Evaluation report on APC Communications and Information Policy Programme

Background

The overall goal of APC’s Communications and Information Policy Programme (CIPP) is to ensure that the interests of civil society are addressed in ICT policy and are supported in ICT practice. When APC first launched its global ICT policy monitor project in 2001, it had three main activity areas:

• monitoring and analysis of ICT policy and regulation: Activities include research, documentation and dissemination; analysis and background papers on a range of topics;

• building knowledge and expertise to enable civil society to take informed part in policy discussions and debate. Activities included development of plain-language documents;

• mobilising participation of civil society organisations to build information society policy and practice that supports social justice and human rights. Activities include working with allies to make interventions in the World Summit on an Information Society (WSIS) process and supporting the establishment of sub-regional WSIS mobilizing networks; interventions in other ICT development / governance bodies; and interventions with relevant social organisations.

Subsequently the goals of CIPP were refined to include a stronger focus on:

• capacity building;

• supporting locally-driven policy advocacy;

• influencing ICT policy from a gender equality perspective; and

• building understanding and collaboration between different groups working on ICT policy at national level, particularly among media, civil society and the private sector.

Work is carried out at three levels:

• regional ICT policy monitor projects in Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean;

• global CIPP and global ICT policy monitor activity; and

• specific projects, including the national ICT policy portal initiative supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Union (CTO) civil society capacity building and curriculum development project.

The goals of the evaluation as defined by APC were to:

• enable learning that can be channeled into addressing problems and increasing the impact of CIPP activity;

• assess the extent to which APC met the stated goals and deliverables of the project activity being evaluated;

• assess outcomes of APC’s CIPP activity in terms of CIPP goals, especially the goal of enabling civil society organisations to engage in ICT policy development to promote an information society based on social justice; and

• assess outcomes of APC’s participation in the WSIS process, both at the level of influencing outcomes and raising awareness and building capacity

Table of contents

Introduction .............................................................................................................4
Background ............................................................................................................. 4
Methodology .......................................................................................................... 6
Activities within focus areas ...........................................................................8
ICT Policy Monitor projects in Africa and Latin America .................................. 8
Africa ...........................................................................................................................8
Latin America and the Caribbean ............................................................10
The CTO project .................................................................................................. 12
The handbook .......................................................................................................12
Curriculum ...............................................................................................................14
EED-supported project .................................................................................... 18
Involving civil society ........................................................................................18
Involvement in WSIS ..........................................................................................19
Feedback from key constituencies ............................................................22
Feedback from members ............................................................................... 22
About the respondents and organisations ............................................23
Relationship with APC ......................................................................................24
APC resources ........................................................................................................26
General ......................................................................................................................27
Feedback from partners ................................................................................. 28
Informants and their organisations ...........................................................28
Relationship with APC .......................................................................................29
APC resources .........................................................................................................31
General .......................................................................................................................32
Feedback from policy people ....................................................................... 32
Feedback from donors ...................................................................................... 34
About APC ..................................................................................................................37
History ........................................................................................................................ 37
Staffing ....................................................................................................................... 38
Conclusions and recommendations ...........................................................42
Summary of findings on the three projects ........................................... 42
General findings .................................................................................................... 42
Issues for consideration .................................................................................... 43
Policy orientation of case studies included in APC Annual Report of 2003 ........................45
CIPP publications 2001-5 ...................................................................................47
General publications .......................................................................................... 47
Discussion papers.................................................................................................. 47
Curriculum................................................................................................................. 48
Publications from LAC Policy Monitor ...................................................... 48
1) National ICT policy papers .........................................................................48
2) Research ...............................................................................................................48
3. WSIS National Papers: Latin American civil society active in the WSIS .........49
4. Booklets .................................................................................................................49
5. Training materials ............................................................................................49
6. Articles for magazines ...................................................................................49
7. Research (unpublished yet) ........................................................................49
Africa Policy Monitor .......................................................................................... 50
1. Discussion papers .............................................................................................50
2. Resources ..............................................................................................................50
3. Booklets .................................................................................................................50
4. Research Reports .............................................................................................50
APC member engagement in CIPP ..............................................................51
Informants for the evaluation ........................................................................54