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Information and Communication Technology Policy
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The role of government is to govern and, generally, to pass laws and adopt regulations designed to control certain forms of activity. It is broadly recognized, however, that governance and regulation extends beyond governments to encompass a broad range of institutions and mechanisms of control. For example, in some sectors, such as telecommunications, international best practice is to establish an independent regulator to oversee the competitive liberalization of the sector, a key infrastructure and driver behind electronic commerce development.
Effective regulatory institutions require adequate expertise and resources, which developing countries may find difficult to support. To address such barriers, capacity building in the regulatory field is a line of activity in most developmental programmes, including training and exchange programmes with developed nation regulatory institutions. However, such formal institutions can also be supported by non-public sector entities, both commerce and civil society, which can operate in a regulatory capacity, whether directly or indirectly. Self or co-regulation, for example, looks to industry to establish, monitor and enforce rules over its members.
While we traditionally conceive of regulation in terms of laws and rules, we must also be aware of other processes occurring at a national and international level that effectively regulate the way a society embraces the manifestations of the Information Economy. The standards and protocols that underpin the operation of the Internet and its various services, from email to VoIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol), for example, facilitate or restrict the way we interact with such technologies, either through deliberate design, as an inevitable by- product or by accident. Market conditions govern the way we use the Internet; the cost of telephony, for example, limits our usage when operating on a time-sensitive basis. Cultural norms also determine how people use and abuse the Internet as a means of communications and economic activity
Marek Belka - Organizational Body
1st Edtion
978-92-1-116974-4
NONE
Information and Communication Technology Policy
Information Technology
English
UNITED NATIONS
2007
Switzerland
1-67
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