Legal, Regulatory, Policy and Institutional Framework
The aim of this component is to create the enabling environment for the working of the ICT
Sector by establishing legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks and developing appropriate
policies. The sub-components of this component are the following:
1. Legal Framework:
This sub-component aims to provide the legal foundation for the ICT Sector. It has
been identified that the Sector immediately need two laws, namely:
1.1. ICT Law
The ICT Law has already been drafted. The aim of the Law (as per draft Law)
is to provide for the facilitation and regulation of electronic communications
and transactions; to provide for protection of consumers and personal data
in the electronic environment, to set out the framework for domain name
registration and regulation, the framework for content regulation, to
prevent abuse of information systems; to encourage the use of egovernment services; and for related matters.
The law is expected to address issues such as legal recognition of electronic
/digital signature and formation of electronic contracts
(affecting
transactions both in public and private sector), content regulation,
competition regulation, electronic evidence, data privacy intellectual
property rights, encryption and security, financial and banking sector law
and regulation relating to electronic transfers and settlements, taxation of
transfers, customs, jurisdiction, dispute resolution civil and criminal
offences, limitations of liability of internet services providers, cyber piracy
and digital rights management, facilitation of e-government and cross
border interoperability of e-commerce frameworks affecting trade.
Since the overall purpose of the Act is to enable and facilitate electronic
communications and transactions in the public interest, the Law will
specifically:
(a) Recognize the importance of the information-economy and
information-society for the economic and social prosperity of
Afghanistan;
(b) Promote the understanding and, acceptance of and growth in the
number of electronic transactions in Afghanistan;
(c) Remove and prevent barriers to electronic communications and
transactions in Afghanistan resulting from uncertainties over writing
and signature requirements;
(d) Promote legal certainty and confidence in the integrity and
reliability of data messages and electronic commerce, and to foster
the development of electronic commerce through the use of
electronic signatures to lend authenticity and integrity to
correspondence in any electronic medium;
(e) Promote the development of the legal and business infrastructure
necessary to implement secure electronic commerce;
(f) Promote technology neutrality in the application of legislation to
electronic communications and transactions;
(g) Promote e-government services and electronic communications and
transactions with public and private bodies, institutions and citizens;
(h) Ensure that electronic transactions in Afghanistan conform to the
highest international standards;
(i) Encourage investment and innovation in respect of electronic
transactions in Afghanistan;
(j) Develop a safe, secure and effective environment for the consumer,
business and the Government to conduct and use electronic
transactions;
(k) Promote the development of electronic transactions services which
are responsive to the needs of users and consumers;
(l) Ensure compliance with accepted international technical standards
in the provision and development of electronic communications and
transactions;
(m) Minimise the incidence of forged data messages, intentional and
unintentional alteration of data and data messages, and fraud in
electronic commerce and other electronic transactions;
(n) Ensure efficient use and management of the .af domain name
space;
(o) Ensure that, in relation to the provision of electronic transaction
services, the special needs of particular communities, areas and the
disabled are duly taken into account; and
(p) Ensure that the national interest of Afghanistan is not compromise
through the use of electronic communications.
The Draft Law has been sent to the Ministry of Justice (Taqnin Department)
for vetting and approval. Once approved by the Ministry of Justice, it will be
submitted for the approval of the Cabinet and the Parliament. Thereafter,
the Law will be submitted for signature of the President and then gazette
for implementation.
1.2. Postal Law.
The Postal Law has been drafted with the following objectives:
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To encourage investment and improvements in the postal sector;
To foster effective competition and protect consumers from
unfair trade practices in the postal sector;
To ensure the safety and integrity of Postal Services; and
To ensure that the Universal Service Obligation is adequately
funded and efficiently carried out.
The Law envisages establishment of a Postal Commission. The object of the
Commission is to encourage the expansion and improvement of Postal
Services in Afghanistan, in terms of quality, availability, and price, to the
ultimate benefit of consumers, while ensuring that the Universal Service
Obligation is adequately funded and efficiently carried out. The functions
of the Commission are:
 To foster Competition and improvements in the provision of Postal
Services;
 To protect consumers and give them redress from unfair trade
practices in the supply of Postal Services;
 To monitor the performance of the Corporation against the
Performance Agreement;
 To monitor the postal sector generally, and in particular, in relation
to Postal Operators:
 levels of investment in or in relation to Postal Services;
 availability and standards of Postal Services;
 the price of Postal Services;
 the distribution of Postal Services; and
 other matters relevant to the Commission’s functions;
 Together with the Designated Postal Administration for
Afghanistan, to represent Afghanistan internationally in
respect of postal matters;
 To license and regulate Postal Operators and administer this
Law impartially and objectively;
 To educate the public and Postal Operators about the functions of
the Commission, the obligations of Postal Operators, and the rights
of users of Postal Services;
 To advise the Minister on matters relating to the Commission, the
Corporation, postal sector policy, and all other postal matters; and
 To carry out any other function conferred on it by or under this Law
or any other Law.
