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2007/SOM1/ECSG/015
Agenda Item: IV.c.
ICT-Enabled Growth Initiative
Purpose: Information
Submitted by: ICC
/ Electronic Commerce Steering Group MeetingCanberra, Australia
25-26 January 2007
ICT-Enabled Growth Initiative
Purpose:
Pursuant to the direction of the Ministers in the SOM III report, that APEC groups coordinate on work related to ICT enabled growth, we request that the Electronic Commerce Steering Group (ECSG) make the initial outreach in coordinating with other appropriate APEC fora into the ICT-Enabled Growth Initiative and also include consultation with the private sector on the development of policy checklists and the compilation of resource and guidance documents for regulators in its 2007 work program.
The policy checklists are part of a process to assist economies in developing regulatory frameworks by taking account of the needs of the information economy to enable growth. The checklists and other resources developed as part of this initiative will help to guide policy architects on best practices in policy development that would facilitate ICT-enabled growth in key sectors as they develop new or revised regulations and policy measures. The commerce sector has been identified as a key area for consideration, along with finance, health, and infrastructure.
The ICT-Enabled Growth Initiative
As was recently affirmed in the 2006 Leaders Statement, the utilization of ICTs is key to unlocking tremendous growth potential in the Asia-Pacific region. The ICT-Enabled Growth Initiative seeks to help achieve economic growth in the region by assuring that regulatory, policy and legal environments across key sectors of the economy are developed in ways that better position them to benefit from the information economy and better utilize information and communication technologies. Specifically, the ICT initiative seeks to enable access to the key elements of growth, the 5 “I”s – Information Flows, Infrastructure, Intellectual Capital, Investment, Innovation – by providing policy architects with a framework of checklists and guidance documents, developed by APEC fora in consultation with the private sector, that would assist them in designing sector-specific policies that enhance the uptake and effectiveness of ICT in key sectors of the economy.
This initiative has gained wide-spread support from Ministers and Leaders and work has already begun in some of the relevant APEC-fora. Ministers specifically supported the initiative in November 2006 in Ha Noi, “welcom(ing) the collaboration with the private sector on developing a framework for ICT-enabled growth in the region, focusing initially on the four key sectors of infrastructure, health, finance and commerce.” This endorsement from Ministers followed on from a directive from SOM III, which “noted the importance of ICT enabled growth in APEC and directed relevant fora to consult with the private sector in advancing this work.”
Proposed future collaboration with the E-Commerce Steering Group
The ECSG has been involved in this project over the last year and has been instrumental in gaining the project’s support by Ministers and Leaders as well as across the relevant APEC-fora. In light of this history, it makes sense for the ECSG to take a leading role in reaching out to other APEC fora in developing a cooperative and collaborative path forward.
There are substantial potential benefits from this initiative for Member Economies regarding economic growth and competitiveness. We propose that the ECSG leadership begin discussions with other for a leadership to explore how best to proceed on this project across fora. In parallel, we propose that the ECSG begin its work to identify key policy issues affecting the use of technology in the commerce sector and include collaboration with the private sector on the development of policy check-lists for commerce-policy makers in its 2007 Work Plan.
As a first step, it is proposed that the ECSG work inter-sessionally to gather information about how technology and policy operates in the commerce sector and determine what topics need to be addressed to better enable current and future uses of technology to foster growth. It is hoped that this work can be completed by SOM II in April, after which the ECSG, in consultation with the private sector, would begin to develop policy checklists that would assist policy architects in ensuring commerce policy is designed so as to facilitate current and new uses of technology as an enabler of access to the 5 “I”s.
As part of this process, it is also proposed that the ECSG collaborate with other APEC fora and the private sector to identify best practice and guideline documents that will form part of the overall ICT-enabled growth framework as a further reference to commerce policy makers.
Background: progress of the initiative
Since it was first presented to the ECSG at SOM I in Ha Noi last year, the ICT-Enabled Growth initiative has progressed through other APEC fora as follows:
APEC Forum / Date / Action2nd ABAC meeting, Montreal / May 2006 / Endorsed by ABAC, discussion of initial concepts
MRT Business Symposium, Vietnam / June 2006 / Introduced by private sector, recognized by Trade Ministers
3rd ABAC meeting, Philippines / August 2006 / Discussed, and subsequently supported in 2006 Report to Economic Leaders
ECSG meeting, Vietnam / September 2006 / Requested SOM to take note of importance of ICT-enabled growth in APEC and DIRECT relevant APEC groups to consult on this proposal with the private sector (via ABAC/ICC) on the development of this work
SOM III / September 2006 / Noted importance of ICT-enabled growth in APEC economies AND DIRECTED relevant APEC groups to consult with the private sector
34th TEL Meeting / October 2006 / Presentation by ABAC. TEL agreed to collaborate with private sector and ECSG in development of communications infrastructure policy tool-kit
Leader’s Meeting / November 2006 / Leader’s supported concept in the Hanoi Declaration: “We affirmed the significance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for APEC's development.” ; and Ministers specifically supported the initiative “welcom(ing) the collaboration with the private sector on developing a framework for ICT-enabled growth in the region, focusing initially on the four key sectors of infrastructure, health, finance and commerce.”
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