[Chapter-delegates] Letter to Ministers of Finance about Improving Global Connectivity

Thu Apr 14 03:44:10 PDT 2016

Thanks for sharing Judith. ISOC-Liberia supports the principles espoused in the letter and the commitments that the Finance Ministers are requested to adopt. In this regard, we have endorsed the letter.
Kind regards.
 Kolubahzizi T. Howard 
President 
ISOC Liberia Chapter &
Director of Strategy
Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) 
+231-776200000/+231880539961/+231-555660001 

    On Thursday, April 14, 2016 1:00 AM, Judith Hellerstein <judith at jhellerstein.com> wrote:

   HI All,

 This seems to be a very good idea and also lists a series of best practices that organizations can sign on to.  I particularly like the ones talking about creating digital literacy.

 Here is a complete draft of the letter. It is being delivered to many Ministers of Finance on Wednesday and Thursday.   Public Knowledge and other organizations are asking for Individuals or organizations to consider signing on the link below

 Best,
 Judith

 The Honourable Ministers of Finance and dignitaries
 present at the 2016 Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group CC: United States Secretary of State John Kerry and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim   Dear Honorable Ministers and Dignitaries, We write to you as a group of civil society organizations who are actively engaged in a collaborative effort to strengthen policies and investments directed to increasing the access, adoption, and use of information and communications technologies (ICTs), particularly broadband internet access. We ask you to work towards universal, open, secure, and affordable broadband connectivity, with full protection of human rights. As a general purpose technology, the impact of ICTs extends well beyond productivity gains. ICTs are vectors of economic and social transformation and economic growth. Based on the data of the Inter-American Development Bank, with every 10 percent increase in high speed internet connections, economic growth increases by 3.2 percent1, and at the global level, according to the Word Bank, the average increase is 1.3 percent2. According to McKinsey & Company, most of the economic value created by the internet benefits traditional businesses, rather than the technology sector.3 ICTs provide economic opportunities to urban and rural populations, men, women and youth, and to marginalized communities. Despite the growing access to broadband, over four billion people lack access to the internet. As civil society organizations, we cannot accept this enormous digital divide, which prevents the exercise of fundamental human rights for all. Such inequality also reveals an untapped development opportunity. Thus, we urge the Ministers of Finance attending the 2016 Spring Meetings of the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to guarantee that internet connectivity becomes an integral part of national development policies moving forward. Internet connectivity consistent with human rights principles should be an essential element in every grant, loan, technology transfer, or policy training program that MDBs facilitate. Stable, secure, and open access to broadband internet is also crucial for the implementation and achievement of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to which all UN member countries committed to in late 2015. Recent data clearly demonstrate how all of the 17 SDGs heavily rely on ICTs to be successfully implemented4. Supporting international development negotiations and commitments have recognized the same crucial role of ICTs. Those include the WSIS+10 outcomes5 that aim to foster more inclusive and development-oriented knowledge societies, recognizing the centrality of human rights to that goal, and the ITUâs Connect 2020 Agenda for Global Telecommunication/ICT Development6 that promotes a vision where ICTs enable and accelerate socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable growth and development for everyone. We believe that such commitments are fully in line with our view and advocacy for the transformative power of high-speed networks to advance human development and human rights. Within these agendas, we welcome initiatives such as Global Connect. Global Connect7 is an initiative seeded by the U.S. Department of State and supported by various countries and stakeholders, including civil society8, which aims to bring internet connectivity to 1.5 billion people by 2020. We encourage Global Connectâs partner countries to work together to prioritize internet connectivity across regional and functional practices in Multilateral Development Banks, such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Inter-American Development Bank, to help prioritize the inclusion of ICTs in every countryâs development plans. One example of how this could be done is to leverage infrastructure projects by implementing âdig onceâ policies9 and other forms of coordinated infrastructure approaches. Finally, we emphasize that the digital divide does not end once infrastructure loans are made and communications lines laid. Connectivity alone is not enough10. The Internet has become an essential forum in the promotion and protection of human rights and development, but users are increasingly tracked, surveilled, and censored on insecure, restricted platforms that contribute to infringement of their basic rights. Network discrimination by companies acting as gatekeepers to content, or governments filtering and even shutting down services, decreases trust in the internet economy. To ensure long-term protection of rights online, net neutrality policies should be guaranteed wherever Internet infrastructure is being built out. The 13 âNecessary & Proportionateâ Principles11, which apply human rights to communications surveillance, should also be adopted and implemented as a framework for rights-respecting connectivity. Considering the timely opportunity of the 2016 Spring Meetings of the MDBs, we present our commitment as public-interest organizations in supporting access to rights-respecting ICTs and broadband connectivity and urge you to adopt the following commitments:    
   - Integrate internet connectivity and access to digital technologies (âICT infrastructureâ) as key components of national development, borrowing, and investment strategies;
   - Foster the growth of internet connectivity by urging national development agencies to prioritize digital access as an essential element of national infrastructure plans and investing sufficient funds for implementation   12;
   - Invest in increasing technical expertise in digital connectivity at national and local levels;
   - Design ICT policies and practices based on respect for human rights online and offline, upholding network neutrality, the rule of law, and rights-respecting connectivity;
   - Invest in internet connectivity based on a core understanding that the internet is a global resource and that it should be managed in the public interest as a democratic, secure, free, open, inclusive and pluralistic communication platform;
   - Support public access facilities, such as libraries, which facilitate significant gains in connectivity and sustainable development;
   - Support and invest in unlicensed and open spectrum, to expand connectivity within a community, to additional homes and institutions;
   - Foster digital literacy, and enable and promote the development of locally relevant content, applications, and services as they are essential to widespread adoption of the internet and increase its social and economic value to people, families, and communities;
   - Create enabling environments by adopting policies and strategies that focus not only on spurring connectivity, but also entrepreneurship, cross-border information flows, and open and competitive marketplaces;
   - Invest in and adopt more effective policies that ensure: equitable and efficient access to radio spectrum; infrastructure sharing and lower barriers to entry for access providers with new technologies; better and targeted subsidies, direct investment in infrastructure roll out; and more transparent and accountable public-private partnerships.
 Â  We look forward to working with you on this important set of initiatives. 

 _________________________________________________________________________
Judith Hellerstein, Founder & CEO
Hellerstein & Associates
3001 Veazey Terrace NW, Washington DC 20008
Phone: (202) 362-5139  Skype ID: judithhellerstein
E-mail: Judith at jhellerstein.com   Website: www.jhellerstein.com
Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/jhellerstein/
Opening Telecom & Technology Opportunities Worldwide

 -------- Forwarded Message -------- 
| Subject:  | [bestbits] CORRECT LETTER UP AND RUNING - SIGN ON TIME |
| Date:  | Tue, 12 Apr 2016 13:54:48 -0400 |
| From:  | Carolina Rossini <carolina.rossini at gmail.com> |
| Reply-To:  | Carolina Rossini <carolina.rossini at gmail.com> |
| To:  | <bestbits at lists.bestbits.net> bestbits at lists.bestbits.net&gt <bestbits at lists.bestbits.net>, redlatam at lists.accessnow.org <redlatam at lists.accessnow.org>, marcocivil at listas.ensol.org.br <marcocivil at listas.ensol.org.br> |

 http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/

  tks all 
  -- 

  Carolina RossiniÂ  Vice President, International Policy Public Knowledge http://www.publicknowledge.org/
  + 1 6176979389 |Â skype: carolrossini |Â @carolinarossini    

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