Tired of the same-old same-old meetings. Bothered by 5 minutes of creative programming, and 168 hours of mindless meetings to explain a simple concept to a weird guy in a suit.... Here is your opportunity... Recommend your favourite telecom executive to the career opportunity of a lifetime, think about how the Monday morning meetings will look when everyone at the table has a Kalashnikov...... think about project overruns when the result is likely to be impacted by the arrival of B52's.... :-) /R Subject: Short term assignment: Afghanistan Ministry of Communications Date: Tue, 14 May 2002 02:07:34 +1000 (EST) Draft Terms of Reference, Adviser to Afghan Ministry for Communications I. Introduction Internews Network, through its leadership of the USAID-funded dot-GOV program, has been asked to identify and recruit an adviser to work directly with the Ministry of Communications, Government of Afghanistan. This position will be for three to six months. Additional work may be needed, depending upon the political and economic situation. The need to place an experienced individual with the Ministry to provide technical assistance to advise the Minister and his staff is acute. The adviser would receive additional support through the dot-GOV program in terms of specialized technical information needed to help the Minister and Ministry. Current situation. The infrastructure for telecommunications in Afghanistan is virtually nonexistent on a national basis. There are currently several thousand analog and Chinese supplied digital phones in Kabul. Kandahar and Herat have only a few thousand operating phones. There is great interest in the role of VSATs for network expansion. Additionally, there are high expectations for a new mobile cellular. There are plans to develop a microwave long distance network linking six major metropolitan hubs from which the network could be gradually expanded to villages and towns. Development needs. With the need for Afghans to rebuild infrastructure and restore a knowledge base in all sectors (health, agriculture, education, industry, finance and banking, the arts, trade), it is essential that Afghan citizens be provided with telecommunications access and the physical infrastructure for development of the Internet, radio and TV. Access to telephones and the Internet for women are critical factors for stimulating local markets and alternative educational and health services, and reintegrating, at their own pace, women back into public life. Afghans living in remote villages cut off by areas heavily infested with land mines need to know what is happening in various parts of the country and have the capacity for two-way communication. A functional and effective transparent telecommunications system is fundamental to rebuilding infrastructure in each sector of the economy and to discouraging consolidation of power over ICT technologies that limit the use and access to these by the average citizen. Market forces. Leaving aside security and military concerns, international telecommunication firms are currently trying to advise the Afghan government on which set of systems or alternative technologies to invest in and which systems and equipment to purchase. Without a strategic policy framework built by the Ministry staff and a related legislative framework for telecommunications, the Afghan government could find itself frozen into inappropriate technologies and bad system and vendor initial choices. Given the dire need for reconstruction and development of alternative small and medium sized economic activities it will not be possible for the Afghan government to achieve realistic economic development goals and rebuild civil society without an active and knowledgeable Ministry of Communications. II. Illustrative Tasks This individual will advise the Minister of Communications and his designates on developing a policy and regulatory environment needed to build on and evolve an operative telecommunications system in Afghanistan. Ideally the individual will have experience working in with the legal, technical, regulatory, and financial areas of telecommunications. However, what perhaps is equally important is an adviser who has experience working with governments in transition, with very poor physical infrastructure, a diverse and geographically and socially isolated population. Key to the success of this technical assistance assignment is the development of: 1. A clear strategic plan that the policy and technical staff of the Ministry can make operative through various steps (depending upon the political environment) that will address at the minimum: … Licensing policy … Spectrum management … Interconnection management … Consumer protection … The need for a regulatory agency and role of regulation … Internet issues 2. Intensive follow-on mentoring and advising the Afghans that have been supported by the US government for short-term training in the U.S., Afghanistan, and elsewhere. 3. Day-to-day assistance advising on the administrative and management plans for the Ministry. 4. Supporting the Ministry through active liaison with international aid agencies and UN organizations for the purpose of implementing a telecommunications infrastructure, and developing effective mechanisms for dealing with the private sector telecommunications industry. 5. Identify additional needs for technical assistance and training in telecommunications. 6. Any other tasks that will materially assist the Ministry with progress toward its goal of achieving a critical set of competencies in telecommunications management and regulation. III. Deliverables A set of concrete, realistic deliverables will be formalized within the first week of the assignment, related to the tasks illustrative tasks listed above. These will be agreed upon with the Minister of Communications, the USAID Mission, the dot-GOV CTO, and dot-GOV technical team. Please contact any of the following if you have possible candidates: 1. Dr. Sarah J. Tisch, dot-GOV Project Director 202-833-5740, ext. 203 stisch(a)internews.org 2. Dr. George Sadowsky, dot-GOV Senior Technical Adviser 202-415-1933 george.sadowsky(a)internews.org 3. Ms. Mariana Ovtcharova, dot-GOV Program Associate 202-833-5740, ext. 206 mariana(a)internews.org -- \_ Roger De Salis rdesalis(a)cisco.com