e-DIRAP Interview with Muhammad Aimal Marjan, Afghanistan on 26 June 2013

• Report rights infringement
• published: 07 Jul 2013
• views: 1505

e-DIRAP Interview - Country Focus: Afghanistan Muhammad Aimal Marjan Director General of ICT, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Afghanistan View the full written summary of the interview at http://digitalreview.asia/resources/e-dirap-interview-2013-country-focus-afghanistan EXTRACT FROM SUMMARY 1. ICT Infrastructure In 2002, there was almost zero telecommunications infrastructure and in just over ten years, the telecommunications sector has witnessed unprecedented and phenomenal growth. The MCIT has defined the following five principles to guide the development and transformation of the telecommunications sector in Afghanistan: i. Create a legal and regulatory environment that nurtures and accelerates industry growth ii. Engage private investment to the greatest extent possible iii. Establish a level playing field for competition iv. Introduce market liberalization v. Encourage the usage of Internet and ICTs As a result of these strategic decisions, the telecommunications infrastructure in Afghanistan is now at par with neighbouring countries and won the GSMA Government Leadership Award in 2011. In addition to facilitating and regulating ICT infrastructure development, a critical third factor that MCIT has prioritized is human resources development to sustain and run the ICT services. 2. ICT4D Initiatives At the beginning the emphasis had been on building an ICT infrastructure but in the last three years the focus has been on the delivery of services to citizens. Since 2011, MCIT has been implementing the e-Afghanistan Program. Under e-Government and m-Government, a number of ICT4D initiatives are being implemented or planned in partnership with different government departments and agencies. Private businesses have also begun to offer services such as money transfer and bill payments, agricultural market price information and health information services using the mobile networks and devices. 3. National e-ID Card MCIT has been partnering with the Ministry of Interior on the National Electronic Identity Card Program. The programme took three years to plan and in June 2013, it received full approval from Parliament. The technical platform is ready for rollout and on 15 July, the Afghan government will start issuing smart ID cards to all Afghans. The smart ID card also carries three records—driving license, vehicle registration and voter registration. 4. m-Government Since early 2012, MCIT has been targeting mobile technology for public service delivery. This is because Afghanistan has only 300,000 telephone subscribers but almost 20 million mobile phone subscribers. MCIT is establishing a government platform for delivery of mobile applications called "HOSA" (which means ease and comfort). The rapid growth of mobile applications development in the areas of agriculture, education, health and governance is expected over the next few years. To start, MCIT will be launching 10 mobile applications in 2013. To catalyse mobile applications development, an innovation support grants scheme called "DEWAE" is providing USD 5 million as awards to various challenges targeted at young entrepreneurs. 8. Future Prospects and Challenges Looking ahead, the ICT sector has the potential to revive Afghanistan as a trade hub connecting Central Asia and South Asia with international markets, and attract international multinationals like Amazon, Google and Yahoo! to host their services in Afghanistan, particularly with the near-completion of the National Optical Fibre Cable Backbone Ring Network and the launch of its own satellite in the near future. Against the backdrop of the phenomenal growth of the telecommunications sector in the past decade and Afghanistan's largely literate young population who are enthusiastically inclined towards new technology trends, Afghanistan is also looking at becoming a venue for business process outsourcing (e.g. call centres, offshore data entry). With the launch of HOSA, the mobile platform and DEWAE to support innovation, the purpose is to boost up the number of entrepreneurs that can serve Central Asia markets. Afghanistan will continue to develop e-government initiatives to serve its citizens. The national electronic ID card will be used as the basis to launch 13 e-services. For example, MCIT is under discussion with banks to incorporate ATM and e-wallet services in the smart ID cards. The challenges that Afghanistan face in achieving these future plans include political and security challenges that need to be addressed through regional and international efforts. Afghanistan also faces a number of operational and technical challenges including the lack of sustainable electrification especially in rural areas, the lack of a skilled labour force, and the difficulty in providing country-wide access to ICTs and broadband due to Afghanistan's harsh terrain and landlocked environment.