DTPS PRESENTATION ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COMPLIANCE WITH TREATIES AND PROTOCOLS 1 Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socioeconomic Development 2 Objectives of International Relations ID: 554006
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Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
DTPS PRESENTATION ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COMPLIANCE WITH TREATIES AND PROTOCOLS
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Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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Objectives of International Relations
International Structures in ICT
sector
International Projects and Programmes
International Treaties
Procedure for Ratification of International treaties
Challenges with Ratification process
Concluding Remarks
OverviewSlide3
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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Objectives
To support and promote South Africa’s foreign policy in the ICT sector
To promote the rules based multilateral system to prevent or mitigate the expression of dominant global power against smaller countries.
To promote international policies, rules,
regulations, standards and the coordination of scarce resources
to govern the ICT sector.
To prioritise the development of Africa
To benefit from shared expertise and experience
,
international best
practiseSlide4
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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International structures
UN bodies, such as the International Telecommunications Union, and the Universal Postal Union – DTPS lead dept.
Other UN bodies such as World International Property Organisation WIPO (DTI lead); UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNESCO (DoE, DHET lead); UN Conference on Trade & Development (DTI lead); UN General Assembly UNGA and Economic and Social Committee ECOSOC (DIRCO lead)
African structures, such as the African
Union (AU),
the African Telecommunications
Union (ATU),
the Pan African Postal
Union (PAPU)
Southern African Development Community structures
Bilateral Agreements
Other international
organisations:
the Internet Corporation for assigned names and
numbers (ICANN); Commonwealth Telecommunications Org (CTO)Slide5
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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Projects and Programmes
BRICS ICT group: There is a need for greater coordination amongst BRICs countries to ensure greater consideration, understanding and cooperation on positions of common interest in preparation for UN ICT negotiations (such as ITU and UPU), as well as to ensure closer cooperation amongst BRICS Member states generally (
eg
. BRICS cable – commercial, but should be encouraged).
SA is member of the Council of Administration of the UPU and Chair of the Committee on Postal Strategy, as well as Chair of the PAPU Committee on Postal Strategy
Quality of Service Fund project for strengthening postal services amongst countries in Southern Africa, based on Quality of Service Fund award
Cooperation with the ITU and UPU on delivering financial and postal products to rural and underserved communitiesSlide6
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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Preparations within SADC and Africa group for the World Radio Conference, which will look at the efficient allocation of spectrum between different regions and uses, according to demand and the development of technology. This will include possible new allocations of spectrum for mobile broadband services
.
South Africa was vice-chair of the Joint task group of ITU Study Groups 4,5,6,7, coordinating discussions around the digital dividend and the allocation of spectrum of International Mobile Telephony and other uses. Also coordinated the first study in Africa to address concerns over possible interference over new spectrum allocations (
Radiocommunications
sector). The outcomes of this work will inform the World Radio Conference decisions in 2015.
Recently South Africa hosted the International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation workshop for training in Satellite in South Africa for SADC, and currently South Africa is hosting the 3
rd
African Preparatory meeting for WRC-15
Projects and Programmes...2 Slide7
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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Projects and Programmes....3
International benchmarking and exchanges to support e-skills, e-government, postal sector policymaking and oversight, Cybersecurity, and the development of national statistical indicators to reflect the development of the ICT sector, in line with international standards (
eg
. ITU led Partnership for measuring the Information Society)
South Africa is vice-chair of Study Group 16 dealing with Multimedia, IPTV and e-health in the Standardisation sector of the ITU, and the CSIR have made presentations of their technology to the ITU in this respect.Slide8
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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Projects and Programmes....4
The
implementation of the African and SADC development plans, including broadband, regional IXPs and Data centres
Harmonisation within SADC for the efficient use of spectrum
Member of Council of the African Telecommunications Union
SA/India Joint working group 2011 has focused on exchanging information on e-government services and the development of technology parks.
