Organisation: Hong
Kong Observatory, Hong Kong Government Project: World Weather Information
Service (WWIS) and Severe Weather Information Centre (SWIC) * Certificate
of Merit of Industrial Applications Organisation: e-commerce Logistics
Limited Project: The Warehouse Management System for the Logistics Industry
(WMS) * Certificate of Merit of E-Commerce Organisation: Global e-Business
Services Limited Project: Tendering Application Service (e-TAS) The next
Asia Pacific Information & Communications Technology Awards will be hosted
in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Computer Society in December 2004, with
funding support from the Innovation & Technology Fund.
From http://www3.news.gov.hk/ 12/19/2003
TOP¡ü
New Regulation on ID Card Issued
A new regulation on ID cards has been issued that protects individuals'personal
information and respects citizens' rights. Under the law, police officers
are unable to request an individual's ID card without a valid reason based
on Criminal Law. Also, the new regulation has annulled restrictions formally
placed on active army personnel, armed police, prisoners and young offenders
being reeducated through labour. In addition, the new law allows those
under the age of 16 to apply for ID cards. (by Xu Kun)
From CRIENGLISH.com 01/01/2004
TOP¡ü
IRAQ: Iraq, CPA Telecoms Contract
InterNetwork Experts, a wholly-owned subsidiary of I-Sector Corporation,
has won a contract with Spacelink International, for IP telephony communications
infrastructure for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. The contract
is for the three Office of CPA facilities in Basra, Mosul and Al Hillah.
From http://www.ameinfo.com/ 11/05/2003
TOP¡ü
JAPAN: IT Industry to Form Entity to Fight
Computer Viruses
TOKYO - NEC Corp, Microsoft Corp, Fujitsu Ltd and other firms and organizations
in the information technology industry are preparing to set up an entity
to prevent the spread of computer viruses, a leading economic daily reported
Friday. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said that Trend Micro Inc and the Japan
Network Security Association are among the partners to the new organization
to "track global computer viruses and security flaws in operating systems
to determine technologies and products that may be vulnerable."
From Kyodo News 11/21/2003
TOP¡ü
International Joint IT Experiments with China
Launched
MPHPT will set up a high-speed/-capacity international circuit between
Japan and China based on the "Asia Broadband Program" (announced in March
2003) and launch international joint IT experiments with China on a variety
of applications. These joint IT experiments will be implemented as "Advanced
IT Joint Experiments for the Formation of an International Telecommunications
Hub" as funded under the FY2003 budget. A large number of universities
and private corporations from both Japan and China will take part, aiming
to 1) promote the diffusion of IPv6 and 2) achieve compatibility within
a multilingual environment, in order to promote information flow within
the Asian region.
From http://www.soumu.go.jp/ 11/28/2003
TOP¡ü
NTT Opposes FTC Plan to Amend Antimonopoly
Law
OSAKA - Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) opposed Monday a proposal
by a Fair Trade Commission (FTC) study group to amend the Antimonopoly
Law to make it more effective with tighter fines and regulations on public
utilities. "There is no need to strengthen regulations and it (the plan)
needs more discussion," NTT said in a report presented to the FTC, the
nation's fair trade watchdog.
From Kyodo News 12/02/2003
TOP¡ü
MPHPT Sets Up Investigative Committee Concerning
the Promotion of Computerization in Regional Areas
The MPHPT has set up an investigative committee concerning the promotion
of computerization in regional areas, with the participation of experts,
so as to devise a blueprint for a public network linking local municipalities,
prefectual governments, and the national governments as a whole, and investigate
the development of policies for the period after fiscal 2005, while taking
into consideration the current status of computerization in regional areas.
The first meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 16.
From http://www.soumu.go.jp/ 12/15/2003
TOP¡ü
SOUTH KOREA: Ministry, Regulator Lock Horns
over Digital TV Timetable
The Ministry of Information and Communication (MOIC) and the Korea Broadcasting
Commission (KBC), the regulator of the nation's TV broadcasting market,
are locked in a dispute over the timetable for digitalization of the nation's
terrestrial broadcasting. A high-ranking MOIC official said Friday that
the commission's resolution to extend by seven more months the application
period for licenses for terrestrial digital broadcasting businesses in
provincial cities and counties was unauthorized. The official said that
the ministry would move ahead with the applications for the license as
originally scheduled. On 19th December 2000, the commission announced
its decision to grant terrestrial digital TV broadcasting licenses by
November 30 this year under its plan to convert the nation's current terrestrial
TV broadcasters into digital broadcasting. The commission, however, passed
a resolution on November 28 to extend the deadline for applications for
digital broadcasting business licenses by seven months, to June 30 next
year. Announcing the resolution, the commission said that it decided on
the deadline extension because it found that the U.S. technology for terrestrial
digital TV broadcasting, which was chosen by the government, has been
the subject of some disputes, and the commission wanted more time to reassess
the technological standards for digital broadcasts. Refuting the commission's
resolution, MOIC said that an extension of the license application period
could be decided only by the ministry. Back in 1997, MOIC chose the U.S.
technology as its standard for terrestrial digital TV broadcasting, but
several broadcasters later expressed opposition to the technology. The
broadcasters have been urging the government to reconsider it choice of
transmission technology. The nation's major electronics firms, including
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which have been enjoying strong
exports of their digital televisions to the United States, said that they
have invested only in digital TVs that could be sold in the North American
market. They said that Japanese firms are likely to take advantage of
the Korean government's possible decision to postpone the service. (by
Woo Byung-hyun)
From http://srch.chosun.com/ 12/05/2003
TOP¡ü
Ministry to Provide Fund for IT Curriculum
Improvement Next Year
The Ministry of Information and Communication reported Wednesday (Dec.
