Opening Remarks
Dr. Juree Vichit-Vadakan,
President, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA)
Monday, 12 July 1999
Welcoming remarks
Distinguished participants.
I would like to extend a very warm welcome to everyone to our Internet accessibility
seminar this week at the National Institute of Development Administration – NIDA.
NIDA is honored to join the Secretariat of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
– ASEAN – and the ASEAN Subcommittee on Microelectronics and Information
Technology in the organization and conduct of the seminar at our campus in Bangkok. Our
faculties in information technology and in public administration are pleased to be
assisting the seminar. Our Technology Center has dedicated a proxy server on the NIDA
network to provide quick and reliable support for the seminar proceedings.
I also would like to record our appreciation for the support provided by the United
Nations, which includes a co-financing grant from the United Nations Voluntary Fund on
Disability to enable participation of representatives of ASEAN member States.
Seminar agenda
We have this week a full agenda on a topic of considerable interest to our countries
– the Internet. Earlier this month, the Far Eastern Economic Review devoted
theme articles to the Internet and its implications for the economic development of our
countries. Moreover, hardly a day goes by without at least one newspaper article on a new
Internet-based activity or service in either the public or private sectors. In fact, the
Bangkok press carried articles this past week on how the Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration will use the Internet to promote feedback on a wide range of issues, and
about a 13 year old webmaster in Bangkok who has started his own "dot COM"
Internet site.
Yes, the Internet is a wonderful and powerful technology. Interest in designing and
developing Internet-based services is easy to understand. The Internet provides
opportunities for low-cost, quick and reliable information and communications services. It
is a widely available computer network built upon open standards for communications
protocols, state distribution protocols, document content standards and image formats.
However, for many people, persons with disabilities in particular, Internet-based
services are not accessible.
While our seminar will consider social and economic implications of Internet
technologies, our specific focus is on Internet accessibility as policy objective and
technical standard for planning and design of information and communications services.
There are two aspects to our concern with Internet accessibility. Accessibility is
recognized as both a basic norm and a fundamental precondition for full and effective
participation in social life and development.
Accessibility also refers to choice in means by which the many can acquire, use,
produce and exchange information.
Internet accessibility is not a luxury but a design standard that benefits all members
of society. The data available suggest that incorporating accessibility standards at the
outset in the design of an Internet-based service will yield lower lifecycle costs than
addressing accessibility considerations as an ex-post retrofit to an existing
Internet site.
The seminar
The purpose of our seminar is to promote awareness and understanding of Internet
accessibility, to review and discuss concepts and methods of planning and developing
accessible Internet-based services and to identify common areas of interest and priorities
for co-operation to promote Internet accessibility among ASEAN member States.
With the able assistance of the international consultant consortium headed by Vision
Office Support Services, we will pursue the objective by means of technical exchanges,
interactive dialogue and group work related to design, production and testing of
accessible Internet-based resources.
Our expected product of the seminar will be a shared sense of where we would wish to go
next on a step-by-step basis to promote Internet accessibility appropriate to conditions
in our countries. This would be summarized as a strategic planning framework on promoting
Internet accessibility in our countries.
Implications for development research and training
From the NIDA perspective, the seminar topic and its expected results suggest a number
of important issues for policy analysis, evaluation, human resources development and
training. These are in addition to issues that relate to development, testing and
evaluation of locally appropriate technologies to promote Internet accessibility at user
and service provider levels.
Chief among the policy and program planning issues is the matter of determination of
criteria on Internet accessibility. We would submit that Internet accessibility is not a
zero-sum game, however, there is the question of determining reasonable levels of
accessibility accommodation. A closely related issue is the matter of tradeoffs between
investments in various telecommunications technologies to further accessibility and
investments in other sectors.
Since the Internet is a computer network based on open standards, a second set of
issues relates to policy instruments that countries may wish to consider to promote
Internet accessibility as a basic design standard and rather than as a consideration met ex
post.
Self-reliant and sustainable approaches to Internet accessibility presuppose a certain
level of social "software". As a knowledge intensive area of activity, a key
question for policy research is determination of strategies and incentives for building
national capacities and strengthening institutional capabilities to localize planning,
design and management of accessible Internet-based resources. There is in addition the
matter of promotion and training for broad-based participatory development strategies.
Options for follow up
NIDA looks forward to co-operating with the ASEAN Secretariat in seminar follow up. We
are of the view that one can identify at least three areas of concern: first, is the need
to provide seminar documentation to concerned bodies and organizations in ASEAN member
States that were not in a position to nominate participants to our seminar.
Second, NIDA is actively reviewing possibilities of incorporating Internet
accessibility issues in its public policy studies and in its information technology
programs as means to promote localization of the requisite policy analysis, planning and
development skills.
Third, our experience suggests that innovations related to Internet accessibility in
our countries proceed best on a step-by-step basis. To be sustainable, this should be
supported by opportunities for exchanging ideas and experiences on progress and obstacles
encountered in pursuing Internet accessibility. While the Internet provides a means for
quick and low cost exchanges of ideas and experience, we are of the view that a second
round exchange on policies, structures and technologies for Internet accessibility -
planned well in advance - would represent an important – indeed essential –
contribution to capacity-building among our countries. Resources permitting, we should
consider possibilities of an exchange between the ASEAN and other regions.
Thank you for your kind attention. My sincere best wishes for a productive seminar.
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