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INTRODUCTION

The increasingly globalized world can be credited to the information revolution made possible by information and communication technologies (ICTs). We have heard incessantly about the benefits brought by these new technologies on the way we do things and the manner in which we communicate.

Critics of globalization are quick to point out, however, that a so-called digital divide exists between the developed and underdeveloped countries. The latter are portrayed to be playing catch-up in order to reap the benefits of new technology.

This paper looks at the digital divide within the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the efforts being made to bridge the gap and how underdeveloped countries can move even closer to closing the gap.

DIGITAL DIVIDE AND THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY

The concept of digital divide is often simply defined as “the gap between those who have access to the new information and communications technology and those [without].”

For some scholars, the digital divide is only a symptom of other divides like income, development and literacy. The Economist reports that fewer people in poor countries own computers and have access to the Internet rather than people in developed countries because they are too poor, illiterate or have more pressing concerns such as food, health care, security and other basic needs.

Political scientist Pippa Norris saw this ‘global divide’ as a multi-dimensional phenomenon encompassing three different aspects.

“The global divide refers to the divergence of Internet access between industrialized and developing societies. The social divide concerns the gap between information rich and poor in each nation. And lastly within the online community, the democratic divide signifies the difference between those who do, and do not, use the panoply of digital resources to engage, mobilize and participate in public life.”

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in its 1999 report, warned that the new information and communication technologies might “widen the gap between the affluent nations and those lacking the resources, skills and infrastructure.” (UNDP, 1999)

But what is the whole big deal about the digital divide? Efforts to bridge the gap are being made because ICT is believed to have a “leapfrogging” characteristic that will enable poor states to catch up on their rich counterparts economically.

This belief can be traced to a worldwide acknowledgment of the importance of knowledge as a resource. As the book Breaking the Digital Divide suggests:

“Above all, the Internet can become a crucial channel for the diffusion of essential information in those places where poverty implies not only lack of economic means but also lack of accurate information.”

Knowledge is now regarded as the main driving force for innovation and development. Hans-Dieter Ever and Solvay Gerke, in their study about the digital divide in the ASEAN region, saw that knowledge explains the gap between the developed and underdeveloped, between poor and rich countries, between Singapore and Laos or Malaysia and Indonesia. This knowledge gap refers to the “uneven intensity of knowledge production, availability and dissemination worldwide.”

The ASEAN is giving utmost attention to this new knowledge economy. During the first ASEAN Telecommunications Ministers (TELMIN) meeting in July 2001 held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad highlighted in his keynote address that ICT is responsible for shaping a new kind of economy, where knowledge and information is the prime mover of productivity and economic performance. He says the shift to a knowledge-based economy offers significant potential for the ASEAN region to achieve and maintain sustainable economic growth and competitiveness.

To a large extent, the digital divide determines the capacity of producing and using new knowledge. Computers are known to augment and improve thinking capabilities of individuals and organizations to enhance their efficiency. The spread of personal computers and the Internet has connected millions of people to the knowledge resources of the World Wide Web.

Thus, several Southeast Asian countries have planned and carried out strategies to bridge the digital divide and close the knowledge gap between them and the OECD countries.

Next, we shall look at the current status of ICT development in the ASEAN region with particular focus on the ICT indicators such as telephone lines, mobile phones and Internet access.

DIGITAL DIVIDE IN THE ASEAN

Indicators of ICT diffusion in an economy include usage of televisions, personal computers, main telephone lines, mobile phones, fax machines, and Internet.

TABLE 1
Source: 2006 World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators, International Telecommunication Union

Country in the ASEAN region

Main Telephone Lines per 100 inhabitants
Brunei Darussalam
20.99
Cambodia
0.23
Indonesia
6.57
Laos
1.27
Malaysia
16.83
Myanmar
0.93
Philippines
4.00
Singapore
42.32
Thailand
10.92
Vietnam
18.81

Table 1 shows the diffusion of telephone lines in the ASEAN region as of 2006. As expected, there is still a large disparity between the number of telephone lines per 100 inhabitants in the more developed countries such as Singapore and Brunei and the less developed countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar.

There is, however, a reason to be optimistic because statistics from the previous years show that the growth rate in the number of main telephones is highest in the emergent economies of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

TABLE 2
Source: 2006 World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators, International Telecommunication Union

Country in the ASEAN region

Cellular mobile subscribers per 100 inhabitants
Brunei Darussalam
66.51
Cambodia
7.94
Indonesia
28.30
Laos
10.77
Malaysia
75.45
Myanmar
0.42
Philippines
49.24
Singapore
109.34
Thailand
63.02
Vietnam
18.17

Table 2 shows the spread of mobile phones in the region as of 2006. The numbers indicate lesser disparity between countries except for Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.

Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia post the highest growth rates in the number of mobile phones in the past years. This reflects a preference for cellular telephone services because landline phone networks are difficult to obtain in these wide-area countries.

In the Philippines, for example, before the advent of mobile phones in the early 90s and the deregulation of the telecommunications industry, there were only 1.37 million landlines serving about 62 million Filipinos nationwide. The waiting time for a phone line to be installed was two to six months and the ruling Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company had a backlog of almost 800,000 lines.

Fernando Paragas, a Communications Research professor at the College of Mass Communication in the University of the Philippines made a study about the digital divide in the Philippines. He saw that his respondents considered mobile phones as possible substitute for fixed telephone lines for their telecommunication needs because of cost and access considerations.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) notes that when income is controlled, the use of cellphones and televisions appears to increase with the rise of population. This may be because the technology is simpler and they are easily available for purchase in most countries.

Obviously, mobile phones account for a significant portion of the ASEAN region’s total phone lines. The number of mobile phone subscribers in the region continues to grow and will therefore play an important role in bridging the digital divide.

TABLE 3
Source: 2006 World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators, International Telecommunication Union

Country in the ASEAN region
Internet Users per 100 inhabitants
Brunei Darussalam
43.35
Cambodia
0.31
Indonesia
7.18
Laos
0.42
Malaysia
43.77
Myanmar
0.18
Philippines
5.48
Singapore
39.21
Thailand
13.07
Vietnam
17.21

In 2000, only 1% or 3.2 million of the 300 million people connected to the Internet are in Southeast Asia. Today, Internet access continues to be a problem in most ASEAN countries. This may be because of high costs of access due to the technology required.

This is an unfortunate situation because for most Asian netizens, the Internet has become an alternative medium for views and news that would otherwise remain unheard and unwritten. It has enabled new voices to be heard and has engendered new practices. Thus, some ASEAN governments like Singapore have sought to initially control the Internet via ‘mainstream’ broadcasting legislative and regulative measures but later on saw that traditional control measures are largely ineffective.

The principal factors for the diffusion of ICT are income and investments in human resource and infrastructure development. Therefore, in order to bridge the gap, there have been efforts to focus on these factors which will be discussed next.

BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

The ASEAN has made significant efforts to push for relevant policies and institutions that will see through the diffusion of ICTs especially among member countries that are lagging behind. One of these efforts is the forging of the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement in November 2000 that set four objectives, including reducing the digital divide within and among member countries by improving their national information infrastructure.

As a result, the ASEAN Telecommunication and IT Ministers’ Meeting (TELMIN) was inaugurated in July 2001 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The TELMIN meets once a year, during which the Ministers hold a dialogue among themselves. During the first TELMIN, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammand urged the group to give priority to accessibility by “narrowing the digital divide, development of skills and expertise, promote and enhance the use of ICT, development of local and regional content for the ASEAN region and ensuring a well-coordinated network security.”

When TELMIN was formed, a corresponding body called the ASEAN Telecommunication Senior Officials’ Meeting (TELSOM) was also established to assist the work of TELMIN. TELSOM acts as the coordinating arm of TELMIN. It comprises senior telecommunications officials duly designated from each of the ten ASEAN member countries and meets at least once a year.

During the first TELSOM hosted by the Ministry of Communications of Brunei Darussalam, it was agreed that TELMIN and TELSOM would serve as platforms in “responding to the ASEAN Vision 2020 and the Hanoi Plan of Action to achieve interoperability and interconnectivity of National Information Infrastructure of member states by the year 2010, develop and implement an ASEAN Plan of Action on Regional Broadband Interconnectivity and intensify cooperation in ensuring seamless roaming telecommunications services within the region as well as in facilitating intra-ASEAN trade in telecommunications equipment and services.”

An example of a TELMIN program are the sessions featuring ASEAN youths to enable the Ministers to actively connect with younger ASEAN members and exchange views on how ICT affects the lives of the youth and how the youth see the future of ICT in the ASEAN region.

Prior to the TELMIN and TELSOM, the ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM) and ASEAN Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM) were in charge of looking after telecommunications and IT matters within the region. Creating distinct institutions within the regional organization tells us how important ICT is viewed in the development of ASEAN countries.

Another institution, the ASEAN Telecommunication Regulators’ Council (ATRC) was formed in July 1995 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The ATRC was tasked to provide the telecommunications regulators and authorities within the region the opportunity to work together in the spirit of cooperation and action. Its main goal is to be able to set standards in the telecommunications industry within the region to give way for market integration.

So what has been achieved by these institutions so far? The 2nd TELMIN meeting held in Manila in 2002 reports that ASEAN countries have been establishing bodies to handle ICT matters or creating new units in the telecommunications ministries for that purpose. At the end of their meeting, the ministers issued the Manila Declaration 2002 expressing their “determination to develop ASEAN’s ICT human resources, involve the private sector in working out sustainable international charging arrangements for Internet services, set up an ASEAN network security coordinating council, and accelerate the ASEAN information infrastructure program.”

