ICT Policy and Its Impact on Society
The significance of ICT policy through topics like telecommunications, broadcasting, and Internet regulations. Learn why citizen involvement in policymaking is crucial for safeguarding rights and promoting innovation. Discover how national ICT strategies intersect with technology, industry, and media policies, shaping the modern landscape of governance and technology integration in society.
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Presentation Transcript
Lecture (2) Dr.Samah Mohammed
The Oxford English Dictionary defines policy as A course of action, adopted and pursued by a government, party, ruler, statesman, etc.; any course of action adopted as advantageous or expedient. Governments or official institutions a wider sense could include the vision, goals, principles and plans that guide the activities of many different actors. 2
ICT policy generally covers three main areas: 1) Telecommunications (especially telephone communications). 2) Broadcasting (radio and TV) 3) Internet 3
The need for integrating national ICT strategies overlaps with four well-established policy fields: 1) Technology 2) Industry 3) Telecommunications 4) Media 4
Sectoral policies such as education, employment, health, welfare, etc, are increasingly having to address issues relating to ICTs and the growing interdependence between the development of ICT policies and sectoral policies. in the absence of an existing national ICT policy, the tendency is towards the creation of sectordependent policy that addresses only its own ICT needs. 6
Why should we, as citizens, become involved in ICT policymaking? Because, ICTs are so central to contemporary society that they affect us continually in many ways.
for example, if a government decides to promote free software, we are more likely to enjoy the benefits of free software. If a government decides to introduce a new form of censorship on the internet, or fails to protect citizens If telecommunications companies are not encouraged or obliged by regulation to roll out services in rural areas, people there will have to rely on more expensive mobile phone services for example, if a government decides to promote free software, we are more likely to enjoy the benefits of free software. If a government decides to introduce a new form of censorship on the internet, or fails to protect citizens rights to privacy, then we will suffer too If telecommunications companies are not encouraged or obliged by regulation to roll out services in rural areas, people there will have to rely on more expensive mobile phone services rights to privacy, then we will suffer too
Globalisation is a historical reality, not just a catch phrase. The world we live in has changed enormously in the last 15 to 20 years. ICTs have been a fundamental part of this process. Global, electronic telecommunications, the world financial market could not exist, nor could companies coordinate their production strategies on a global level.
the availability and use of information and communication technologies are a prerequisite for economic and social development in our world. The conclusion is clear: we have to use the networks in a new way, for the benefit of human beings and not for the efficient functioning of the international money market and multinational companies.
If global, networked systems are the new basis of power, and if ICTs are the technical foundation of globalisation, The main challenge is to adapt them to become the technical foundation of the struggle against the negative impacts of globalisation and for social justice.
Means using ICTs to do several things: First, to spread alternative information in a new way, to millions of people instantly. Second, to create new forms of organization and coordination, new structures and new modes of operation. Third, to foster new forms of solidarity among the powerless, new ways of sharing experience and of learning from one another. finally, to incorporate more and more people into these alternative global networks. 12
New tools allow new ways of organizing, often without the vertical hierarchies, rigidly formal structures and entrenched office bearers that previously allowed those who controlled the information flows to control the structures. A mailing list makes it just as easy to send a message to hundreds or even thousands of people as to one person 13
One challenge faced by those working for social justice in the era of globalization is how to operate on a global scale, to link people and communities in different countries around causes that affect us all. The new technologies offer enormous possibilities for increasing human freedom and social justice 14
Now is the time to act, when all is not yet decided. If we wait until the restrictions on ICTs are consolidated, it will be much more difficult to reverse policies than to create better ones in the first place. Policy varies from country to country, especially from rich to poor, and the priorities are different. In poorer countries, 15
1) Privacy, 2) Censorship, 3) intellectual property restrictions, 4) broadband, 5) 3G cell phones, 6) wireless connectivity, 7) media concentration, etc... 16