The Draft Law has been sent to the Ministry of Justice (Taqnin Department)
for vetting and approval. Once approved by the Ministry of Justice, it will
be submitted for the approval of the Cabinet and the Parliament.
Thereafter, the Law will be submitted for signature of the President and
then gazette for implementation.
2. Regulatory Framework
The ICT Sector requires very strong and effective regulatory frameworks for smooth,
effective and productive functioning of various parts of the Sector. The following
frameworks are to be developed in the next 3 years:
2.1. Cyber Security Regulations
With the introduction of different ICT based technologies in the country,
Afghanistan is moving towards embracing electronic culture in its day-today dealings. As these technologies are becoming popular and being widely
used, it is important to put in place technological infrastructure and legal
frameworks, which will safeguard the private and enterprise data flowing
through these ICT based infrastructures. MCIT has already drafted ICT law
which has addressed broader cyber security related issues but in order to
fully implement the Law there is need for further development of
regulations in more focused areas.
Privacy of data will give confidence to a) Entrepreneurs to do business in
Afghanistan through e-commerce, b) Government to roll-out eadministration and e-services, and c) Public to share their personal data
with both Government and enterprises through electronic service delivery
channels.
MCIT will be developing these regulations in the next year after the ICT
Law is enacted. A Consultant will be hired to develop draft regulation
suiting the needs of Afghanistan and then complete the stakeholder
consultations. The final draft will be approved by the Cabinet and
thereafter; the regulations will be operationalized. No funds are
earmarked for this purpose and will have to be arranged.
2.2. Broadband Regulations
As MCIT is planning to open up market for Broadband Technologies (like
WiMax, 3G, LTE, etc.) and the existing laws and regulations dealing with ICT
technologies are not supportive of Broadband, it is necessary to put in place
Broadband Regulations. These regulations will enable deployment of
broadband technologies and their application.
The Ministry is recruiting a consultant for this purpose in 3rd quarter of 2011
and the draft regulations are likely to be ready by end of 2011. The draft
regulations will go through the process of stakeholder consultations before
submission to Cabinet for approval and thereafter operationalized.
2.3. E-Governance Regulations
A growing number of regulations will be issued concerning e-government
and e-administration over the coming years, be it in the form of laws,
government decrees, ministerial or municipal decrees. The reason for this
trend is that in public administration it is not enough to provide technical
solutions (e.g. the management of e-documents and vouchers or the
application of electronic signatures), it is also necessary to create the legal
environment for them. In many cases the institutions introducing
information technology systems for e-administration and electronic
document management also need the provision of the related special legal
regulations, modifications and internal rules (Rules for Organization and
Operation), procedure, filing rules, data protection rules, information
security rules etc.
In the preparatory, but at the very latest in the planning phase, egovernmental projects require profound assessment of the scope and level
of direct and indirect impacts of binding laws and bylaws that affect the
implementation. Thorough analysis of the regulatory environment will
reveal which bylaws and higher regulations may need modification or fresh
drafting.
MCIT, after the promulgation of the ICT law will carry thorough study of the
required e-governance regulations and will develop them over time for the
next 3-5 years.
2.4. Digital Signatures Regulations
Digital signature or digital signature scheme is a type of cryptography. For
messages sent through an insecure channel, a digital signature gives the
receiver a guarantee that the message was sent by the intended sender. A
digital signature was motivated by and is analogous to a handwritten
signature.
Digital Signature is an essential part of two-way trusted and reliable
communications using the Internet. To use digital signatures in
communications, there needs to be a digital signature infrastructure to
oversee all aspects of using digital signature. Ministry of Communications
and IT will establish an entity that would be responsible for digital
signatures in the country. This entity together with Electronic Certification
Authority will make sure that transactions and online communications are
using the standard Electronic Certificates. Necessary regulations will be
developed for facilitating operation of the Digital Signature entity and
maintaining order in the Sector for this purpose. The objectives of the
Regulation will be:
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Establishing the Digital Signature Infrastructure
Promoting the use of online transaction and e-commerce by issuing
the standard digital certificates.
Supervision of digital certificates used in online transaction and ecommerce
The operationalization of this regulation will involve:
 Understanding basic requirements and conditions for Digital
Signature through interviews with Afghan entities.