17) that it would provide a total of 16 billion won next year to finance
IT training program improvement at local educational institutions. The
fund will focus on overhauling the current IT training curriculum to meet
the technological demands of businesses, factories and markets, the ministry
noted. Each of the universities taking part in the curriculum improvement
program would receive 150 million won annually, while junior colleges
and vocational high schools would each get 100 million and 150 million
won, respectively. The government subsidy can be spent on purchasing IT-related
education/training equipment and software. In particular, schools will
be allowed to spend at least 20 percent of the subsidy on developing training-related
teaching materials or cyber-training teaching materials from next year.
Schools interested in the program can download application forms from
the homepage of the Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency (www.kipa.or.kr)
and submit them to KIPA by January 14.
From http://www.mic.go.kr/ 12/17/2003
TOP¡ü
Government Establish Matser Plan for Information-Oriented
Society
Seoul has established its plans to develop Korea in to a more information-oriented
society. Members of the Informatization Promotion Committee under the
Prime Minister office decided Wednesday to promote IT technology by building
a broadband communication network and encouraging the mergers and acquisitions
amongst local small and medium businesses. Through the new set of measures,
the government expects the production of IT goods including the next-generation
PCs to amount to some W110 trillion (US$92 billion) and its export to
reach W31 billion (US$26 million) by year 2007.
From http://srch.chosun.com/ 12/18/2003
TOP¡ü
ROK Aims to Double IT Output by 2007
South Korea seeks to more than double production of information technology
(IT) products to 400 trillion won by 2007. The plan is part of a larger
information development strategy, called the Broadband IT Korea Vision
2007. The Informatization Promotion Committee (IPC) finalized the plan
on Wednesday (Dec. 17). Prime Minister Goh Kun served as chairman. Under
the plan, IT exports will top $100 billion in 2007, up from $46.3 billion
last year. Sophisticated service robots, next-generation computers and
telematics applications will be commercialized. The development of products
with added value in such fields as wireless communication, digital TV,
home network and display are also included in the plan. The launch of
the broad convergence network (BcN) will be fuel for the nation's growth
momentum and will speed up data transmission by 50 percent. The convenience
of the BcN, where wired and wireless services converge in a single network,
is anticipated to attract as many as 8 million subscribers by 2007. A
total of 3.2 trillion won will be invested next year for promoting informatization,
up 10.1 percent from this year. South Korea is the most wired country
in the world with more than 10 million households connected to broadband
Internet, but usage has been limited to online games and Internet surfing.
From http://www.korea.net/ 12/18/2003
TOP¡ü
New Number Policy Overhauls Mobile Biz
With the number portability system stealing the spotlight at the start
of the year, the new government policy is likely to have a wide and varying
impact across related businesses. Starting this month, SK Telecom customers
have been able to switch carriers without having to change their current
numbers, resulting in an all-out blitz among the three local wireless
operators to lure or keep subscribers. The competition is expected to
offer a ray of hope to Korean handset makers, which struggled in the domestic
market last year. They combined to sell 1.57 million handset units locally
in 2002, but the figure dropped to 1.4 million units last year due to
the protracted economic downturn. However, the number portability policy
is projected to prop up domestic handset demand coupled with the popularity
of camera phones because the switching of carriers sometimes requires
the purchase of new handsets due to different service spectrums. SK Telecom
exploits the premium 800 MHz spectrum while KTF and LG Telecom uses the
1.86 GHz range. More Handset Demand Mirroring such an upbeat outlook,
experts forecast that handset sales will return to the 1.5 million units
level this year. On the other end of the scale are next-generation businesses
like the wide-band code division multiple access (W-CDMA) phones or the
2.3 GHz portable Internet network, which once were promising technologies.
W-CDMA is the third-generation (3G) mobile service that was touted as
the future of wireless connection replacing the current global system
for mobile communication (GSM). The new 3G platform promises video calls,
multi-media messaging services and high-speed download of video clips
at speeds 40 times faster than that of current applications. Yet, the
limited availability of W-CDMA-enabled handsets and technical glitches
discouraged tech-savvy customers from signing up for the service. Since
the launch of the commercial W-CDMA service late last month by SK Telecom
and KTF, only around 700 signed up for the new application as of on Wednesday,
almost all of them being employees of mobile carriers or telecom-associated
workers. Massive investment is essential to settle the problem but SK
Telecom and KTF are not likely to pour hundreds of millions of dollars
into a business with an uncertain future, according to Dongwon Securities
analyst Yang Jong-in. Decreasing Investments ``With the prospects of W-CDMA
in doubt, it will be difficult for mobile carriers to increase spending
significantly in the area. Moreover, all their energy is now upon the
number portability, leaving little leeway to be attentive to the W-CDMA,''
Yang said. The 2.3 GHz mobile Internet services faces the identical fate
of W-CDMA as its schedule has been delayed by the government and investment
by private companies has been scaled down. The new network is considered
as an interim technology between wireless networks, known as Wi-Fi, and
Internet access via mobile phones because of its affordability and mobility.
The so-called 3.5-generation mobile communication system will transmit
data at an average speed of one megabyte per second, which is equal to
current landline broadband Internet services. The government was supposed
to decide policy direction for the new technology by the end of last year,
but put it off for this year citing technical problems. SK Telecom is
planning to invest around 10 billion won in the 2.3 GHz portable Internet
network but most of the money will go to the connection of the technology
to the CDMA 1x EV-DO (evolution data optimized) and not the development
of 2.3GHz technology itself. The EV-DO application enjoyed commercial
success after it was jumpstarted in the midway through 2002 by SK Telecom
and KTF under the banners of ``June'' and ``FIMM.'' (by Kim Tae-gyu)
From http://times.hankooki.com/ 01/07/2003
TOP¡ü
UZBEKISTAN: Uzbektelecom Launches Project in
Jizzakh Worth US$200,000
Uzbektelecom, national telecommunications operator, has launched a pilot
project in Jizzakh region on creation of a mobile communication network
working under IMT-MC-450 standard (CDMA technology).
