Regional Workshop on Knowledge-hubs in Asia-Pacific Region Nanjing, China, 8-10 September 2009

Telecenter Development in Laos

Mr. Phonpasit PHISSAMAY Director General Information technology Research Institute National Authority for Science and Technology

Outline
Laos facts (ICT) Telecenter initiatives E-Government Project Conclusion

Laos Fact
Total population Rural population GDP per capita Literacy rate Tele-density Telephone lines per 100 inhabitants Cell phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants Computers per 100 inhabitants Internet users per 100 inhabitants Internet hosts per 10,000 inhabitants Internet cafes per 10,000 inhabitants 5.62 Million 69 % USD 850 85% 28 % 2.59 25.4 1.7 2.3 0.022 0.71

First Telecenter Project in Laos

Name: E-Way Location: Luang Prabang Province (UNESCO Heritage City) Funded by: International Development Research Center (250,000 $) Implemented by: National Authority for Science and Technology Objective:
Internet access for the Local communities people Computer and English training center Content creation and distribution for the Local communities

Service Operation:
2003-2005: Participate Development Training Center (Local NGO) 2006: Science and Technology Provincial office Luang Prabang 2007: Stop operation and give the equipment to school.

Barriers of e-Way
High cost of Internet connection (400$ per month) Ownership High salary for the Telecenter manager and staffs Low participation from the local communities people Low income generation we could not make the e-way sustainable operation, but we very glad to see the ICT growth in the province:
More private Internet caf More computer training schools More local people using Internet for communication

Rural Telecenters Project

Funded by: Government of India (500,000 USD) Location:
7 centers in 7 provinces along Mekong river (3 local administration, 2 schools and 2 Public-private) 3 centers in Vientiane Capital (ministry of public health, agriculture and rural development authority: (www.telecentter.gov.la and www.talath.gov.la )

Objective:
Information provider (floating, agriculture, healthcare, community project and etc) Support the distribution of local products

Service operation:
2006: installation and training for the Center operator 2007: Self operation by the Telecenter operator with the project subsidized for the Internet connection until December 2008. The status in 2009 Public-Private Telecenter still continue the operation Local administration reserved for Internal use only School has converted to training room and disconnected from Internet

Barriers of Rural Telecenter

Still high cost of Internet connection (400$ per month) No income for the local administration and school Telecenters, while public-private make great income from tourism business. Content are poor and not regular update by the content provider in Vientiane. Telecenter is lack of its own program to make the equipments more useful.

e-Health Center Project

Funded by: Asia Development Bank (500,000 USD) Location: 8 Hospital and 8 Healthcare centers in two provinces Objective:
Healthcare Information provider (www.health-Center.gov.la) Create the Database for hospital and healthcare center

Service operation: Project just started in 2009 and schedule to completed by 2011.

National E-Government Project

Establish the e-Gov service center (1+16) Establish the e-Gov infrastructure Computerization government offices (130+160+250) Development e-Service application (7) Human Resource Development (40+300+900+3000) (35 millions, 2007-2009)

National E-Government Infrastructure

Data Data Center Center Application Application Servers Servers WIMAX WIMAX OFC OFC

Core Core Routers Routers 7750 7750 SR7 SR7

Vientiane
STM1 STM1

FE FE Fiber Fiber Layer Layer 2 2 Switch Switch

7250 7250 T5C T5C N N GE GE Edge Edge Routers Routers

LAT National Backbone

16 Governor offices 16 E -gov provincial E-gov service centers

WIMAX WIMAX STM STM 1 1

Vientiane Vientiane transmission transmission 2.5G 2.5G SDH SDH

Edge Edge Routers Routers MW MW WIMAXv WIMAXv

STM1 STM1

WIMAX WIMAX

2.5 Gbps backbone between NAST-MOD NAST NAST-MOD 155 Mbps OFC connecting to 51 ministries offices in Vientiane 2 Mbps ADSL connecting to 28 ministries office in Vientiane

25 district and 160 provincial divisions

WIMAX WIMAX

Dial-Up/ISDN Dial Dial-Up/ISDN

200 Village Offices 100 VIP houses in Vientiane

E-Gov application
National e-Gov Portal (www.laos.la) E-Archive E-Document E-Registration E-Map E-Learning Teleconference

Conclusion
In country such as Laos, with so many pressing basic development needs, it is not surprising that attempts at establish Internet connectivity and E-business have been hampered by a general lack of skills and resource, Low levels of PC penetration, combined with poor telecommunication network with also slow the process. There is currently a high level of interest in ICT development in the country. ICT implementations and strategies, and the allocation of resources, from the government, donors, and the private sectors, towards ICT development are reflected in existing ICT related projects focusing on human resources development, governance, administration, and information management.