ALKHOBAR, 9 July — The United Nations Development Program Regional Bureau for Arab States in cooperation with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development have released the first Arab Human Development Report. Twenty-two countries, from the Maghreb to the Gulf, are covered by the report’s findings. What are these findings? Basically, the report states that Arab countries have made significant strides in more than one area of human development in the last three decades. Nevertheless, according to the report, the predominant characteristic of the current Arab reality seems to be the existence of deeply rooted shortcomings in the Arab institutional structure. These shortcomings are an obstacle to building human development. The report summarizes them as three deficits relating to freedom, empowerment of women and knowledge.
The new UNDP report is titled, “Creating Opportunities for Future Generations” (ISBN: 92-1-126147-3). The report may be ordered through [email protected]. Find it on the web at www.un.org/Publications or www.undp.org/rbas. It is a huge download — 169 pages and over 5MB — but the report can be taken chapter by chapter instead of one large file.
Of great importance to those of us in the field of information technology is the chapter on Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
Unfortunately as many of us in the Arab World have long suspected, the UNDP report shows that the Arab world is very weak in the area of ICT. The report notes that ICT is “an increasingly important factor in the knowledge economy of the 21st century. It can be both a unifying and a divisive force. Its divisive aspect has come to be known as the ‘digital divide,’ which refers to the differences between those who have digital access to knowledge and those who lack it.”
The report lists the main reasons for the digital divide among Arab countries, which aside from the economic factors are:
— Absence of national information policies;
— Weakness of the role of Arab League agencies and other regional organizations;
— Lack of interest of Arab financial institutions in information projects, where feasibility studies are normally undertaken on a purely economic basis without taking societal returns into account;
— The required considerable increase in education budgets, particularly after the expansion of ICT use in education.
The report finds that the digital divide is not an entirely technological issue and that overcoming it will require “societal innovation.” However, in overcoming the digital divide Arab societies must work to provide their people with knowledge and not just information.
“True knowledge is what empowers people to cope with a fast-changing, complicated world. It is knowledge about life, and knowledge as a way of life,” stated the report. “Therefore, the concept of knowledge should go beyond scientific knowledge and embrace the full triad of knowledge about science, humanities and art. Indeed, the latest cultural trend in the information industry is to promote the latter two types of knowledge. This is a matter that should be taken into account in developing Arab human resources, as must a parallel issue: Knowledge for whom?”
Based on the many studies that have been carried out to discover the reasons for the hampered flow of knowledge in Arab countries, the key factor in the problem appears to be that knowledge in the age of information is closely related to, and dependent on, technology. When there are technological limitations, for whatever reasons, knowledge does not flow.
There are ways to increase the spread of knowledge. The report suggests the use of cyber cafes as centers for added intelligence, not only for entertainment and e-mail. The cyber cafes could be linked together with cultural centers, youth clubs and local government decision-making centers in order to promote communication and transparency. Cyber cafes would then become a nucleus for electronic government.
Arab countries should also consider forming an Arab information bloc. This could help to close the digital divide within the region which will be critical for success in narrowing the divide between Arab countries and the rest of the world.
In the area of measurable ICT, the report finds that the Arab region does not score too badly with respect to telephone lines and personal computers per thousand people, but it ranks last with respect to websites and Internet users. These last two indices are more relevant to the level of information development and representative of society’s involvement in ICT.
The report warns though that, “a growing brain drain, both actual (emigration) and virtual (through the Internet), is depriving the Arab world of its top ICT specialists, who are being aggressively sought by foreign companies. This situation, if allowed to continue, could lead to the exclusion of Arab countries from the field of R&D.”
Despite the danger of falling behind even further as technology marches onward the report advises that the fast pace of change in ICT increases the importance of planning. However, technocrats must not be allowed to make strategic decisions alone because it is vital that social and cultural requirements are taken into consideration in the use of ICT. The social impact of ICT will vary from country to country, but education levels and age composition of the population are likely to be central determinants. The report cites other factors that will influence the acceptance and implementation of ICT including:
— Language. Most of the information currently on the Internet is in English, a language that most of the population in Arab countries do not know well;
— Absence of remedial education and rehabilitative adult-education programs;
— Cultural aspects, particularly with respect to gender. It is still common in many Arab countries to limit women’s employment to certain areas despite the fact that ICT and the Internet, on the whole, provide opportunities for Arab women by giving them access to work from home.
A serious drawback in the region to the most innovative use of ICT is that Arab nations are not succeeding in restructuring their telecommunications sectors. The report found that restructuring was slow and a monopolistic, or semi-monopolistic.
“Restructuring is taking place in the absence of both an economic model for the telecommunications corporate sector and a clear division of labor between various types of ownership (state, public, cooperative, private),” read the report. “Countries will need to guard against the risk that restructuring could permit the emergence of the untrammeled profit motive and the potential for monopoly to undercut the provision of affordable and equitable service.”
Depressingly, the report asserts that while some Arab states are “ceding their monopoly over the telecommunications sector, they are still clinging to their monopoly over the content of information... The Internet has not yet been used as a way to transcend the official media and serve all social classes.”
So what is needed for the ICT situation to improve in the Arab world?
The Arab world must develop an effective information policy. According to the report this policy should:
— Have a multisectoral outlook. In particular, it should be sensitive to the increasing tendency to merge the sectors of communication, media and information;
— Acknowledge the importance of the integration of Arab information in Arabic, especially with regard to the sharing of resources;
— Emphasize that ICT is a tool for communicating knowledge and take into account that the computation of the Arabic language is a basic starting point for this approach;
— Acknowledge the role of content in its broad sense;
— Give priority to the use of ICT in education, training and public health as well as to the creation of a viable infrastructure for an Arab cultural industry.
It is essential that there is restructuring of the telecommunications sector to guarantee deregulation and open up competition to encourage local and foreign investors to contribute to infrastructure development. At the same time, the report asserts that a measure of government regulation should be maintained to guarantee a minimum level of public telecommunications services for people with limited income and those residing in rural and distant areas.
In addition the report advocates:
— Innovative alternatives should be explored with the aim of reducing the cost of building infrastructure. For example, it is possible to establish a multitiered telecommunications system (with regard to speed) while maintaining connectivity and compatibility among system levels. It is also possible to create inexpensive and quick-to-build wireless communications or wireless local loops (LLPs) for local use.
— Specialists in departments of planning and organization should be trained in matters concerning the restructuring of the telecommunications sector and in examining various economic models for privatizing and liberalizing it.
— Arab countries should coordinate their telecommunications systems in order to guarantee their compatibility and connectivity.
— Telecommunications service charges should be adjusted to ensure access regardless of financial ability.
The report points to the urgent requirement to introduce computers into Arab schools. National plans must also aim to develop specialized personnel for training as computer teachers. Their training should encompass the use of ICT as an educational tool and should involve a blend of educational and methodological principles, the theory of knowledge and technical aspects. Programs for adult training must be linked with the actual needs of the labor market and must be coordinated with the introduction of ICT in the workplace. The Internet should be used to the maximum extent possible in the training of women in order to attract Arab women to participate in the development process.
This is a very brief summary of the findings regarding ICT in the UNDP Arab Human Development Report. For the good of the region and its future progress, please take the time to go out on the Internet and read the entire chapter when you have time. In the next few years the Arab world must boldly move forward in its adoption of ICT. Such moves are best accomplished when everyone understands the principles behind the use of ICT and the most advantageous ways to implement these new technologies for success.
(Comments to [email protected])