From http://www.uzreport.com/ 11/24/2003
JAPAN: MPHPT Invites Comments on Draft Partial
Amendment of Examinations Standards for the Radio Law
The MPHPT has produced a draft partial amendment of the Examination Standards
for the Radio Law (MPHPT Ordinance No. 67, January 6, 2001) regarding
the attached Table 3 "Designating standards for identification signals".
The MPHPT is inviting comments from the public concerning this draft amendment.
From http://www.soumu.go.jp/ 01/21/2004
SOUTH KOREA: IT Industry Momentum Due to Rise
Korea's information technology industry is expected to experience significant
momentum in the mobile, Internet and chip sectors thanks to a government
policy aimed at rejuvenating the high-tech sector amid hopes for an economic
recovery. The Ministry of Information and Communication, which maps out
the country's overall IT policy, is keen to boost exports, taking advantage
of surging sales of mobile phones, memory chips and flat-panel displays
on overseas markets. The ministry set the IT export volume target at $70
billion this year, up 22 percent from $57.3 billion in 2003, encouraged
by improving market conditions at home and abroad. Korea's IT industry
will likely maintain its 12-percent growth rate for overseas shipments
this year, ministry officials said. Samsung Electronics Co. is forecast
to see increased sales in the coming months on strong demand for its memory
chips. Expectations are also mounting as the world's largest chipmaker
plans to make new capital investments of nearly 8 trillion won this year,
with all but 1 trillion won going to its semiconductor division. Analysts
said Samsung's aggressive plan to expand facilities casts a positive outlook
for the chip and flat panel display sectors, while helping the government
achieve its export target for the high-tech industry. Aside from export
initiatives, the Information Ministry is boosting momentum with its policy
known as number portability. The policy, which took effect Jan. 1, allows
mobile phone users to switch carriers without having to change their numbers.
Number portability is funneling new energy into the sector: more than
200,000 SK Telecom users have so far moved to KTF and LG Telecom. Handset
makers, parts manufacturers and mobile solutions developers expect the
new policy to help stage a growth trend in the mobile sector. Meanwhile,
the domestic handset market is forecast to grow as much as 20 percent
to 16 million units on the strength of number portability this year. Samsung
Electronics, the world's third-largest mobile handset maker said it targets
a 55-percent market share this year, followed by LG Electronics Inc. with
35 percent and Pantech & Curitel with 25 percent. Other smaller manufacturers
like SK Teletec, a unit of top mobile carrier SK Telecom, and KTF Technologies,
a unit of KTF, are also moving to raise their shares to 10 percent each,
suggesting a coming round of tougher competition. Despite the bright outlook
for the mobile phone market, foreign manufacturers like Motorola Inc.
and Nokia Corp. are expected to face an uphill battle in Korea. Another
bright sector in connection with number portability is the Internet portal
industry. Analysts said mobile carriers' aggressive marketing on the Web
is expected to help increase revenues from online banner advertisements
amid a steady shift in consumer acceptance of online transactions. In
particular, major Internet portals like Daum Communications Corp. and
NHN Corp. are forecast to see greater profits in the first quarter in
connection with number portability. By contrast, small- and mid-size PC
makers are forecast to struggle in the coming months, with few signs of
a recovery for new computer demand. Hyunju Computer, a mid-size manufacturer,
recently downsized its PC production unit and announced it would push
for a new business model to grapple with the slump. Hyunju and other small
PC makers have been faltering due to extremely hostile PC market conditions,
aggravated by the economic downturn and consumers' reluctance to upgrade
their systems. A series of bankruptcies hitting small PC makers is now
feared to undercut the mid-range PC market, which could reduce choices
for consumers. But cash-rich PC makers and foreign makers - HP Korea,
Toshiba Korea and Dell - are likely to expand their market share. The
restructuring of small PC makers comes as the average price of brand-name
PCs made by conglomerates and foreign manufacturers are plummeting and
the domestic computer industry is showing no sign of a recovery.
From http://search.korea.net:9000/ 01/26/2003 |
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SP Services to Publish Electricity Vesting
Price Online
Singapore's Energy Market Authority held extensive consultations with
industry players between 2001 and mid-2003 before introducing electricity
vesting contracts. These contracts are price and quantity controls to
prevent electricity generating companies from keeping prices artificially
high by withholding generation capacity. The price set down in the contract,
called the vesting price, will be published quarterly on SP Services'
website, one month before the start of the quarter. SP Services is Singapore's
largest electricity retailer. The company said the vesting price would
be adjusted quarterly to reflect changes in fuel oil price.
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 01/05/2004
TOP¡ü
Network Asks Govt to Pursue Reforms
A national network of some 40 non-governmental organizations, mass media,
government institutions and political parties called on the government
on Wednesday to pursue badly needed reforms to dig the country out of
the current multidimensional crises. They also expressed a commitment
to assisting public policy makers in policy reform after next year's elections.
State-owned Gadjah Mada University rector Sofian Effendi told a press
conference here on Wednesday that the government should cut its role in
controlling the people in order to strengthen democracy. "Civil supremacy
must also be upheld and the military must not return to rule the country
even if it has strong discipline and leadership to manage the country."