During the 3rd TELMIN held in Singapore, the ASEAN ministers endorsed initiatives to advance ICT market integration and trade facilitation, promote universal access to ICT infrastructure and services, and develop ICT skills and competencies. In relation to market integration, the group agreed to expedite the implementation of Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA) on conformity assessment for telecommunication equipment, which will create standards for the industry. These arrangements were set to benefit consumers by making telecommunications equipment more affordable and accessible. Ministers also urged the ASEAN to consider project partnerships with dialogue partners and other international organizations.

The establishment of the ASEAN ICT fund was the highlight of the 4th TELMIN meeting held in Bangkok, Thailand. The fund was set to have an amount of USD5 million with equal contributions by all ASEAN members in line with the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement. The Fund was set to be used to accelerate the implementation of the ASEAN ICT Work Programme.

Since all these institutions were established, the ASEAN has taken the first step to bridge the digital divide by measuring the extent to which it is prevalent in the ASEAN countries. A public online digital divide database can be found in a website (www.aseanconnect.gov.my,) which houses key data statistics and measurement indicators and other information related to the digital divide within the ASEAN. However, the data in the site are not complete and the site is not updated regularly.

ASEANONE reports that generally, the ICT diffusion in the last five years is faster in low-income economies, which also have the worst penetration rates, than in high-income economies which have the best penetration rates.

For example, the growth rate of Internet users is most dramatic in Myanmar where Internet usage has not even reached 1 percent of the population, while slowest in Brunei where usage has already reached 10 percent.

In fixed telephone lines, Singapore’s penetration rate was 939 times of Cambodia’s in 1993, but only 177 times by 2003. Similarly, Singapore’s mobile phone penetration was 1,396 times of Myanmar’s in 1998, but was reduced to 710 times of Myanmar’s by 2003. The declining differences in performance in the various ICT indicators are suggestive of catch-up. However, the gaps in performance are still significant.

GETTING THERE BUT NOT QUITE YET

As we have discussed, there has been significant progress in bridging the digital divide but a lot still has to be improved through combined efforts of individuals, states, the private sector and the ASEAN.

One such effort is to promote bottom-up development by promoting and expanding the use of mobile phones. In most developing countries, mobile telephones are easier to obtain than traditional fixed telephones. Mobile phones are convenient, relatively affordable and therefore easier to acquire. Its economic benefits are also evident in developing countries, reducing the transaction costs and the need to travel as well as broadening trade networks. Therefore, the movement of the Internet and Internet applications into mobile phone systems will have a tremendous technological implication for the developing countries.

Improvements in the education system will also help in bridging the gap. ADB notes that education is a strong complement to Internet use and if a country aspires to exploit in significant ways the opportunities offered by new ICT, particularly the creation of new industries, it needs to emphasize secondary and tertiary education.
Continuous training on the part of the workforce will also be beneficial. This responsibility should lie within the private sector but the government may induce firms to impart such training through various types of tax incentives.

If continued, efforts of the private sector, like providing cheap Internet access to remote areas, can help bridge the gap. One example of this is Smart Communications’ high speed wireless mobile internet vans. An internet café housed in a 40-foot container van, these mobile Internet vans have been set up in far flung areas such as Basco in Batanes, Ipil in Zamboanga, Bantayan Island in Cebu, Balangiga in Eastern Samar and Tandag in Surigao del Sur.
Other important roles that governments can play include creating telecommunication infrastructure especially in poorer countries, an example of which are “technology parks” that cater to the specific needs of the ICT industry, promoting the use of freeware and shareware packages and tools and encouraging innovation through research and development.

As discussed, organizations such as the ASEAN can also play a role in promoting the development of ICTs in less developed countries. These initiatives may include the creation of uniform standards through technical assistance and policy advice, deregulation of the ICT sector and offering necessary financial assistance to create basic infrastructure.

Aside from the technology imbalance, there is also a content gap like in terms of the number of websites created in developing countries, amount of local language content, and use of online content by key sectors. There is therefore a need to increase user activity to help reduce this content gap. One way is to bring in larger and more diverse sections of communities to discuss issues of common interests in online forums.

To summarize, Evers and Gerke note that competitive advantage can be gained through a combination of high investments in ICT and increased local knowledge production and dissemination.

CONCLUSION

Closing the digital divide and the knowledge gap is considered necessary towards economic development. It is however, not an easy task and there are some who actually think that the divide will always be there because developed countries capitalize on the developing countries’ efforts to catch up. This may be true but one thing is for sure, information and communication technologies are continuously changing our lives—how we think, communicate and work. We must therefore look at how these technologies can work to our benefit.

