9. Conclusions
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,
the Earth Summit, held at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, echoed
a universal concern and the recognition of the compelling
need to ensure the fulfilment of human aspirations in every
country within the framework of environmental sustainability
by unanimously adopting Agenda 21 with this statement:
Humanity stands at a defining moment in history. We are
confronted with a perpetuation of disparities between
and within nations, a worsening of poverty, hunger, ill
health and illiteracy, and the continuing deterioration
of ecosystems on which we depend for our well-being. However,
integration of environment and development concerns and
greater attention to them will lead to the fulfilment
of basic needs, improved living standards for all, better
protected and managed ecosystems and a safer, more prosperous
future. No nation can achieve this on its own; but, together
we can - in a global partnership for sustainable development.
Agenda 21 rightly envisaged that any framework for sustainable
development at the national, regional and global levels
should take an integrated view, making effective use of
frontier technologies such as space technology, biotechnology
and information technology. At the recently held World Summit
on Sustainable Development at Johannesburg, the world reaffirmed
its commitment to the Rio principles, the full implementation
of Agenda 21, as well as its commitment to achieve the internationally
agreed development goals, including those contained in the
United Nations Millennium Declaration. Even taking stock
of the progress made since the Rio Conference, there are
still many challenges facing the world, particularly the
developing countries. For the Asian and Pacific region,
the major challenge continues to be to generate sustainable
economic growth sufficient to feed and employ the burgeoning
population without endangering the ecology and environment.
Although there are still gaps in the implementation of
Agenda 21, the global context has since changed. Globalization
and the information and communication technologies revolution
have demonstrated their benefits and limitations for development
during the 1990s (Economic and Social Council, 2001). The
convergence era triggered by the digital and information
technology revolution has drastically changed the way the
world communicates, does business and, for that matter,
takes any decisions. The advancements in ICT have brought
in the concept of the “networked society”, highlighting
the importance of connectivity between and within countries.
The convergence of technologies on the information superhighway,
even as it continues to evolve, offers vast opportunities
to the developing countries in the region to make leaps
and catch up with the developed world in terms of economic
growth, service delivery, health, education, and social
and cultural advances, resulting in overall improvement
in the quality of life. Over the years, space technology
applications through satellite communications, satellite
remote sensing, positioning systems, and space science have
become part of everyday life, whether it is through broadcasting,
communication, weather services, natural resources and environment
management, or navigation services, thus contributing significantly
to the implementation of Agenda 21 (Rao, 2001).
With the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web,
the world is witnessing integrated efforts towards evolving
a seamless global information infrastructure, based on sets
of interconnected national and regional information infrastructures.
Integration, convergence and connectivity have become the
key words, and many technology solutions and alternatives
are attracting attention in this technology fusion as the
countries vie with each other to have affordable access
to information and services. In such a scenario, space technology
has an important role to play, as it becomes part of the
evolving information superhighway, in both the conduit and
content segments. Ultimately, the users are not really concerned
about technology or where it originates, but look for good
quality, timely services at an affordable cost on their
desk tops in a format and style that they were used to (Jayaraman,
1999). Positioning an appropriate policy and regulatory
framework is an essential requirement to enable the countries
in the region to tap the full potential of the emerging
scenario, in which the information superhighway transcends
national boundaries and involves global players. And within
national boundaries there are conflicting technologies vying
for attention. The need for suitable technology policies
has become more pressing with the ongoing globalization
efforts around the world and the operationalization of WTO
policies in the coming years.
9.1 Regulatory framework considerations
and challenges
Even as the evolution of the information superhighway promises
more opportunities for the developing countries, creating
an appropriate regulatory regime that fosters competition
through transparent rules and processes, and that is flexible
enough to be responsible to fast-changing technologies and
markets, is the major challenge facing the policy makers
around the world. The need of the hour is the development
of a pro-competition, technology-neutral, regulatory environment
that maximizes the user choice, provides fair access to
networks, stimulates infrastructure development, and promotes
the introduction and wider dissemination of innovative,
newer services, with transparent decision-making processes.
While national Governments have their own interests in framing
the regulatory regimes, reflecting the specific economic,
political and sometimes moral needs of individual countries,
the very nature of convergence technologies is global –
and responding to the global development becomes a must
(Brown and others, 2001). The globalization process and
the opening of new ICT markets expand opportunities for
developing countries, in sharing knowledge, increasing the
efficiency of resources and reducing poverty. Globalization
has associated risks, such as increasing the vulnerability
of developing countries, particularly the least developed
countries and other marginalized societies, to external
shocks. Increased competition creates winners and losers,
and the entry of large multinational companies also contributes
to a sense of helplessness and loss of control (World Bank,
2001).
Even as the developing countries try to bridge the emerging
digital divide and overcome the negatives of globalization
by seizing the emerging ICT opportunities to provide universal
education and improved skills to their population, they
require cooperation, assistance and support from the international
community, including the non-governmental organizations
and the private sector, to compete and grow in this networked
and globalized world. Such a cooperative effort is expected
to provide an adequate handle to the developing countries,
particularly the least developed countries, in terms of
infrastructure, human resources development and appropriate
capacity transfer in the true sense of the word. There are
quite a few success stories in the developing countries
in the region and around the world, places where the integration
of space technology applications in the ICT environment
has provided meaningful solutions to larger societal problems.
The sharing of such experiences and carrying out pilot and
demonstration projects with assistance and support from
international agencies and institutions could be the starting
point for many countries in the region to be convinced of
the potential benefits in their own environment before operationally
integrating them into the developmental process. As brought
out in this study, creating an environment for growth in
ICT with a matching policy and regulatory framework in position
is the essential need for the developing countries in the
region, while the international community has a major role
to play in capacity-building in these countries.
ESCAP has a major role to play in the coming days in defining
the formulation of appropriate policies and a regulatory
framework while integrating space technology applications
into the information superhighway. It is mainly due to the
proactive role played by ESCAP over the years that the Asian
and Pacific region has emerged as one of the fast-growing
areas in space technology development and applications,
with vast experience in handling space technology applications.
The ministerial declarations unanimously adopted by the
Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Development
in Asia and the Pacific held at Beijing in 1994 and the
Second Ministerial Conference at New Delhi in 1999, which
launched RESAP, make it clear that ESCAP recognizes the
important role that space applications can play in national
and regional development. Even as the mid-term review of
the implementation of the second phase of RESAP, as recommended
by 1999 Delhi Declaration, is due, it is necessary to take
stock of the emerging scenario in the light of various global
events such as the World Summit for Sustainable Development,
taking into account the reprioritized objectives of ESCAP,
namely (a) poverty alleviation, (b) overcoming the negative
aspects of globalization, and (c) bridging the digital divide.
Retuning the common denominator projects under the Minimum
Common Programme of RESAP II is the need of the hour, keeping
in view the latest priorities of ESCAP as well as the ongoing
technological ICT revolution, in which space technology
applications play a major role in both the “carriage
or conduit” and the “contents” part of
the information superhighway. It is expected that the current
study may also provide some vital inputs into such an exercise
as and when it is carried out.
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