(5) Introduction of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and High Technology
The dissemination of Information and Communications Technology (ICT)* contributes to the achievement of sustainable economic growth by upgrading industries and improving productivity. It also contributes to addressing issues related to medical care, education, energy, environment, disaster risk reduction, and other social issues in developing countries. Utilization of ICT improves their democratic foundation through encouraging information disclosure by governments, and developing broadcasting media. In this way, ICT is extremely important for strengthening civil society through increased convenience and improved services, and for quality growth.
<Japan’s Efforts>
Japan actively offers assistance mainly for the development of communications and broadcasting equipment and facilities in developing countries, the introduction of the technology and systems they require, and relevant human resources development, in order to eliminate the ICT disparities that exist between countries and regions and to help improve the quality of life of all people.
More specifically, Japan makes proactive efforts to provide comprehensive support for the overseas promotion of Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (ISDB-T)* in the areas of maintenance, personnel and systems, which is also an effective means for contributing to Japan’s economic growth. As of November 2016, ISDB-T has been introduced in Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, and has been adopted in a total of 17 countries. (Note 6) Japan has dispatched experts to eight countries, including the Philippines, Ecuador and Costa Rica, and has been transferring technologies since FY2009 as part of the support to countries adopting ISDB-T. A JICA training program is conducted every year for countries adopting ISDB-T and those considering to adopt it to promote the overseas spread and introduction of ISDB-T. To increase the adoption of ISDB-T in other countries, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) extends assistance that offers ICT solutions resolving social issues by way of dialogues and joint projects with partner governments.
Furthermore, MIC contributes in the field of overseas deployment of ICT for disaster risk reduction. Japan’s ICT for disaster risk reduction makes it possible to collect, analyze and distribute disaster information in an integrated manner, allowing detailed information to be communicated swiftly and infallibly at the community level, including to the public. MIC continues to cooperate in the field of overseas deployment of ICT for disaster risk reduction, and thereby contribute to increasing the disaster risk reduction capabilities of developing countries. (See this for more information on disaster risk reduction.)
A vocational training school for children with disabilities in Otse village in South East District, southeastern Botswana. Students are receiving IT education in the computer room constructed with the support of Japan's Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Human Security Project. (Photo: Yukari Johnston / Embassy of Japan in Botswana)
Technical guidance is provided to women on a stereo three-dimensional measurement system as part of the "Digital topographic mapping project for the Bamako metropolitan area" in Mali. (Photo: Shunsuke Tomimura / Asia Air Survey Co., Ltd.)
Japan also actively collaborates with international organizations to carry out these efforts. Japan works with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU),* a specialized agency of the UN responsible for telecommunications, to provide a variety of development assistance in the field of telecommunications to developing countries. Firstly, from December 2014 to March 2016, Japan collaborated with ITU and the Government of the Philippines to implement a joint project in Cebu Island, the Philippines, where a typhoon caused catastrophic damages in 2013. The project conducts feasibility tests using the Movable and Deployable ICT Resource Unit (MDRU),* a system capable of quickly restoring information and communications as an emergency measure in the wake of natural disasters. This system also played an important role in the earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture on April 16, 2016. In the Kumamoto earthquake there were areas which could not use landline phones or cell phones due to the impact of power cuts, the severing of transmission lines, etc. resulting from the maximum seismic intensity of 7; therefore NTT delivered the MDRU to the afflicted region at the request of MIC in order to secure means of emergency communication in said region, and support was provided to the local governments. Japan will transmit the outcomes of these kinds of efforts domestically and overseas while promoting activities aimed at the introduction and dissemination of the ICT unit, and will collaborate with international organizations such as ITU to advance efforts that lead to a contribution to the Philippines and other foreign countries facing the issue of natural disasters.
Next, an international symposium jointly organized by the Government of Japan and ITU to consider development indicators for information and communications was held in Hiroshima City from November to December 2015. Many cabinet ministers participated in this symposium and the role played by ICT regarding the SDGs in the 2030 Agenda adopted in the UN General Assembly in September 2015 was discussed, and ICT development indicators that comprehensively evaluate the access to and use of ICT and the degree of development of skills in each country were announced. The results of the symposium were reported to the G7 ICT Ministers’ Meeting in Takamatsu, Kagawa (April 2016), and priorities including the digital divide, healthcare, education, and disaster risk reduction were reflected in the outcome document.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT),* an international organization in the information and communications field, contributes to the balanced development of the telecommunications and information infrastructure in this region. In September 2014 the APT Ministerial Meeting was held in Brunei Darussalam and adopted a joint statement for the 38 member states and APT to cooperate on efforts to build a “Smart Digital Economy through ICT” in this region.
Japan is supporting the capacity bulding programmes for training and pilot projects implemented by APT in order to promote the important areas in this joint statement (policies useful for the sustainable growth of ICT and the Smart Digital Economy, construction of a secure and safe society through ICT, etc.). In 2016 Japan provided fiscal support to eight training courses, four international collaborative research projects and two ICT pilot projects for rural areas.
One of the training courses, the training on “Utilization of ICT Services Supporting the Smart Society, Medical ICT, Sensor Networks and Agriculture/Fisheries ICT,” was attended by officials from government ministries and agencies related to information and communications in 12 countries, including Thailand and the Maldives. In this training, we passed on the lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake and shared know-how on disaster risk reduction. It is expected that Japan’s advanced efforts will contribute richly to disaster countermeasures in each country.