The e-skills Institute came about as a result of the advice of the Presidential International Advisory Committee and has benefited from extensive international consultation on best practise, including through the WSIS forum organised by the ITU. The e-Skills Institute now has an MOU with ITU and UNDP. Also South Africa hosts an ITU Centre of Excellence (Telkom centre for learning).Slide9
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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International Treaties
Key treaties to ratify:
International
Telecommunication Satellite Organisation
Status: For Minister to approve to submit to
Cabinet
International Telecommunication Union Plenipotentiary
Conference
Status:
Acceded 1994. Signed and ratified 2002 and 2006.
2010
Documentation prepared for submission to Cabinet
2014
No ratification required as there were no changes
to
the
Constitution and Convention of the ITU
.
ITU World Radio Conference 2012
Status: Will require separate ratification because there is no need to ratify the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference Final Acts 2014. Slide10
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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International Treaties....2
International
Telecommunication Regulations 2012
Status: Will require separate ratification because there is no need to ratify the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference Final
Acts 2014.
Legal opinion obtained from Dept. of Justice and requested from Chief State Law Adviser: International. The treaty is controversial and a number of countries refused to sign
.
African Telecommunications Union (ATU) Constitution and Convention
Status: There was a need to ensure alignment of ATU with the African Union. Ratification now required.Slide11
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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International Treaties....3
Universal Postal Union
Status: To prepare submission for ratification of 2012 Final Acts of the World Post
Congress
Need for consultation
with DIRCO and key international organisations to
review international treaties to ensure South Africa has ratified those of strategic importance.
DTPS also participates in Bilateral agreements with countries in order to leverage mutually beneficial relations and benefit from experience and best practise in
ICTsSlide12
Preparation of National and Regional positions
Presidential Minute
CredentialsNegotiation of Treaty
Signing by designated Member of the ExecutiveLegal opinions from Chief State Law Advisers: Justice and International
Submission through FOSAD cluster for consideration of line function depts.
Submission to Cabinet through Cabinet Committee
Submission to Parliament through Parliamentary Committee
Approval by Parliament
Preparation of instrument of ratification for signature of President
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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Procedures for TreatiesSlide13
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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Challenges with process
Many countries have indicated challenges in completing ratification because it is a long process that often is dealing with fairly minor issues from the perspective of national administrations – thus there is a poor record for ratifying treaties in the ITU and UPU
.
Most countries have a similar legal approach to South Africa
wrt
ratification
A Proposal was made by Africa group during ITU PP-14 for research to continue towards developing a more stable, higher level Constitution for the ITU which would not need to be changed every four years
Other regions did not support this for a number of different reasons, ranging from legal concerns over the possible implications to fears that this could open the door to more radical proposals for changes to the constitution….or for other reasons?Slide14
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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There is a need for greater coordination amongst stakeholders to manage participation in ITU structures, especially study groups in the Development and Standardisation sectors, to ensure we invest resources in targeting areas that can assist in the economic development of the country.
The department will consider a study on the efficacy of international treaties in the ICT sectors to better the lives of the people of South Africa.
ICTs
increasingly underpin socio-economic development. To remain competitive countries need to develop dynamic information societies and knowledge economies nationally and regionally, with a learning culture and strong infrastructure. This increasingly requires effective global interaction to share knowledge and expertise from global resources
.
Concluding RemarksSlide15
Making South Africa a Global Leader in Harnessing ICTs for Socio-economic Development
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ICT Infrastructure investment in the region is growing at 7% - therefore the focus is on communication systems that will be universally accessible across the region at a cost and quality that meets the communication needs of citizens, business and the public sector, including access to the creation and consumption of a wide range of converged applications and services required for effective economic and social participation
ICT is a critical enabler of economic activity in an increasingly networked world: South Africa one of 3 Sub-Sahara countries with electronic manufacturing capabilities and the only SADC member-state with certified conformance testing labs (Telkom & SABS)
There is a critical need to harness international resources and expertise to build national and regional economies through infrastructure, human capital development, extending government services, economic and innovation.