Sofian was asked to address the press after Jajaki's two-day meeting that
ended on Wednesday. Fears of the military returning to the political stage
have resurfaced after polling carried out by a number of research agencies
showed that some former military generals had gained strong support from
the grassroots for the presidential post. Coordinating Minister for Political
and Security Affairs Gen. (ret.) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has topped several
presidential candidate surveys, while former Indonesian Military (TNI)
chief Gen. (ret.) Wiranto, and former commander of the Army's Strategic
Reserve Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto are joining Golkar's
convention to choose the party's presidential candidate. Sofian also said
that civil service reform must also proceed and regional autonomy should
be based on economy and social justice rather than political consideration
to distribute power. "Those are priorities in political reforms that we
would like to deeply analyze in the upcoming years. We will come up with
policy recommendations to be handed to the government," he said. The head
of the United Nations Support Facilities for Indonesian Recovery (UNSFIR)
Satish C. Mishra attended the press conference. UNSFIR facilitates the
network that aims to provide an informal but organized channel of government
and non-government institutional consultation on priority policy issues.
Among the Jajaki network members are state-owned University of Indonesia,
Gadjah Mada University from Yogyakarta, the West Sumatra administration,
the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Muslim organizations Nadhlatul
Ulama and Muhammadiyah, Golkar and The Jakarta Post. The Office of Coordinating
Ministry for Political and Security Affairs and other ministries are expected
to join the network. Sofian said the Jajaki network also wanted economic
reform to focus on reviving the real sector. The present government has
so far still focused on assisting the ailing banking sectors instead of
real sector. On social reform, civil society groups must be continuously
empowered to help meet the people's aspirations on good public policy.
More and more people should also be educated to better understand their
rights as citizen, while poverty must be eradicated, he said. On legal
reform, the network called for concerted efforts at the national level
to fight corruption. "Otherwise, our corruption problem will never end,"
he said. The Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) ranks Indonesia
as the second most corrupt country among members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the sixth worst of the 132 countries
surveyed worldwide from July 2002 through June 2003. Meanwhile, Satish
emphasized that Indonesian people should push for a broadened public participation
in determining public policy. The government has always made important
decisions regarding public interests based on lobbies among political
elites or foreign pressure without the involvement of the people and explanations
to them, he said. (by Moch. N. Kurniawan)
From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 11/06/2003
TOP¡ü
SINGAPORE: SIA to Offer Passengers Broadband
Internet Access in 2004
Singapore Airlines is offering high-speed wireless Internet access on
some of its planes, including live TV - not the pre-taped shows passengers
are used to. The airline will be one of Asia's first carriers to use a
new technology developed by an arm of aviation giant Boeing, called Connexion
by Boeing. However passengers will have to pay for the service. The carrier
said from the third quarter of next year, passengers will be able to surf
the Internet at speeds of up to 256 kilobytes per second, send and receive
emails, and watch real-time TV on its long haul flights. What they will
need is a laptop computer with a wireless access card slotted in and a
credit card for payment, which could either be a flat rate for the entire
flight or a fee based on the usage. Scott Carson, President, Connexion
by Boeing, said: "We flew some trials earlier this year with British Airways
and what we learned from those trials is that for the long haul flights,
typically over 5 hours, passengers found a US$30 to US$35 charge quite
acceptable and in fact found great value in it. My expectations for SIA
flights would be in that range. "A few European and Japanese airlines
are already planning to carry the service and many more are expected to
follow. Connexion by Boeing is now looking at over 10 proposals and aims
to equip 4,000 to 5,000 planes in the future. (by Dawn Teo)
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 11/11/2003
TOP¡ü
Singapore's Pacnet Launches Volume-Based Cable
Access Plan
Internet service provider Pacific Internet says it has launched Singapore's
first volume-based cable access plan. Called the Cable EZ Surf 1500, the
plan follows PacNet's recent introduction of an unlimited cable access
service. For the first 500 subscribers, the new plan is being offered
at an introductory price of S$24.86 per month, with GST, for 200 megabytes
of use. This compares with a list price of S$41.50.A dial-up account is
also included in the plan. Additional access usage beyond the first 200MB
costs S$0.312 per megabyte. PacNet says the new volume-based plan gives
users an affordable way to try out high-speed cable Internet access before
committing themselves to an unlimited plan. The price excludes a one-time
activation fee of S$51.95 as well as the cost of a cable modem at S$149.76
and the compulsory purchase of Mail Guard Anti-virus and Anti-spam services
at S$3.89 per month. PacNet also offers telephone line-based ADSL services.
From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 12/17/2003
TOP¡ü
INDONESIA: Govt Starts Computer Literacy Program
The government launched here on Saturday a student computer literacy
program aimed at introducing information technology to schools nationwide.
Called the One School One Computer Lab (OSOL), the program was opened
by State Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif as
part of Indonesia compliance with a United Nations declaration, which
seeks to create a technology-based global communication society by 2015.
Indonesia has no choice but to improve its human resources to stay in
touch with the rest of the world in terms of information technology, Syamsul
said. The country, he added, still lagged behind in communication technology,
let alone information technology, as reflected by the fact that it only
had between seven and eight million registered fixed telephone lines.
Indonesia is home to over 214 million people, the world's fourth most
populated country. "Transfer of data remains a future goal, as many people
here do not have telephones. Therefore, we will start with students and
will introduce them to information technology as early as possible," Syamsul
said. Also attending the launch at the SMK I vocational high school in
Batu Aji district was Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fajar.
The national program has targeted Batam for its pilot project, with the
support of American software giant Microsoft. Syamsul said the program
would involve all stakeholders in the education, finance, infrastructure
and Internet service sectors. Both central and regional governments are
to work together to provide each school with a computer laboratory and
enable students to learn how to use computers in class. Malik expressed
hope that students could use the facilities provided in the computer labs
to improve their literacy in information technology. "I am sad to see
computers functioning only as a typewriter or a play station. We know
there are many more benefits to be had from a computer," Malik said. Microsoft
is supporting the program by providing discount software to prevent the
use of pirated products. Each software program costs US$2.5 for the OSOL.
