ASOCIO-The Leading Voice of the ICT Industry in the Region

Manoo Ordeedolchest
President, ASOCIO

September 21, 2003

Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization, ASOCIO is a group of computing industry associations from Asian-Oceanian region. Established in 1984, in Tokyo, Japan, ASOCIO is dedicated to promote, encourage and foster relationships and trade between the various members and tasked to develop the computing industry of the Asian Oceanian economies.

At present, ASOCIO has 18 members encompassing Japan, Australia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. In addition, ASOCIO also has 5 guest members from USA, UK, Canada, Spain, and France.

ASOCIO has been serving the region as the leading voice of the ICT industry. The main missions are to coordinate the interests of members, to formulate and propose model legislative for the advancement of the interest of the computing service industry, to promote opportunities for the interchange of opinions on matters affecting the computing service industry including cooperation with other organization on matter of common interest, and to confer and cooperate with any association, society or institution having objects similar to those of ASOCIO.

During the past 20 years of ASOCIO’s existence ASOCIO has initiated a series of common pledges that fostered the development of ICT industry in the region. To name a few, there are:

1. It urges each member economy to adopt good practice in government ICT goods and services procurement. ASOCIO believes that effective government procurement of ICT goods and services plays a key role in stimulating ICT industry growth. It can lead to the development of leading edger ICT solutions for the benefit of government, but also stimulating ICT innovation, commercialization and export opportunity. Government contracts are an important means of developing local industry, both through revenues and future business opportunities. To this end, governments should encourage direct contracting opportunities, rather than subcontracting.
   
   
2. ASOCIO has supported the ASEAN initiative on Connected Asia, known formally as the Asian Belt. The objective of the project is to harness the complementary strength of the various ICT centers of excellence in the region to enhance Asia’s and Oceania’s competitiveness in the global ICT domain. Connected Asia is seen as a virtual network that made up of Asian nodes of ICT excellence, which together form an integrated and dynamic ICT community. The initial agreement is to concentrate on collaborations offering potential for cross-border inter-firm collaboration in ICT such as,
   
   
   • Innovation Trade Fair – A trade fair that would bring together innovators, ICT startups, and venture capitalists, to better match ideas with sources of capital.
     
     
   • Database of Regional Opportunities – The database would capture information, such as major tenders for IT hardware and software projects in the region, developments in ICT industries regionally and globally, and legal regimes associated with ICT industries in the region.
     
     
   • Certification of ICT Professionals – A high quality certification process for ICT Professionals that would encourage flow of talent across regions.
     
     
3. Member associations of ASOCIO agree that software quality has direct impact on customer satisfaction; it is the most important issue in growing the software industry. Through quality management of the software development process, software companies can reduce costs incurred by defects in final products, failure to meet schedules and budges, and unnecessary user overhead. This in turn can strengthen the software industry and improve the relationship with users. ASOCIO agrees to cooperate and make every effort toward improving the quality in software products and services.
   
   
4. ASOCIO members believe that international trade and investment in the ICT industry should be encouraged for the mutual benefit of each member organization’s corporate members, and for the economic well-being of the respective members’ information technology industries. Therefore, the member organizations of ASOCIO agree to assist each other on reciprocal basis by providing assistance to bona fide corporate members, providing a basic referral service for trade and investment enquiries to corporate members, and providing additional mutual exchange benefits on a reciprocal basis.

In a recently Asian-Oceanian IT Minister/ASOCIO Dialogue, ministers responsible for information and communication technology and senior government officials from fourteen economies together with ICT business representatives representing the industry from twenty economies of the Asian-Oceanian region agreed to explore the regional collaborations among countries in the Asian-Oceanian region as following:

1. Promotion of IT trade and services through open and competitive market. Both government and industry acknowledged that the open market allows the industry to grow efficiently across borders, promoting the latest skills and technologies in IT. Enhanced competition in the region will lead to improvements in the quality of ICT goods and services. Further openness in trade and ICT services should be encouraged.
   
   
2. Joint public and private sector programs and projects. Joint programs and projects allow both public and private sectors to develop the industry and contribute to the economy with more efficiency. There are immense opportunities for co-operation and encourages concerted efforts by government to engage in joint programs and projects with the private sector.
   
   
3. “Connected Asia” Initiatives.
   a) Develop and nurture world class IT talents
   b) Combine innovative minds to produce world class thought leadership
   c) Create and reinforce a sustainable investment climate
   d) Link member economies with sophisticated technology and high-speed connectivity
   e) Channel for the flow of goods and services.
   
   
4. Harmonization of regional e-Government. Harmonization of policies, laws, collaboration among regional government pertaining to e-government is seen as being necessary to facilitate cross-border business transactions. One possible application is the use of smart cards as a common recognition identification replacing passports for easier borders entry. In general, laws, security, health, education and other basic services are keys to social and economic prosperity. Harmonization based on cross regional agreements on principles that lead to stable and predictable governance is desirable.

It is no doubt that the ICT industry is a global industry, products and services compete on the global stage; and the Asia-Oceania region is the fastest growing region. It is important that ICT companies are able to influence their environment within this region. ASOCIO is obviously the right vehicle in achieving this. For ASOCIO to exhibit credibility as a player for shaping ICT policy and application in the region there is a requirement for ASOCIO to lead public policy in the region. The past many years, ASOCIO has made some real achievements on the public policy front, however there are still other important issues waiting to challenge us. All members of ASOCIO will work harder to input into policy issues effecting ICT products and services within the region.