My comments at the Main Panel session at IGF 2012. Question 1: What does it take to attract investment in infrastructure and encourage innovation and growth of ICT services, including mobile technology and how can these technologies best be employed to address development challenges? Indonesia is a success story in Internet use. In a six-country, representative-sample survey we conducted in 2011, we found the highest use of the Internet among the poor among the six in Java, where the most of the Indonesian population lives. Indonesia is one of the heaviest users of Facebook, in the top five.
We’re irregular visitors to IGF (Helani went to Rio and Hyderabad; I went to Sharm el Sheikh, . . . ). But this year is kinda exciting, with the WCIT sword hanging over the multi-stakeholder model.
This was the question that was addressed at a plenary session at the APNIC conference in New Delhi today. The debate that centers on the role and function of multi-stakeholders, not limited to governments alone, was conducted by a panel representing multiple stakeholders, including Hon Hasanul Haq Inu, Chair of the Standing Committee on post and telecom of the Bangladesh Parliament, Mr N. Ravi Shanker, Administrator of the Indian Government’s Universal Service Fund, Mr Paul Wilson, Director General of APNIC, and Raman Jit Singh Chima of Google India. I chaired the session. The Indian government wants the current Internet Governance Forum to be beefed up so that it will actually produce decisions.
I am writing this sitting at an IGF session dealing with the twin themes of access and diversity. Learning new and useful things about making websites accessible to differently abled people which should have important implications for the design of mobile terminals that will make more-than-voice services more accessible to those lacking knowledge capital. The danger of course is the money question. When the many well meaning people who work on disabled access issues look around for money to advance their causes, they first look to government. And where in government?