Batam Deputy Mayor Asman Abnur, representing the local administration,
welcomed the national program and expected that eventually, there would
be one computer for every student. "I look to Singapore and the U.S.,
where students only bring their diskettes to school, as there are enough
computers to go around. Hopefully, the same thing could happen here and
in Indonesia," he said.
From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 11/03/2003
TOP¡ü
THAILAND: Single-Number Call Centre on Track
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's plan to give citizens 24-hour-a day
access to all branches of his government via one telephone number is making
progress, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Surapong
Suebwonglee said yesterday. The Foreign and ICT ministries as well as
the Prime Minister's Office have already started shifting information
services to a new integrated call centre, which will amalgamate the call
centres of each ministry, Surapong said. The remaining 16 ministries will
be connected next year, he said. The one-stop call centre is part of the
e-government project, which is designed to use more information technology
to serve the public and amalgamate ministries' call centres. The centre
is scheduled to begin operating in January, and within the next year will
provide information from all ministries via telephone, fax or multimedia
channels, Surapong said. Initially, however, information from some ministries
will be accessible by telephone only, he added. Callers will be able to
contact the centre by dialling 1111.TOT Corp, which operates the contact
centre, will charge fixed-line callers a flat fee of Bt3 per call. Charges
for callers using mobile phones will vary according to the rates of their
operators. TOT leased the call centre's hardware and software from South
Korea's Locus for five years in a deal worth Bt800 million. Wichien Naksrinual,
executive vice president of TOT in charge of the project, said that initially
the call centre would employ 300 operators. "We can expand to 1,000 if
need be," he said, adding that the centre would have one supervisor per
20 operators to ensure quality service. "If there is poor service, you
can complain to us and the ministries," he said. The call centre is also
a new source of revenue for TOT. It will charge the ministries Bt30,000
per operator per month for providing the service, Wichien said. Some state
officials, however, remain cautious. "I worry whether we can afford the
cost due to the constrained budget," said an official from the Natural
Resources and Environment Ministry. Wichien said that the rate is cheap
and that all ministries would save on the operating costs of their own
call centres. A Justice Ministry official wanted to know how committed
the ICT Ministry is to the project. "If there's a change among those in
charge, who will take care of this? It always happens that when there's
a change at the head, these kinds of projects are delayed," she said.
From http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ 11/08/2003
TOP¡ü
Multimedia: Plans for Digital Center
Content providers to get financial help The Information and Communications
Technology Ministry yesterday outlined a five-year plan to turn Thailand
into a regional digital content leader.ICT Minister Surapong Suebwonglee
said animation and multimedia companies would get financial support to
create digital content. Television stations and entertainment firms would
also be called upon to broadcast and promote the content, Surapong said.
"We will also invest in research and development," he said during Thailand's
first Animation and Multimedia fair. The fair, held at the Queen Sirikit
National Convention Centre until tomorrow, is co-hosted by the ministry
and the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa).The ministry is currently
negotiating with several foreign multimedia software vendors to co-produce
software to support the industry. Sipa director Manoo Ordeedolchest said
his agency would play a major role in the industry's development by finding
foreign companies to co-produce local animated films to create global
recognition of Thai products. One US animation expert said the government
should also focus on training Thai animators to produce long scripts.
"It's important to teach animators how to produce good scripts so that
they can produce attractive TV animations like those made in Japan," he
said. One mobile game maker was more interested in IT text books than
animation. "If they can make IT text books cheaper, that would be good.
Most developers do not graduate directly from animation departments but
pick it up from textbooks. The cheaper the books, the easier it is to
access the knowledge," he said. The ministry and Sipa also plan to train
3,500 digital-content developers in the next three years, Surapong said."If
we can achieve our target, our animation software industry will soar in
value to Bt80 billion in five years," he added. Sipa has already requested
Bt440 million from the government to finance all projects in the next
six months. The ministry has also held talks with some US directors to
support Thailand's plan to become the "Hollywood of Asia". But Surapong
and Manoo admitted their goal would not be easy to achieve. There are
only 30,000 software developers in Thailand and only 7,600 software graduates.
"We are a long way from achieving the IT goals of countries like Ireland,
which boasted 200,000 IT professionals in 2000 and a software export value
of Bt320 billion," Manoo said. Sipa plans to boost the number of software
developers to at least 100,000 in the next five years, he added.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ 01/10/2004
TOP¡ü
MAYALISA: Enact Laws Against Online Porn, Govt
Urged
The Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation has proposed that the Government
enact laws against online pornography. MCPF vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee
Lam Thye said the Government had in the past stated that it did not intend
to censor the Internet. However, he added, if cyber smut continued to
be circulated, particularly indecent images_5 of children, it might be time
for the Government to take a second look and see whether it could do something
about it. The recent surge in violent crimes including rape, sodomy and
brutal murders, were sending shockwaves throughout the country and the
root of these crimes need to be addressed, he said in a statement yesterday.
"The time has come for us not only to fight crime but to also find out
the causes of these horrendous crimes," he said, suggesting that the issue
be discussed in-depth at a seminar. Lee said the learning of information
technology must be followed by moral education and urged the Government
to step up efforts to inculcate good morals in youths to prevent the rise
of computer criminals.
From http://thestar.com.my 01/20/2004
TOP¡ü |
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BANGLADESH: BTTB Reduces Overseas Call Charge
In a dramatic move, state-owned Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board
(BTTB) has reduced its call charge for overseas to Tk 7.5 for each minute.