 Study PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) related laws, systems and
technologies.
 Gather detail requirements for Digital Signature
 Establishing law/policy for Digital Signature usage
 Develop procedures for the implementation of Digital Signature in
the country
2.5. E-Government Interoperability (Software) Framework
E-GIF (E-Government Interoperability Framework) has been already
prepared by MCIT with funding from the World Bank. The framework
contains technical policies, guidelines and standards for achieving
interoperability between the technical systems in the government. The
developed framework contains in excess of 100 technical standards. The
framework also provides guidelines for implementation and compliance.
EGRC (E-Governance resource Centre) will take lead in the implementation
of the developed e-GIF. Among others, the implementation will include the
following major activities.
a) Host the e-government website developed under the e-GIF project
after updating and expanding the contents.
b) Design and drafting of the technical standards for comments
within the framework of e-GIF. It will involve releasing the Request
for Comments (RFC) versions of various standards and after due
deliberations submit the same to the National ICT council for final
discussions.
c) Develop the e-Government Controlled vocabulary in Dari, Pashto
and English as per the guidelines given in the e-GIF.
d) Expand the localization work initiated by MCIT to include
development of ICT terminology in Dari and Pashto and Optical
Character Recognition engine for Pashto and Dari.
e) Develop the e-Government Metadata standards (e-GMS) for
Afghanistan as per the guidelines given in the e-GIF.
f) Develop the final versions of the technical standards and policies
and implementation procedures for adoption by the various
agencies of the government. This will include the data standards
for spatial information management and other applications areas,
data exchange, information security and other areas of
information management as given in the e-GIF.
g) Assist in the development and deployment of a repository of XML
schemas to facilitate systemic data exchange within the
government enterprise as per the guidelines given in e-GIF and in
line with the policy of the government to follow Service Oriented
Architecture.
2.6. Information Technology Audits
Empowered by ICT Law, EGRC (E-Governance Resource Centre) will
undertake IT and e-Governance audit role to ensure that various
departments and agencies of the government are complying with the
approved e-GIF, IT/e-Gov standards and policies with regard to information
management, systems, data bases and applications. EGRC will lay down the
procedure for IT and e-Gov audit. All the departments and agencies of the
government would be required to follow the approved IT and e-Gov
procedures. EGRC will assist Ministry of Commerce and Industries and
Ministry of Finance to certify products and services of the vendors supplying
IT products and services to the government as e-GIF complaint.
Most departments of the government are already in possession of IT
systems, databases and applications. These legacy systems may need to be
modified and altered to make them e-GIF, e-Gov policies and standards
compliant. The EGRC will provide services to evaluate and assess the degree
of compliance of the existing systems, databases and applications to these
polices and standards and advice how full compliance could be achieved.
At the request of the government agencies and departments, EGRC will
undertake various activities for Quality assurance of the IT systems, and
services that might have been procured or that may be in the process of
procurement and deployment. The major activities of EGRC with regard to
e-GIF and e-Gov policies compliance and quality assurance would be as
follows:
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Develop e-GIF Compliance and IT Audit Policies and Guidelines.
EGRC will design and develop the e-GIF compliance and IT Audit
policies and procedures based on the study of the international
best practices and assessment of the situation prevailing in
Afghanistan. Guidelines will be prepared for IT systems designers
in the government departments, Software developers and vendors
and suppliers to the government with regard to e-GIF compliance.
These guidelines should be comprehensive and should cover the
complete development life cycle of a system, product or a
software application. The Audit report will be published in public
domain by MCIT.
Develop e-GIF Compliance and IT Audit skills and know how.
EGRC will undertake training activities and other training events
including provision of online training materials and self-study
guides for the benefit of technical officials and concerned
managers in the various government departments and agencies on
how e-GIF compliance can be ensured and tested.
Assessment of Legacy Systems. EGRC will, at the request of the
various departments and agencies, undertake assessment of the
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existing IT systems and applications as to the extent of their e-GIF
compliance and advice as to what could be done to achieve full
compliance.
Stock Taking of IT systems. Once the ICT law is promulgated, MCIT
through this project will develop regulations for the process of
stock taking of the ICT products and systems in the government
agencies. Which will happen twice every fiscal year, the activity
will include but not limited to list of problems, proposed solution,
deadline for the responsible party to rectify the problem, grading,
analysis of hardware, software, personnel and ICT security.
