READY NET GO!

Last Monday’s elections may have proved a number of things. But one thing that stood out from all the politicking was the Philippines’ need to computerize the casting and counting of votes to speed up the electoral process.

But let’s leave this issue for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Commission on Elections to address. They may not know it, but foreign experts are watching how the Philippines is using technology to improve the lives of its people.

A report recently released by McConnell International, a US-based consulting firm, said the Philippines, contrary to what many believe, has improved its e-readiness or its ability to participate in the digital economy.

Entitled "Ready? Net.Go!: Partnerships Leading the Global Economy," the report is the company’s second work after an earlier one in August last year.

The report said the Philippines has improved significantly its e-readiness since last year. McConnell is giving credit to the government for this, saying Philippine officials have realized the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in economic development.

McConnell studied 53 countries which are in a position to have a profound impact on the new global economy. Collectively, these countries represent over two-thirds of the world’s population and they are considered the greatest potential markets.

"The picture is one of opportunity," McConnell said, describing what it saw in all 53 countries. The company noted that with developed countries suffering from economic slowdown, less-developed nations are now becoming important sources for e-business growth.

"These countries now face a great opportunity to narrow the gap between themselves and the global leaders. It is a time for action to remove barriers and move forward, learning from the experiences of developed countries and standing on their shoulders to leapfrog the old technologies."

The McConnell report examined the countries in five areas: connectivity, e-leadership, information security, human capital and e-business climate. It also provided anecdotes on innovative projects with impact on e-readiness.

Connectivity

To be e-ready, one has first to be connected. But how can a country be connected when networks are expensive?

McConnell examined the availability of wired and wireless communications services as well as networked computers in businesses, schools and homes. It noted that many countries are working to expand and upgrade their networks, and a number of them are taking new approaches to overcome traditional barriers.

Ghana, for one, uses wireless payphone kiosks to provide quick and inexpensive access to people in rural areas. Korea, on the other hand, has tapped public and private sector funding for a five-year project that will expand its fiber-optic network. The project will allow transmission of data at 100 times the current speed and will incorporate 475 counties across the country, including smaller communities in rural areas.

Argentina, Chile and Estonia are other leaders in constructing wide-sweeping network access. Kazakhstan is following suit. Recently selected by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development as a recipient of $160 million in funds for telecommunications development, Kazakhstan will extend its digital telephone network across the country, improve satellite telephony and Internet access, and install additional payphones.

McConnell also cited some technological advances that are producing new ways to overcome traditional obstacles. In Brazil, the government has aided researchers at one university in creating a low-cost personal computer that will enable low-income people to access the Internet.

"Connectivity remains the greatest obstacle to most countries’ participation in the digital economy," McConnell said.

E-leadership

For a country to have connectivity, it must first have e-leaders.

"The government’s most important task in increasing e-readiness is to create an environment that encourages private sector action, while protecting consumers," McConnell said.

Only a handful of countries, according to McConnell, have so-called "electronic governments" which do processes and services electronically.

Taiwan is one. The Taipei City Hall has connected over 175 governmental authorities via a private broadband information network. This initiative, McConnell said, has increased government speed and responsiveness by enabling 85 percent of City Hall’s documents to be carried via the new intranet.

At the forefront of e-government, however, is Estonia, which pioneered a network-based document system as early as August last year. Its Cabinet meetings are done online, with senior government officials using laptops. It now plans to create an integrated videoconferencing system, so ministers may attend sessions while away from the capital.

Other examples cited in the report were Malaysia, Chile and Mexico. A private firm is creating an e-government portal on a build-operate-and-transfer scheme in Malaysia. The portal will enable citizens to pay utility bills and traffic fines and renew licenses using Internet kiosks, which will be installed throughout the urban areas. Chile, for its part, has enabled its people to access government information through mobile phones. And Mexico is now connecting all hospitals across the country in an e-health initiative that will enable information exchange among all health care practitioners.

Information security

The third trait McConnell looked into was security of data. It noted that poor protection of intellectual property stunts economic growth.