Initially, call charge has been reduced for USA and Canada and the service
would be expanded to eight other countries-UK, Australia, France, Italy,
Germany, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong-by next three months. The new
call rate has been made effective from Tuesday which will enable caller
from Dhaka only. Post & Telecommunications Minister Barrister Aminul Huq
formally inaugurated the service by calling Bangladesh's Ambassador to
Washington Syed Hasan Ahmad over phone from his official residence this
(Tuesday) morning. Talking to reporters after introducing the new reduced
call charge, Barrister Huq said people from Bangladesh would be able to
communicate with other countries of the world within June next. "It's
a milestone achievement for us. We have reduced the call charge as soon
as we came to power and this step has been taken to fulfill our commitment,"
he said. "At this reduced rate, call charge is same round the clock. Gradually
this service would be expanded throughout the country," Huq said adding
that the facility has been provided for all NWD land phone users. According
to the rate, a call to cell phone in USA or Canada is also same as fixed
phone (Tk 7.5). Call to cell phone of Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia
is also same but it is Tk 18 for UK, Australia, France, Italy and Germany.
BTTB officials said they would be able to provide this service for the
mobile phone users of the country after agreement with the cell phone
operators. The dialing system at reduced rate is: Code 012+country code+area
code+telephone number. Users may face some sort of congestion initially,
which BTTB is trying to solve quickly, said an official. Post & Telecommunications
Secretary Faruque Ahmad Siddiqui, BTTB Chairman M Nurul Islam and other
senior official of the organisation were present.
From http://nation.ittefaq.com/ 12/30/2003
TOP¡ü
INDIA: Pay Your Property Tax on Internet
The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) is all set to make the procedure
for filing property tax faster and more convenient by allowing assesses
to make payments through the Internet. The coming month will see this
facility become a reality. Announcing this after releasing the 30th issue
of Korvigil, a newsletter released by the Koramangala Residents' Civic
Group, BMP Commissioner M R Sreenivasa Murthy, this evening, said that
all property records had been computerised. Computer systems of all the
BMP offices had been connected and property details could be availed from
any BMP office. "Soon, property tax can be paid sitting at home, through
the Internet", he added. Referring to the on-going computerisation of
records, Mr Murthy also noted that birth and death certificates, of the
past 50 years had been databased. In a fortnight's time, print copies
of such certificates would be available at a nominal price of Rs 10-15.
Bangloreans who had to undergo a long time-consuming process of accessing
birth and death certificates would now get copies in a few minutes, he
noted. Talking about the garbage problem, Mr Murthy said that he had asked
for 300 acres of land to develop landfills and had received tenders from
private companies who would develop these pits. About the perpetual problem
of the Koramangala storm water drain, he said that it needed to be widened
and deepened and a bypass was being planned out so that it would not have
to go through the Koramangala valley. The newsletter that was released
and distributed among the area's citizens, had a list of the three-year
activities and achievements of the residents' association.
From http://www.deccanherald.com/ 11/02/2003
TOP¡ü
Meghalaya, Nagaland to Frame IT Policies
Meghalaya and Nagaland will soon have their own IT policies. The initiative
is aimed at attracting investment in the IT sector in the two States.
This was stated by Mr D.D. Lapang and Mr Neiphiu Rio, Chief Ministers
of Meghalaya and Nagaland, respectively. They were participating in a
Round Table of Chief Ministers and IT Ministers of the North-Eastern States
and West Bengal organised on Monday under the aegis of Infocom 2003. Assam
and Tripura already have their own IT policies. Mr Lapang said that a
beginning had been made in the IT sector in Meghalaya. An IT policy would
be announced soon even as a memorandum of understanding has been signed
with Software Technology Parks of India for the setting up of a Software
Technology Park in Meghalaya. The Centre has already sanctioned Rs 50
lakh for purchase of high-speed data link network equipment. Mr Lapang
urged industry to take advantage of the special industrial package that
the Centre has announced for the North-East and invest in the region.
Development would go a long way in facilitating the economic integration
of the region with the rest of the country, he added. Mr Rio said that
the Nagaland Government had already created a separate department for
IT and an IT policy was being prepared. "Application of IT helps overcome
the problem of remoteness and is a tool for good governance." Mr Bhuvaneswar
Kalita, Assam's Minister for Industry, appealed to the IT industry to
invest in the State and strengthen its value proposition. He guaranteed
prospective investors "high-quality infrastructure, skilled manpower and
a supportive environment". The Minister for Industry in Tripura, Mr Pabitra
Kar, said that the State's IT Policy 2000 allows the IT industry exemption
under certain Acts. An IT Park and community information centres have
been set up in the State as well. Mr Kar sought suggestions from the IT
industry on how to make the State attractive to prospective investors.
From http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ 11/17/2003
TOP¡ü
No More Optical Illusions for Telcos
The government today abolished customs duty on specified infrastructure
equipment used by basic, cellular, internet, VSAT, radio paging and mobile
radio trunking services. Earlier, the duty varied from 5% to 15%. Customs
duty on specified raw materials used for the manufacture of electronic
components, optical fibres and cables has been reduced to 5% from 15%,
and to 0% where it was 5%. SAD of 4% has been abolished on all the items.
Telecom operators have welcomed the new duty structure as it reduces the
cost of setting up networks, while the indigenous telecom manufacturers
have strongly opposed it, saying that a lower duty on finished equipment
would discourage local manufacturing. Indigenous manufacturers have said
that it goes against the objective of the national telecom policy (NTP)
in 1999, which promotes India being encouraged to manufacture and export
telecom equipment. "This objective will no longer be accomplished with
the import of finished products attracting lower customs duty than the
import of raw material," said NK Goyal, president, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers
Association (TEMA). "We welcome the reduction in duty on inputs used for
telecom equipment and optical fibre cables. But it still doesn't address
the basic issue of the lack of a level playing field," said Sanjay Aggarwal,
chairman, Paramount Communications and vice president, TEMA. "SAD has
been removed on finished goods, whereas we end up paying sales tax of
4%. We are disadvantaged vis-¨¤-vis any imports," said Mr Aggarwal. Telecom
operators have welcomed the government decision. "This is very good for
the telecom industry. It will help in lowering the cost for infrastructure
and further allow tariff reductions for the benefit of customers," said
Sunil Mittal, chairman, Bharti Televentures. "The government decision
will help in the growth of the industry. The capital expenditure cost
will come down enabling the telecom operators to expand their networks,
which will increase tele-density in the country," said RSP Sinha, chairman,
MTNL. NK Mangla, BSNL added that it would boost investment in the telecom
infrastructure and make services more affordable for customers.