This may happen if developing countries can find means to balance the need for modern technology and the basic foundations for economic development. #

Murelli, E., Delgrossi, L. and Wo Okot-Uma, R. (2002). Breaking the Digital Divide, p. 3.
The Real Digital Divide, The Economist, 10 March 2005.
Norris, P. (2001). Digital Divide? Civic Engagement, Information Poverty and the Internet Worldwide, p.1.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (1999) Human Development Report 1999: Globalisation with a Human Face, p. 63.
Murelli, E., Delgrossi, L. and Wo Okot-Uma, R. op.cit., p. 3.
Evers, H. and Gerke, S. (2004). Closing the Digital Divide: Southeast Asia’s Path towards a Knowledge Society, Paper delivered at the Centre for East Asian Studies public lecture series, p. 1-2.
Ibid, p. 6.
TELMIN. (2001). Joint press statement, First ASEAN Telecommunications Ministers Meeting.
Quibria, M.G., Ahmed, S., Tschang, T. and Reyes-Macasaquit, M. (2002). Digital Divide: Determinants and Policies with Special Reference to Asia, p. 1-2.
Ibid, p. 3.
Paragas, F. Telecommunications in the Philippines: Perspectives on the Digital Divide, p. 11.
Ibid.
Sebastian, A. Mobile Phones: Bridging the Divides in Philippine Society, Asian Institute of Management paper, p.2.
Quibria, M.G., Ahmed, S., Tschang, T. and Reyes-Macasaquit, M., op. cit., p. 5.
Romulo, R. (2000). Bridging the Digital Divide in Southeast Asia, International Herald Tribune, 24 November 2000.
Wong, L. (2002). The Internet, Politics and the Digital Divide in Asia, paper delivered at the 2002 International Conference on the Digital Divide: Technology and Politics in the Information Age, p. 12-13.
Is the ASEAN digital divide shrinking?, ASEANONE, December 2005.
TELMIN. (2001). Joint press statement, First ASEAN Telecommunications Ministers Meeting.
About TELSOM. (downloaded from http://www.aseanconnect.gov.my/)
Ibid.
About ATRC. (downloaded from http://www.aseanconnect.gov.my/)
TELMIN. (2002). Press Statement, 2nd ASEAN Telecommunications Ministers Meeting.
TELMIN. (2003). Joint Media Statement, 3rd ASEAN Telecommunications Ministers Meeting.
TELMIN. (2004). Joint Media Statement, 4th ASEAN Telecommunications Ministers Meeting.
ASEANONE, op.cit.
Quibria, M.G., Ahmed, S., Tschang, T. and Reyes-Macasaquit, M., op. cit., p. 2.
Ibid, p. 9-10.
Ibid.
Ibid, p. 14.
Rao, M. (2000). Struggling with the Digital Divide: Internet Infrastructure, Content, and Culture, OnTheInternet, October 2000.
Evers and Gerke, op.cit., p. 26.

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Elena Murelli, Luna Delgrossi and Rogers Wo Okot-Uma. Breaking the Digital Divide (Commonwealth Secretariat: Sept. 1, 2002)

Fernando Paragas. Telecommunications in the Philippines: Perspectives on the Digital Divide.

Hans-Dieter Evers and Solvay Gerke. 2004. “Closing the Digital Divide: Southeast Asia’s Path towards a Knowledge Society”, Paper delivered at the Centre for East Asian Studies public lecture series (Lund University, Sweden: Center for East and South-East Asian Studies.)

Loong Wong. 2002. The Internet, Politics and the Digital Divide in Asia. A paper delivered at the 2002 International Conference on the Digital Divide: Technology and Politics in the Information Age.

Madanmohan Rao. “Struggling with the Digital Divide: Internet Infrastructure, Content, and Culture.” OnTheInternet, October 2000.

M.G. Quibria, Shamsun N. Ahmed, Ted Tschang and Mari-len Reyes-Macasaquit. 2002. Digital Divide: Determinants and Policies with Special Reference to Asia. (Asian Development Bank: October 2002).

Pippa Norris. Digital Divide? Civic Engagement, Information Poverty and the Internet Worldwide. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001)

Roberto Romulo.“Bridging the Digital Divide in Southeast Asia”, International Herald Tribune, 24 November 2000.

About TELMIN. (downloaded from http://www.aseanconnect.gov.my/)

About TELSOM. (downloaded from http://www.aseanconnect.gov.my/)

About ATRC. (downloaded from http://www.aseanconnect.gov.my/)

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Joint press statement, First ASEAN Telecommunications Ministers Meeting. 13-14 July 2001, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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Joint Media Statement, 3rd ASEAN Telecommunications Ministers Meeting. 19 September, Singapore.

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