60th Annual Session of ESCAP
Shanghai, 27 April 2004
Statement by Mrs. Brigita Schmögnerová,
Executive Secretary
UNECE’s Role in Promoting
ICTs and the Knowledge-based Economy
The ICT (information and
communication technology) revolution has
generated new opportunities for growth,
employment and the creation of wealth. Economies
are increasingly based on the exchange of
information and knowledge. Transformation
to a knowledge-based economy is a new important
challenge that developed economies and economies
in transition are going to face.
Transformation to a knowledge-based
economy is a complex process that needs
to be driven by governments strategies,
in cooperation with other stakeholders:
businesses, NGOs and in which IO will also
play a role. Transformation covers heterogeneous
areas like development of appropriate ICT
infrastructure, production and diffusion
of knowledge, closer linkages between generations,
dissemination and application of knowledge,
linkages between industry and science, new
investments into R & D, development
of regulatory framework (protection of intellectual
property rights, right of access to information,
internet governance, etc.), improved governance
in a country (including e-government, efficient
innovation policy, etc.), development of
e-business, education and training. Particularly
investment in human capital is a central
investment for a knowledge-based economy.
The emergence of the knowledge-based
economy is shifting the focus of businesses
including needs for employees, changing
from production workers to knowledge workers.
Workers engaged in using information to
produce goods and services are beginning
to play a central role in economic growth.
Investments to develop, upgrade and improve
the skills and expertise of the workforce
are therefore crucial to increasing competitiveness.
The structural changes
described above were confirmed at a recent
high-level conference on ICT and e business
strategies in transition economies, organized
by UNECE and UNCTAD in October 2003. Among
the recommendations adopted, several are
particularly relevant to the knowledge-based
economy. It was agreed that countries should
seek to:
- Enhance the capacity of ICT infrastructure
by increasing access and availability
and reducing Internet access costs for
businesses and households, inter alia
by developing community access points
organized on cyber-post principles and
integrating telecom infrastructure with
postal offices;
- Use ICTs to enhance transparency,
accountability and efficiency in the
delivery of public services to citizens
and to enterprises;
- Promote the integration of e-business
strategies into national economic and
social development plans with broad
participation from all sectors;
- Enhance digital literacy and public
awareness of ICT and e-commerce, and
increase human resource capacity to
meet the challenges of the e-business
environment, by using country's basic
education system beginning at the primary
school level, providing adult training
programmes, and investing in ICT in
educational environments in general;
- Develop accessible and affordable
ICT and e-commerce infrastructures,
and enable transactions between citizens,
businesses and governments within and
across borders;
- Review legal and regulatory instruments,
enact legislation supporting e-commerce
to overcome the complex issues that
have arisen from the development of
ICT in areas such as taxation, customs,
intellectual property, domain names,
computer crime, Internet content regulation,
privacy and data protection, consumer
protection, certification authorities,
and the role of accreditation and standardization
bodies;
- Foster regional cooperation through
the development of regional and sub-regional
action plans and through public and
private partnerships in economies in
transition, to share resources and knowledge
throughout the region;
- Invite and encourage all concerned
organizations to support the efforts
of economies in transition in ICT and
e-business development, especially in
countries with a lower level of e-readiness,
including in the area of capacity building.
The e-assessment of 16
Member States provided by UNECE and the
assessment of e-readiness of countries by
the World Bank show growing digital divide
between the UNECE members and worldwide,
particularly between the developed and developing
countries. The challenge of bridging the
digital divide between the more ICT-advanced
countries and countries with economies in
varying stages of development and transition
is pressing. However, based on the practical
recommendations above, some policies can
be identified to help bridge the divide:
These are:
- Globalization and rapid technological
developments are fundamentally reshaping
the business environment. World markets
are increasingly integrated, intensifying
competition and creating new opportunities,
and knowledge and innovation are emerging
as key assets. International structural,
institutional and business linkages
and cooperation are therefore crucial
for knowledge economy policy.
- The development of the knowledge-based
economy is based on using ICT in transforming
the structure of governance, institutions,
innovation policy, business models,
education, telecommunication and services,
inter alia. An explicit policy to incorporate
effective ICT in these institutions
should therefore be adopted. For example,
the introduction of ICT in government
can create new e-government solutions
that give transparency and thus, provides
means for strengthened democratic institutions.
However, no knowledge economy can develop
without a comprehensive effort of learning
and education. The importance of education
is illustrated by the following figures:
in 1999, the United States spent 3.8%
of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
on primary and secondary education,
and the average for OECD countries was
3.6% of GDP. (Source: U.S. National
Center for Education Statistics.)1
- Every effort should be made to remove
obstacles to ICT implementation in order
to ensure access and use for all of
ICT. Two of the most pressing issues
identified in the WSIS Plan of Action
are Internet governance and the financing
of ICT for development. Together with
their member countries, the UN Regional
Commissions should strive to develop
concrete approaches for resolving these
issues.
The UNECE region is affected
more than other regions by the “digital
divide”, as it includes many of the
most digitally advanced countries as well
as countries in Central Asia with some of
the lowest levels of ICT development in
the world. Therefore the UNECE is more focused
on economies in transition. In assisting
these countries in developing a knowledge-based
economy UNECE has the following three goals:
- Narrowing and/or closing gaps and
divides between the advanced and less
advanced economies in the areas crucial
to the development of the knowledge
based economy;
- Promoting the efficient use of ICT
for development; and
- Providing a forum for dialogue between
various stakeholders interested in the
development of the knowledge-based economy.
In achieving these goals
UNECE’s role in this area is manifold,
and includes providing assistance with legal,
regulatory and standardization matters;
providing transition economies with an information,
meeting and advisory platform; and facilitating
new business processes and applications
for information technologies. UNECE also
seeks to foster linkages between all stakeholders,
including governments, civil society, the
business community and non-governmental
organizations, to further the transition
process and promote economic growth.
In the area of trade, UNECE
is working to facilitate electronic business,
especially standards for electronic data
interchange (UN/EDIFACT), web-based standards
and the integrated use of paper and electronic
trade documentation (UNeDocs project). UNECE
cooperates with other organizations to develop
methodologies for monitoring the Information
Society. In the area of transport, UNECE
is examining new technologies known as Intelligent
Transport Systems (ITS) and introducing
provisions on these new technologies into
relevant UNECE Agreements and Conventions
to make transport more efficient, safer
and more environmentally friendly. Finally,
the UNECE Convention on Access to Information,
Public Participation in Decision-making
and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters
(Aarhus Convention) actively promotes the
principles and priorities of the Bucharest
Declaration, including an Information Society
beneficial to all. Legislative proposals
to implement this Convention were recently
adopted by the European Commission.
Finally, I would like to
recall the role of Regional Commissions
in the World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS), Declaration of Principles and Plan
of Action in which the regional dimension
of implementation was explicitly recognized.
UNECE in Geneva was responsible for coordinating
the contributions of all the Regional Commissions
to the Summit. Indeed, the cooperation of
the Regional Commissions in this context
was, in my view, exemplary and could perhaps
be the basis for future joint activities.
UNECE will work with the other Regional
Commissions to develop interregional projects
on ICT implementation for 2006-7 funded
from the United Nations Development Account.
_______
1 The Human Development Report Education Index takes into account
a country’s literacy and educational
levels. In 2003, the United States’
Education Index was 0.97, as was that
of OECD High-Income countries. The Education
Index of OECD countries was 0.94, and
Central and Eastern Europe and CIS countries
had an index of 0.92, while least developed
countries had an average Education Index
of 0.50. Source: Human Development Report
2003, UNDP.