As regards ASEAN, the ASEAN Community was established on December 31, 2015, which aims to create a symbiotic society and a single market covering 600 million people. At the ASEAN Summit in November 2015, ASEAN adopted new blueprints that provide new indicators to 2025. This blueprint identifies ICT as a key driver in ASEAN’s economic and social transformation. In light of the importance of ICT’s role, the ASEAN ICT Masterplan 2020 (AIM2020) that serves as ASEAN’s ICT strategy towards 2020 was formulated at the ASEAN Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministers (TELMIN) Meeting held in the same month. Based on these developments, at the Japan-ASEAN TELMIN Meeting held in conjunction with the above meeting, Japan introduced the ASEAN Smart ICT Connectivity (ASIC) that outlines Japan’s cooperation vision for ASEAN. Japan continues to support the development of ICT in ASEAN and efforts to offer ICT solutions to regional issues. In order to put this vision into practice, Japan supports the development of ICT infrastructure in Myanmar using ODA, and in such ways, extends cooperation in the field of ICT. With regard to the issues of cyber-attacks that have become key concerns of countries in recent years, Japan and ASEAN have agreed to further deepen their cooperation in the information security field, which has included the holding of the ninth ASEAN-Japan Information Security Policy Meeting in October 2016 in Tokyo.
Given this context, the basic policies of support established by the related ministries and agencies to strategically and efficiently provide all-Japan support for capacity building for developing countries in the cyber security field were reported to the cyber security strategy headquarters in October 2016. Going forward Japan will actively provide support, mainly to the ASEAN countries for the time being, in line with these policies.
- * Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
- ICT is technology that integrates computers and other information technology with digital communication technology, as characterized by the Internet and mobile phones.
- * Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting – Terrestrial (ISDB-T)
- ISDB-T is a terrestrial digital broadcasting system that was developed in Japan. Its functions, such as emergency alert broadcast, TV reception on mobile terminals, and data broadcasting, give the system advantages in disaster response and the realization of diverse services.
- * International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
- ITU is a UN specialized agency, which is responsible for the fields of telecommunications and broadcasting (HQ: Geneva, Switzerland; 193 member countries). To ensure that people around the world are able to make use of telecommunications technologies, ITU implements: (i) the international allocation of radio frequencies used in mobile phones, satellite broadcasting, and other technologies; (ii) the international standardization of telecommunications technologies; and (iii) support for development in the field of telecommunications in developing countries.
- * Movable and Deployable ICT Resource Unit (MDRU)
- MDRU is a telecommunications facility that was researched and developed by MIC based on the lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake. The unit is deployed to affected areas in the wake of a natural disaster to quickly restore communications as an emergency measure. The unit can be made smaller, such as the vehicle-based type and the attaché case type. MDRU allows for phone services and data communications to take place when communications equipment have been damaged and cannot be utilized.
- * Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT)
- APT is an international telecommunication organization established in the Asia Pacific region in 1979, made up of 38 member countries. Aiming for a balanced development of telecommunication services and information infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region, it develops human resources through training courses and seminars and coordinates regional policies on standardization, wireless communications, and other telecommunication issues.
- Note 6: The 17 countries are Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Paraguay, the Philippines, Bolivia, Uruguay, Maldives, Botswana, Guatemala, Honduras, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua (as of November 2016).
•Botswana
Implementation of the Digital Migration Project
Technical cooperation project (August 2014 – August 2016)
Mr. Katsuya Terabayashi introduces the advantages of digital terrestrial broadcasting to people at a shopping mall in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. (Photo: Chiaki Matsumoto / Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd.)
Approximately 80% of its land of Botswana, with a population of about 2,000,000, is covered by the Kalahari Desert. The Department of Broadcasting Services (DBS) is established under the Ministry of State President, and the DBS operates and broadcasts Radio Botswana and Botswana Television. Terrestrial television broadcasting by Botswana Television commenced in 2000 and it covers approximately 85% of the population. However, the Southern African Development Community had announced the year of 2013 as the deadline for the ending of analog broadcasting, so advancing the migration to digital terrestrial broadcasting in the country was an urgent issue.
Given this situation, in February 2012 the Government of Botswana decided on the adoption of the Japanese standard for digital terrestrial broadcasting (ISDB-T) by appreciating its technical advantages including the capability to broadcast both digital terrestrial television broadcasting and one-segment broadcasting on mobile terminals from the same transmitter and it became the first country that adopted digital terrestrial broadcasting of the Japanese standard (ISDB-T) in Africa. Although trial introduction of the system was commenced, a lack of technical capability, instruments and equipment necessary for full-scale introduction became a problem.
In order to improve this situation and strengthen information and communication that will be the foundation for economic growth in Botswana, Japan has supported the DBS which is in charge of digital terrestrial broadcasting in Botswana for the development of the environment to implement digital terrestrial broadcasting, by making plans for full-scale introduction of ISDB-T, improving the implementation structure, providing public information to the public, offering technical guidance on program production that can make good use of the characteristics of digital terrestrial broadcasting and providing instruments.
As a result, a working group on program production and data broadcasting has been organized within the DBS. The formulation of basic technical standards and revision of the standards which are required for the migration to the digital terrestrial broadcasting were implemented. Regarding program production, four programs have been produced through training in Japan and Botswana and also Japan has improved manuals so that local people can continue producing programs on their own.
Digital terrestrial broadcasting was little known to the people before commencement of the project but due to proactive public relations activities, people’s awareness of it has risen to 86%, 90% of whom replied that they would like to use digital terrestrial broadcasting.
In this way, the foundation for the full-scale introduction of the Japanese standard for digital terrestrial broadcasting has been developed. Carrying out further public relations activities for the citizens is expected to disseminate digital terrestrial broadcasting widely within the country and realize information transmission in a variety of areas including education, medical care, and disaster risk reduction.