From APC ICT Policy: A Beginner's Handbook APC's new book lays out the issues and dispenses with the jargon to encourage more people to get involved in ICT policy processes. It's a book for people who feel that ICT policy is important but don't know much about it, e.g. a government official worried about a gap in her technical knowledge of how the internet works, a human-rights worker concerned that his need to send secure email is being challenged by national government policy, a citizen fed up with paying exorbitant rates for dial-up internet access and ready to organise… It's not a map but it IS a compass. Find out more about the handbook or buy online ($10.00USD plus postage and packing). Now in Spanish!

ICT policy resources from APC

Information and communication technologies (ICT) policy decisions affect anyone who wants to take advantage of the opportunities that new technologies can offer. Will the national policy favour technology that is state-of-the art but not affordable in rural areas? Will your government provide service subsidies to poor or disabled people? Will your government encourage the development of software that illiterate people can use? All of these are pressing questions whose answers depend on the ICT policy choices made by governments and other official decision-makers.

APC has created resources to help civil society organisations understand policy and regulation related to ICT so that you can begin to engage and influence policy processes affecting ICT adoption and implementation at national, regional and global levels.

ICT Policy: A Beginner's Handbook, APC/Ed. Chris Nicol, December 2003

This book by APC lays out the issues and dispenses with the jargon to encourage more people to get involved in ICT policy processes. It is for people who feel that ICT policy is important but don't know much about it, e.g. a government official worried about a gap in her technical knowledge of how the internet works, a human-rights worker concerned that his need to send secure email is being challenged by national government policy, a citizen fed up with paying exorbitant rates for dial-up internet access and ready to organise…

ICT Policy: A Beginner's Handbook (download in pdf)
Read online
Buy online ($10.00USD plus postage and packing)
Politicas TIC: Manual para principiantes (download Spanish version)

ICT Policy for Civil Society Training Curriculum

The ICT Policy for Civil Society training course builds the capacity of civil society organisations to understand policy and regulation related to information and communication technologies (ICT) so that they can begin to engage and influence policy processes affecting ICT adoption and implementation at national, regional and global levels. This is a five day course with each session planned to last approximately 1.5 hours. The modules can be used stand-alone as training on a particular topic or used together as part of a longer course. Modules are in English with some in Spanish.

ICT policy for civil society training curriculum (You can download the complete curriculum or modules covering different topics)

Guide to Organising a National Consultation on ICT Policy

APC's FAQ about Conducting a National WSIS Process outlines the steps to take and key components in organising a national consultation around ICT policy, in this case specifically the debates raised by the United Nations conference on the Information Society (WSIS). The ‘frequently asked questions’ (FAQ) question & answer format was chosen to home in on some of the key questions we have heard people ask. This is not a completely comprehensive guide to national level ICT policy lobbying, but it provides some useful answers to a civil society organisation that has the interest and initiative to organise an ICT policy-related consultation. The primary target audience is people that are active in using or promoting the use of ICTs in their work, but who have not necessarily been involved in national level policy processes previously.

FAQ about conducting a national WSIS process (pdf)
Read more about the FAQ before you download

Policy Guide for Gender and ICTs from the APC Women's Programme (WNSP)

ICTs offer immense possibilities for reducing poverty, overcoming women's isolation, giving women a voice, improving governance and advancing gender equality. This potential will only be realised if all factors which contribute to the current 'gender digital divide' are recognised and addressed in all ICT policy making spaces. The APC and APC Women's Programme's message is simple and clear: if these concerns are not addressed we face the danger that WSIS and other policy processes, will fail in addressing the needs of women, and will contribute to reinforcing and reproducing existing inequalities, discriminations and injustices. The APC WNSP's ten-point policy guide provides an overview of key gender and ICT concerns.

Policy Guide for Gender and ICTs