"Many countries’ e-business environments continue to suffer due to obsolete laws and weak enforcement mechanisms to protect the creation, maintenance and dissemination of digital information," McConnell said.

It cited Brazil as one example of a country that is doing well in data protection. One university in Brazil, it said, recently established an online privacy certificate program for Brazilian websites that protects users’ personal data. Brazilian authorities have also seized pirated software and launched a consumer awareness campaign, which points out the criminality of selling and purchasing pirated goods.

Korea is also tops in this aspect. The Korean government recently stepped up its hunt for pirated software, targeting nearly 1,500 domestic and foreign corporations, universities and government offices. It also plans a cyber crime prevention system targeted at online offenses such as data fraud and privacy intrusion.

Other countries, however, are not as effective. According to McConnell, India is one of them. Although India took great strides in outlawing Internet crimes when it passed its Information Technology Act last year, it soon found that the majority of its police force had little experience with such matters.

To overcome this problem, McConnell said India organized a National Cyber Cop Committee, which, with the aid and advice of a group of teenage hackers, now trains police officers and judicial members on how to identify and prosecute cyber crimes.

"Poor information security, be it rampant software piracy, weak privacy protection, or networks that are technically or legally vulnerable to criminal attacks, drains the value of otherwise useful efforts to increase e-readiness," McConnell said.

Human capital

Meanwhile, one of the most important things McConnell assessed was the human component of e-readiness.

McConnell noted that to participate in the networked world, a country must develop and retain a strong cadre of skilled managers and technologists. It also needs a population that is interested in the network and is able to use it.

McConnell cited Sri Lanka as an example of how countries are having early successes in bringing information technology to their schools. In Sri Lanka, one university has created an external degree program that grants Bachelor of Information Technology degrees. While university faculty members conduct the examinations, the program is linked with research facilities and private sector training institutions. The program expects to produce 3,000 graduates in the next three years, 100 times the capacity that the university alone could have produced.

McConnell said many countries are also encouraging English instruction to help their citizens gain a competitive edge in the Internet economy. In Jordan, for example, a two-year long educational reform program began last year obliging students to achieve both English and computer literacy. Language instruction will begin from the first grade and computer skills will be taught beginning in the second year of primary school.

In Mexico, virtual classes are becoming popular. A Mexican university, according to McConnell, now broadcasts virtual classes via satellite to more than 81,000 students in 1,400 sites throughout Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.

"People are the ‘why’ of the Internet," McConnell said. "People also make the difference between success and failure in national efforts to become connected."

E-business climate

McConnell looked last into the e-business climate of each of the 53 countries. Its main concern here was how easy e-business can be done in each nation.

It looked into the existence of effective competition among telephone and Internet companies, transparency on the part of regulatory agencies, openness of the government, the rule of law, and the general business risk. It also examined the general business culture of the people.

According to McConnell, one of the most significant hindrances to the growth of global e-commerce is lack of familiarity with credit cards. South Africa, it said, is an example of how a country is building trust in alternative payment methods. Using smart cards, citizens of the Venda region, one of the country’s most remote areas, now obtain state benefits, make payments or deposit savings through electronic kiosks.

"By utilizing graphic displays that depict the various transactions, the obstacles presented by illiteracy may be easily overcome. Identification of users through biometric fingerprinting will ensure the security of these transactions. So far, over 8,000 residents of the region have enrolled in the project," McConnell said.

The consulting firm said that many projects to improve the e- business climate are targeted towards the promotion of international e-commerce. China, for instance, has developed a virtual port to process import and export permits electronically. And the United Arab Emirates has built a $200-million Internet City that has already attracted over 200 companies, including many of the global e-players.

McConnell concluded that while some countries saw their e-readiness ratings drop, the reason was often economic decline that is making business generally less attractive. Other countries are experiencing the opposite though. It said that as developed countries suffer from economic slowdown, less developed nations will be the most logical choice when sourcing for ICT requirements.

"Companies that rely on developing countries to supply ICT services, such as software programming, are weathering the slowdown better," it said. "This is good news for less developed countries. They just have to be e-ready."