From http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ 01/09/2004
TOP¡ü
IT Minister Urges Asian Countries to Unite Against
Anti-Outsourcing Laws
HYDERABAD - India's Information Technology Minister Arun Shourie Monday
urged concerted action among Asian countries to ward off restrictions
on outsourcing by western countries. Addressing the second Asia-IT ministers
summit in the southern tech-savvy city of Hyderabad, Shourie said Asian
countries should unite against the challenges thrown by those planning
laws against outsourcing due to massive job cuts. "Today protectionist
measures have started in Europe, Australia and the US," Shourie said.
"For this all of us should take concerted action. It is a matter of concern
even in the World Trade Organization. "They (the west) cannot expect us
to keep opening our markets for goods and put protectionist measures on
goods and services where other countries have strength." Relocation of
work from Europe and the US to Indian cities including New Delhi, Bombay,
Hyderabad and Bangalore can cut costs for global firms by up to 40 per
cent, figures show. US-based technology research house Gartner has predicted
India will represent two-thirds of the international "offshore market"
- jobs done outside a client's region - within three to four years. A
slew of foreign firms have exported call centre, computer operations,
research and other activities to India. India has the largest pool of
English-speaking graduates outside the US, who are willing to work for
salaries which are far less than those paid in the west. Last year, outsourcing
accounted for about one-fourth of India's total software export revenues
of $9.5 billion. In his speech, Shourie said like most Asian countries,
India too was emerging as a knowledge island. Outlining the strength and
contribution of Indian professionals in the IT field, Shourie said one
third of all IT start-ups in Silicon Valley were by Indians, while 35
per cent of Microsoft's research and development engineers were Indian.
"110 out of the Fortune 500 companies have set up research and development
centres in India. Intel's sixth generation chip is designed here," he
added. He said IT professionals were changing the world and people's perceptions
of it. The minister urged delegates at the conference to take up one project
in Asia which could affect large numbers of people in the shortest period
of time. Delegates and ministers from a number of Asian countries, including
Israel, Kuwait, Myanmar, Mongolia, Nepal, Singapore, Vietnam and Tajikistan
are attending the conference. Issues such as digital divide, construction
of broadband network, Internet affordability and security are to be discussed
and debated at the two-day meet. The first such summit was held in 2002
in South Korea.
From http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ 01/12/2004
TOP¡ü
MALDIVES: Dhiraagu to Give Special Reductions
on Occasion of Hajj
MALE - Dhiraagu is to give a special reduction in call charges to Saudi
Arabia from Jan 9 to Feb 9 on the occasion of Hajj. The reduced rate of
Rf10 per minute will apply for IDD calls made from fixed telephone lines,
cardphones, mobiles (including pre-paid) and for calls received by mobile
customers using international roaming while on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Also on the occasion of Hajj, Dhiraagu will offer pilgrims a 50 percent
reduction in the roaming deposit when the Hajj ID card is presented with
the application. Dhiraagu will also, subject to availability, lend a mobile
handset for new mobile customers who wish to subscribe to roaming services,
the telecom company said in a press release on Sunday.
From http://www.haveeru.com.mv/ 01/04/2004
TOP¡ü
NEPAL: Govt to Pass Electronic Transaction Act
Soon
KATHMANDU - Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa has said that the government
is committed to the development of information and communication technology
(ICT) and would pass the long-pending Electronic Transaction Act very
soon. Inaugurating a two-day seminar on Building e-Business Competencies
for the Information Society, jointly organised by the International Trade
Centre (ITC's) Regional e-Business Forum for Asia and the Pacific here
today, Prime Minister Thapa said that despite the unfavourable situation
the government would not stop the development process of ICT. Rural information
and tele-centers were being set up and the Information and Technology
Park would be completed this year, he assured. A High Level Information
Technology Commission has been constituted in order to promote ICT industry
and business to create sound environment for foreign and domestic investment
in this sector, he added. "ICT might be an effective tool for transparency
and good-governance and the government introduced IT Policy 2002 with
this spirit, but security condition and lack of resources has hindered
the growth," said PM Thapa. Sharad Chandra Shah, Vice-President of the
High Level Information Technology Commission, expressed the views that
countries like Nepal should reach out towards the development of a society
based on knowledge. Speaking on the occasion, Lochan Lal Amatya, President
of Computer Association of Nepal (CAN), expressed the views that the forum
would further promote trade and business dimensions of the digital economy
and bring the voice of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of the developing
countries into the global ICT policy making. Kiran Karnik, President of
NASSCOM, India, delivering a keynote speech, said that e-commerce saves
approximately 16 percent of cost while procuring goods and services on
average, improves image and transparency of companies, citing examples
of some Indian companies. He also said that key barriers to e-commerce
is the access to Internet and the mindset, people still hesitate to use
Internet for their transactions and the governments in the Asia Pacific
region face similar hurdles including resource constraints. Ramamurti
Badrinath, Director International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO also spoke at
the inaugural session of the seminar. Lakshminarayn, Additional Secretary,
Department of Information Technology, India, presenting a paper on e-Business
in India: Lessons Learnt and Vision said that India has the largest talent
pool of people supported by research and development and investment-friendly
government policies, which is expected to push the total IT exports of
India to 35 percent by 2008 from 20.4 of fiscal year 2002/03. Dr Vadim
Levitin, CEO, e-Commerce Institute, USA, making a presentation said that
the 'Brave New World' driven by developments in science and technology
is dominated by intangibles- ideas, people and information assets. It
is the huge intellectual potential of the Nepalese people that must be
unlocked and set free, he added. Rajib Subba, Member of CAN also presented
a paper on e-Business in Nepal: Lessons Learnt and Vision in today's technical
session. Altogether 16 papers, one each from 16 participating countries,
would be presented during the seminar being participated in by 48 representatives.
