| APrIGF 2022 Session Proposal Submission Form | |||||||||||||
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| Part 1 - Lead Organizer | |||||||||||||
| Contact Person | |||||||||||||
| Ms. Isha Suri | |||||||||||||
| Organization / Affiliation (Please state "Individual" if appropriate) * | |||||||||||||
| Centre for Internet and Society | |||||||||||||
| Designation | |||||||||||||
| Senior Researcher | |||||||||||||
| Gender | |||||||||||||
| Female | |||||||||||||
| Economy of Residence | |||||||||||||
| India | |||||||||||||
| Primary Stakeholder Group | |||||||||||||
| Civil Society | |||||||||||||
| List Your Organizing Partners (if any) | |||||||||||||
| Gayani Hurulle, Senior Research Manager, LIRNEasia, gayani@lirneasia.net Sarbani Banerjee Belur, Region Coordinator Asia, Association for Progressive Communication (APC), sarbanibelur@iitb.ac.in |
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| Part 2 - Session Proposal | |||||||||||||
| Session Title | |||||||||||||
| Connecting the Unconnected - Policy Lessons from Asia | |||||||||||||
| Session Format | |||||||||||||
| Panel Discussion | |||||||||||||
| Where do you plan to organize your session? | |||||||||||||
| Onsite at the venue (with online moderator for questions and comments from remote participants) | |||||||||||||
| Specific Issues for Discussion | |||||||||||||
| During this panel discussion, panelists from different Asian countries will explore the state of internet connectivity including among other things factors such as internet use, availability of digital infrastructure, affordability, quality of service and digital skills, along with the overall policy and regulatory environment governing the ecosystem in Asia. The session will also delve into policy bottlenecks, along with good practices, the role of varied stakeholders and opportunities for regional cooperation. This will be explored through a regional overview, followed by case studies of several Asian countries. More specifically, panelists will deliberate the following questions: 1. What is the state of connectivity in APAC? How has Covid-19 impacted internet adoption in these countries? Are certain communities still unconnected? 2. What are some of the bottlenecks in ensuring affordable broadband connectivity for all? What are some interventions that can bridge this digital divide? 3. What are some of the factors outside mere internet access needed for assessing meaningful connectivity and access by the populace? 4. What are some of the unique challenges that each country faces and what have been some of the lessons learnt? 5. What are some of the good practices that could be emulated by regulators and policymakers to bridge the growing digital divide in the region - are there any best practices from within Asia that could serve as a role model? 6. What role can some of the other stakeholders such as civil society, private sector, ISPs and telecom companies play in bridging the existing digital divide? 7. Can there be a unified digital agenda for the countries within the region to facilitate indigenous development and adoption of digital technology? |
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| Describe the Relevance of Your Session to APrIGF | |||||||||||||
| Digital connectivity has become imperative to leading a fully functional life in the 21st century with access to essential services such as education, health, and governance dependent on internet access. The UN declaring internet access as a human right in 2016 is testament to this. While the pandemic spurred digitisation across sectors and industries and internet use within Asia-Pacific jumped by 24% between 2019-21 (ITU). The growth in users was predominantly driven by pandemic induced lockdowns compelling schools and offices to function remotely, as well as concerted regulatory interventions. Despite these interventions,40% of the APAC region still continues to be disconnected. Also, there exists significant variation in regulatory and policy ecosystems between countries, evidenced by 92% of Singapore’s population using the internet in 2020, as opposed to 18% in Afghanistan (ITU, 2020). There is also variation within countries — rural populations, the elderly, and historically marginalised groups such as women, ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities are disproportionately impacted. Covid-19 has further underlined and exacerbated the debilitating cost of digital exclusion and amplified the need to bridge the digital gap with utmost urgency to ensure that existing inequities are not magnified. During this session, we want to bring regional experts from select countries in Asia to discuss various hurdles faced by the region in its digital journey and share best practices and suggest a way forward towards universal, affordable broadband connectivity within the region. Apart from the differences, there are also parallels among countries within the region including sociocultural context, availability or lack thereof of digital skills, funding constraints and regulatory uncertainty. This discussion can help facilitate dialogues towards cross learnings and regional cooperation to expedite the process of connecting the unconnected. |
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| Methodology / Agenda (Please add rows by clicking "+" on the right) | |||||||||||||
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| Moderators & Speakers Info (Please complete where possible) | |||||||||||||
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| Please explain the rationale for choosing each of the above contributors to the session. | |||||||||||||
| The session has been planned with a view to accommodate diverse stakeholders across the board including civil society, academia and individuals having the experience of working with multilateral organisations. More specifically, panelists have been selected to represent varied geographic, economic and institutional environments to understand the various nuances that exist within the ecosystem. The discussion will start with a presentation from LirneAsia giving a high-level overview of the status of digital connectivity in the region as observed through nationally representative surveys carried out by them in select countries. Thereafter, the discussion will be moderated by Dr. Carlos Rey- Moreno who has extensive experience of working on the areas of digital connectivity across the globe, his experience of working in different geographies will aid in understanding the similarities as well as distinctions within different countries. All the speakers selected for the discussion have experience of engaging with diverse stakeholders within the ecosystem including regulators, policymakers, private sector, and civil society at domestic as well as global level. This will enable a nuanced discussion which brings out viewpoints of various stakeholder groups and facilitates an informative discussion. | |||||||||||||
| If you need assistance to find a suitable speaker to contribute to your session, or an onsite facilitator for your online-only session, please specify your request with details of what you are looking for. | |||||||||||||
| No | |||||||||||||
| Please declare if you have any potential conflict of interest with the Program Committee 2022. | |||||||||||||
| No | |||||||||||||
| Are you or other session contributors planning to apply for the APrIGF Fellowship Program 2022? | |||||||||||||
| No | |||||||||||||
| APrIGF offers live transcript in English for all sessions. Do you need any other translation support or any disability related requests for your session? APrIGF makes every effort to be a fully inclusive and accessible event, and will do the best to fulfill your needs. | |||||||||||||
| No | |||||||||||||
| Number of Attendees (Please fill in numbers) | |||||||||||||
| Consent | |||||||||||||
 I agree that my data can be submitted to forms.for.asia and processed by APrIGF organizers for the program selection of APrIGF 2022. |
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