The national ICT policy in Bolivia

For several years the Association for Progressive Communication (APC) and the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) have supported the formulation and implementation of ICT policy in several countries, including policies that intervene at national level and at sector and thematic levels, such as gender, health, education and agriculture.

To learn about the experiences in the processes of formulation of ICT policies, the institutions have undertaken a study of the formulation process of ICT policies in Bangladesh, Uganda and Bolivia aiming at two objectives: 1) To understand the importance of the participation of diverse actors as a success factor for effective ICT policy formulation; 2) To understand the relationship of the ICT policies investigated with poverty alleviation. As part of this study, an analysis is made of the national ICT policy formulation process in Bolivia, known as the National Strategy for Information and Communication Technology (ETIC). The ETIC was developed by the Bolivian Government and representatives of the civil society, grass-root organizations, academics and the private sector between 2003 and 2006.

The ETIC has the mission to: ‘Generate opportunities for the use and exchange of information and ideas through ICT to improve the quality of life of the Bolivians’. The objective of the ETIC is to: ‘Develop and execute policies, programmes, initiatives and proposals for the use of ICT and the development of human capacities by applying a participative and inclusive process with emphasis on the low-income citizens in peri-urban and dispersed areas’.

Participation
In summary, those responsible for the ETIC made a serious effort to be inclusive and to generate participative processes. Yet in any situation these processes are complicated and time consuming. It is learned that coordinated action and persistence of actor groups is essential to effective participation. The highly pro-active and continuous efforts of the group of NGOs and grass-root organizations participating in TICBolivia, and CRIS Bolivia and the University Mayor de San Andrés in this process provide an example to follow for other actor groups.

Linking ICT policy to gender and poverty reduction
A topic that gave great satisfaction among the actors is the existence of a solid component in the ETIC relating to the use of ICT for poverty reduction. In this respect, there is wide recognition that the strong lobby by civil society ensured a focus on the linkage with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Bolivia. The strategy also gives clear priority to realities, needs and demands from users in rural and peri-urban areas. Through the process it became evident to many participants that digital inclusion enables the generation of information and consequently economic opportunities, opportunities of growth, opportunities to the poorer citizens that live far away from towns. 

The full evaluation (17 pages) is available below.