Bridging the ‘Digital Divide’

INTERVIEW: Roberto Romulo, eASEAN Task Force chairman He used to head the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs. Yet only a few know that Roberto Romulo, son of the great Carlos P. Romulo, headed the Philippine office of IBM for 25 years before he joined the government.

The techno-diplomat now chairs the eASEAN Task Force, and he was recently appointed to lead the "Great Digital Bridge Effort" which aims to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor when it comes to the Internet.

In this interview, Romulo outlined what his task force is doing and how he feels the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is working to bridge the Digital Divide.

Excerpts from the interview:

PHILIPPINE STAR: What is the Digital Divide?

ROMULO: The best way to describe the Digital Divide is, everybody’s talking about the Internet yet half of the world’s population has not yet made a phone call because they still don’t have access to telephony. So if you look at it from the standpoint of the Internet and computers, obviously the divide is even worse. I told the ASEAN economic ministers last week that as I speak to you today compared to when I spoke to you in Yangoon, Myanmar in May, 30 million people have joined the world of the Internet. So there are now more than 350 million people on the Net. The Internet is moving fast and ASEAN should move even faster if we want to catch up.

STAR: How do you intend to make ASEAN move faster?

ROMULO: The ASEAN leaders told us last November in Manila to develop an eASEAN agreement. And they accepted it. The eASEAN agreement’s objective is to develop a seamless environment all over the 10 ASEAN countries in the context of physical infrastructure, meaning access to the Internet. The legal and regulatory framework should be more or less the same for all the 10 countries. For example, only three ASEAN countries have e-commerce laws so far and we’re saying to the seven to please do it, too, based on the UN model law because it is more or less safe. You cannot go into e-commerce in this part of the globe unless you are the same. The digital signature that is recognized here will have no use if it is not recognized in other countries. E-commerce is a global phenomenon that has to have a global, international standard. So we can’t just make regional standards. It should be based on international standards. Why are we doing this? Because if we don’t do it, the world will pass us by. Goh Chok Tong said last year that China is now going into the World Trade Organization. And China now has 10 million users of the Internet. At best, ASEAN has 3 million. If in that 3 million we have different laws, or if we are not seamless, we will be politically and economically bypassed. All the focus will be on China.

STAR: Where should we focus more?

ROMULO: We should address our human resource infrastructure. As the Cisco ads say, "Are you ready?" That means you must have HRD, capacity-building or education programs to make sure that the population is ready.

STAR: Who do you think will benefit if you can bridge the Digital Divide?

ROMULO: You have to look at it from three perspectives. First is the e-society, meaning those who have access to the Internet. Empower everybody, not just the poor, not just the rich or the middle class, not just the urban but also the rural. Because what you want to do is empower everybody and give them a chance at access. Otherwise, the Digital Divide will get worse. Second is the e-conomy. This means business or commercial enterprises. They must also benefit, but again not just for the business people but also for the society. And lastly, it should also be beneficial to government and of course, government should take the lead.

STAR: Where is the eASEAN now?

ROMULO: At the moment, the eASEAN agreement has been approved by the ministers and they all agreed that on Nov. 24 in Singapore, the ASEAN leaders will sign the agreement. That’s unique. Nowhere in the world has anybody signed an e-agreement consisting of a regional aggrupation of developing countries. There have been many national projects such as those in Singapore, Egypt, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, everywhere, but there is nothing that covers a group. As a matter of fact, many people from around the globe are writing me through e-mails asking how we can exchange views because they want to know what the people in ASEAN are doing. It’s not so much that we are the leader in state-of-the-art technology. What this means is that we are taking the lead in making sure we have a seamless environment.

STAR: Does this mean we are already working together?

ROMULO: We’re trying. The best symbolism of that is when the leaders sign the eASEAN agreement. And yet that is only the beginning. We have a long way to go. I just said that only three countries – Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines – have e-commerce laws. Thailand will have its own law soon.

STAR: How would you describe our situation in Southeast Asia?

ROMULO: Our situation is unique. ASEAN has almost half a billion people. We have the leader in state-of-the-art technology – Singapore. But we have four new members who are obviously not in that stage. So what we have to do is work on two tracks. For the new members, we have to develop projects to help them understand and learn more. Education, capacity-building, we’ll have that. On the other hand, the original six members – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand – will have to move on a fast track and be really seamless right away. That’s hard work. But the important thing is to develop and educate people and have the political will. This will be ASEAN’s acid test. ASEAN has faltered since 1997. We weren’t able to solve the financial crisis and many of us are still beleaguered. There are so many things, so many attitudes that need to be changed. ASEAN has to reinvent itself. It has served its purpose, but now it has to do something else. If we cannot do it in eASEAN, then we really are no longer a credible body.

STAR: Whose brainchild is the eASEAN Task Force?

ROMULO: The eASEAN Task Force came out of a meeting of economic ministers in Singapore. The unique thing about it is they agreed that this would be a public-private sector initiative. The beauty of the Internet is that it is private-sector driven. So this is the first public-private sector task force. We have the CEO of PLDT, Manny Pangilinan, as member, and so is DTI Assistant Secretary Toby Monsod. Singapore appointed the ASEAN regional manager of IBM and a trade official. Malaysia appointed the CEO of the multimedia super corridor and a telecoms official. So it’s unique in that regard. We meet and we report to the ASEAN economic ministers and underneath these ministers is the eASEAN working group, the chairman of which is also a member of the task force. And the secretary of ASEAN, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary (Rodolfo) Severino, is also a member of the task force. So it’s unique. We become advisers to the ministers but at the same time, the people who work under them work with us. So we really are the ones giving the policy guidance.

STAR: Does this mean that the ASEAN leaders are listening to you all the time?

ROMULO: Let’s just say that they are listening to us a lot more now than before. The private sector is impatient and it wants to move ahead. But governments want to get consensus. Consensus for businessmen tend to slow the pace. But we’re moving forward. They’re listening now and that’s a good sign.