The objective of the seminar is to enable the SMEs of the region, ease
online payment, boost regional cooperation and to give inputs to the World
Summit of Information Society to be held in Geneva this December. A memorandum
of understanding (MoU) was signed between national Association of Software
And service Companies (NASSCOM) and CAN and Kiran Karnik, President NASSCOM
and Lochan Lal Amatya President CAN signed the MoU on their respective
behalf.
From http://www.kantipuronline.com/ 11/14/2003
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PAKISTAN: Jamali Calls for Bridging Digital Divide
Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Wednesday called for bridging
digital divide so that the rich and the poor take benefits from the technology
alike. Addressing the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) here,
he said, "The enormity of the digital opportunity is marred by a vast
digital divide. To bridge this divide is the challenge of our time, It
must not be allowed to grow further." He called for a global accord and
partnership so that the "fruits of technology are evenly distributed".
Prime Minister Jamali said his government was engaged in harnessing digital
technology for the economic advancement of the country. He said a significant
part of country's limited resources have been earmarked to build the necessary
infrastructure. This, he added, would promote computer literacy and widen
IT applications in health, education and public sector management. Jamali
said that Pakistan needed support of the international community to achieve
these goals. He termed the digital divide a multidimensional phenomenon
that separated people within and between countries. "The speed of global
technological and economic transformation demands concerted global action,"
Jamali added. He stressed the need to create an information society, which
would embrace everyone. "Poorer regions of our planet are threatened with
structural irrelevance associated with their technological obsolescence."
He urged the world leaders present there to work together to evolve a
"digital Development Agenda". "The presence of so many world leaders should
provide the political impetus to translate hope into action." The prime
minister gave a set of proposals, including creation of an information
society, which is inclusive and provides equal opportunity to everyone
everywhere, develop tools and mechanisms that would open the doors of
technology to the poorer segments of mankind, encompass a commitment to
assist the developing countries in developing their IT infrastructure,
to protect universal norms, particularly the moral and spiritual values,
ensure security of information systems free from threat of infiltration,
allow all the people to imbibe the knowledge which the IT promises and
harnessing the digital revolution to lift the dispossessed from the throes
of deprivation. Prime Minister Jamali while thanking the Swiss government
for hosting the event said that the human mind, which created the computer,
must be given due respect and dignity.
From http://www.brecorder.com/ 12/11/2003
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BANGLADESH£ºJS Body Finds No Wrong in BTTB Mobile
Project
The parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication
has asked the government to take necessary measures to enable the Bangladesh
Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) to operate a mobile phone network
of its own. The committee at a meeting on Monday was told that the cabinet
committee on purchase slowed down the process of commissioning the BTTB's
mobile project that would cost Tk 459 crore to develop an infrastructure
for a million mobile connections. "Although initially a total of 2.5 lakh
mobile phones will be offered through the system, the infrastructure will
be developed for 10 lakh cell phones," said committee chairman G.M. Fazlul
Haq. Referring to news reports published recently about "a smell for irregularities",
he said that the committee examined the statement of the ministry and
found no irregularities in the project. In this regard the committee rejected
the idea of a re-tender and asked the cabinet committee to finish scrutiny
of the BTTB proposal to award work for the first phase of its mobile phone
project to Siemens of Germany and Huawei Technologies of China. However,
the cabinet committee on purchase on Saturday sent back to the ministry
concerned the BTTB proposal to award work for the first phase of its mobile
phone project to Siemens of Germany and Huawei Technologies of China asking
to further scrutinise the proposal as the committee had 'smelt' irregularities
in the biding process. The BTTB was scheduled to complete work for operating
2.5 lakh cell phones lines in the first phase by June this year. The meeting
also recommended that the authorities fix the call charge for mobile phones
in consonance with the rates being maintained in neighbouring countries
like India and Pakistan. The meeting also put forth a recommendation to
the ministry to make necessary arrangements to bring phone calls between
different upazilas under a district into a local call-rate regime, said
Syed Mehedi Ahmed Rumi, a member of the committee. At present, phone calls
between upazilas are charged under the nationwide dialling rates. Posts
and Telecommunication Minister Aminul Haq assured the committee of taking
necessary steps in this regard by holding discussions with the finance
ministry. The committee also asked the ministry to take punitive action
against those officials and employees of the postal department who were
recently found involved in misappropriating funds. A total of 21 officials
and employees were found involved in embezzling an amount of around Tk
4 lakh recently. The amount was extracted from the sale of BRTA forms.
The minister told the meeting that the ministry has suspended one officer
and transferred 20 employees to non-revenue sectors of the department.
A suggestion was also put forth to computerise the revenue section of
the postal department so that records could be examined regularly. Professor
Kazi Golam Morshed, Abdul Momin Talukder and Abul Hossain Khan, among
others, attended the meeting. (by Moazzem Hossain)
From http://www.bangladesh-web.com/ 01/27/2004
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Asia Quickly Adopting Information Technology, U.N. Agency Says