2.7. Electronic Certification Regulations
The electronic Certification regulations will cover both the Digital signatures
as well as regulation of cryptographers. Electronic Certification Authority
will give licenses to cryptographers, which will create need for developing
regulations to regulate the cryptography algorithms, cryptographers and
licensed private certification authorities. This regulation will ensure that the
cryptology used for securing data communication over ICT platforms, are
secured and unreachable.
A Consultant will be hired for this purpose and these regulations are likely
to be ready by the next year.
2.8. Quality of Service Regulations
MCIT and ATRA (Afghanistan Telecom Regulation Authority) have issued
service licenses in the areas of both voice and data. The Telecom Law has
limited clauses about quality of service in these areas and, therefore, there
is need for separate regulations to streamline and manage quality of
services delivered under the issued licenses.
MCIT is starting to roll out mobile applications across government agencies,
which will utilize the already installed telecom infrastructure. These
applications are a completely new domain and will require regulations on
QOS and related tariffs. The World Bank will assist in this regard.
A Consultant will be hired for this purpose this year. Once the draft
regulations are ready, the Project Implementation Coordination Unit (PICU)
will start Public consultations and finalize regulations based on feedback.
MoJ and then Cabinet will approve the Final draft.
3. Policy Framework
3.1. Broadband Policy
The World Bank is supporting this component through its project to develop
broadband market in Afghanistan. It will support MCIT and ATRA as they
develop and implement a national broadband strategy and program
including specific initiatives. MCIT and ATRA aim to increase the percentage
of Afghans who use Internet from the current 5 percent to 50 percent by
2015. It will also support the required reforms of the licensing regime,
spectrum management, and universal service policy. In addition to advisory
support for the above, this component will also enable twinning between
ATRA and other regulatory agencies in support of capacity building and
knowledge sharing on specific regulatory issues.
World Bank funded OFC Backbone Expansion Project has planned to provide
Technical Assistance to ATRA and MCIT to evolve Regulatory and ICT Policies
and Regulations which will allow Open/universal Access at level playing
fields to all the interested Operators/ISPs/Public Sector Users and other
Private Companies as operating in this Country. All the interested users
should make including the OFC Backbone Network the Communications
Infrastructure, accessible by eliminating the possibilities of becoming
monopolistic user of any available infrastructure. These goals of Universal
and Open Access can be achieved by implementing the following steps:1. Provide technical assistance to MCIT and ATRA to update the ICT
sector policy, creating an enabling environment for improved
broadband Internet access and adoption in Afghanistan and
strengthening the quality of mobile telephone services. Technical
assistance activities will include capacity building through
collaborative working between ministry and agency staff and
external experts.
2. Focus on capacity building and technical assistance on topics such
as quality of service, tariff regulation, Internet policy development,
and radio spectrum management. When the Government restarts
the process of privatizing Afghan Telecom, this policy dialogue will
also support that process.
3. The Project will include technical assistance to MCIT focused on
updating its ICT sector policy with a focus on enabling increased
access to and adoption of ICT services and specifically, broadband
Internet services. The Ministry first developed a sector policy in
2003 and updated it in the context of the Afghanistan National
Development Strategy in 2005. In 2010, MCIT began revising its
strategy in response to recent discussions on national priority
programs, Globally, the focus for ICT sector strategies is now
shifting to developing policy and strategy to support increased
access to and adoption of broadband services. As Afghanistan
creates the critical backbone networks and secures international
Internet connectivity, and as the number of Internet users grows,
the time is right for a review of the sector policy to reflect market
and technological developments.
The technical assistance will support MCIT in developing a policy that spurs
the both supply- and demand-sides to accelerate expansion of broadband
networks and their adoption. This will include identifying actions to spur
greater private sector participation in the supply of broadband services and
to identify potential opportunities for Afghanistan from the evolution in
wireless broadband technologies. The developed plan will also focus on
facilitating demand for broadband and Internet services through links with
sectors such as agriculture, education, health, and rural development. The
policy update will also include links with the planned e-Government
Strategic Master plan that MCIT is currently developing and IT sector
development policy.
3.2. Revision of ICT Policy
MCIT developed ICT Policy in 2004. The Policy laid down roadmap for the
development of the sector and introduced ICT. In the last 7 years, the sector
has developed so well that there is a need for revising the previous ICT
policy. The revised policy should address the new opportunities and
challenges based on the lessons learnt in the past half-decade.
The revised Policy will also incorporate ICT as enabler in both social and
economic sectors of the country i.e. e-government, e-health, e-commerce,
etc. It will also address challenges on the areas of development of local ICT
literate human resources, ICT enabled curriculum both for primary and
higher education, promotion of entrepreneurship and local private sector.
A Consultant will be hired through the World Bank this year and the
revisions are likely by end of the year.