 Background
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Digital transformation and the digitalization of services support social and economic benefits, with e-government services in particular, delivering crucial services towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. This project aims to accelerate digital transformation by assisting ITU Members in Asia-Pacific, with focus on Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), in developing whole-of-government digital transformation strategies and policies as well as integrating telecommunication/ICT innovation and digitalisation into national development strategies
Project activities will also provide technical direct country assistance to develop and strengthen e-government digital platforms and applications using a whole-of-government approach. The project is supported by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (Government of Australia) and will be implemented by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
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Project Scope and Strategy
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The project aims to assist the ITU member countries in the Asia and the Pacific region to create an enabling policy and regulatory environment and build necessary institutional and human capacity which are conducive to digital transformation and inclusive sustainable development.
The beneficiary countries would be identified in consultation with the funding partner i.e. the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA), Australia.
The project will support the implementation of the ASP Regional Initiative (RI) 2 and relevant WTDC and PP resolutions. It will also build on the achievements of DITRDCA supported ASP RI projects such as 9RAS20064 (Implementing Asia-Pacific Regional Initiatives). |
Potential Activities and support from ITU
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- Provide direct country assistance in developing or strengthening policies, strategyies, masterplans, and roadmaps (e.g., digital transformation strategies, digital economy, digital society, digital government strategies and roadmaps)
- Provide direct country assistance on designing, developing, or strengthening technical architecture/platforms and digital applications based on the whole of government approach
- Organize national workshops and trainings on digital transformation based on direct country assistance, analyses and stakeholder consultations
- Organize stakeholder consultations and trainings on digital transformation policies, strategies, masterplans, and roadmaps.
- Conduct studies on digital transformation challenges and opportunities at national levels to guide the planning and implementation of project activities and capacity development programmes, while developing policy recommendations.
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Impact
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The project will accelerate the digital transformation journeys of countries in the Asia-Pacific region. As a result of this project
- National stakeholders will develop a shared understanding of whole-of-government approach in lieu of siloed approach that often results in duplications, missed opportunities, inefficient resource use and lack of interoperability among various digitalization initiatives and sectors;
- Beneficiary governments will have increased capacity to develop policies, guidelines, strategies and roadmaps for digital transformation, and implement them;
- Beneficiary government will be able to design, develop, or strengthen technical architecture/platforms and digital applications based on the whole of government approach;
This project aims to assist at least two ITU Members in Asia-Pacific to develop/strengthen whole-of-government digital transformation strategies. At least two selected countries will also be supported to develop/strengthen e-government platforms and applications based on a whole-of-government approach.
The project will leverage previous and ongoing initiatives to implement its activities (e.g. GovStack, ITU-DITRDCA projects, Joint SDG Fund projects). It will also expand access to new partners such as development banks, donor agencies, UN agencies engaged in sectoral digitalization, and academia as a result of whole-of-government insight. |
Introduction to Digital transformation and ITU
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Digital transformation has been recognized as a priority area by the ITU Membership. The ITU Strategic Plan 2024-2027, adopted at the Plenipotentiary Conference 2022, has two key strategic goals “Universal Connectivity” and “Sustainable Digital Transformation”
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Whole-of-government approach
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An integrated whole-of-government approach is required at national and local level (Figure 6) to truly harness the power of digital technology. There is a need to strategically align various cross-sectoral initiatives at national and local level through harmonized and coordinated policies and strategies; digital infrastructure and solutions; human and institutional capacity; and delivery of digital services. While doing so, it is important to keep in view the need for resilience, security, and inclusion. 
This approach enables the government to analyze ICT needs across multiple sectors to ensure that the necessary ICT Building Blocks are put into place that can support diverse user needs and scale up as needed, while avoiding duplications. Common ICT Building Blocks (e.g., identification, digital payments, registries, data collection, messaging etc.) enable generic business processes, or workflows, that can be combined and repurposed in multiple ways to deliver priority use cases that contribute to SDG Targets through the government.
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