South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the Southern region of the Asian continent. It is generally defined as being made up of the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Regional Context:
India is the world’s largest democracy and one of the fastest growing economies of our time.
It is a country of extremes. India holds one of the world’s fastest growing economies and is also a leading technical player in today’s information age with many of the world’s leading companies and organizations looking towards India for innovative ideas and creativity.
Sri Lanka is also expending great effort in positioning itself as a knowledge hub for the region. In Nepal, there have been some innovative solutions to connecting rural communities in mountainous locations using wireless technologies. Pakistan and Bangladesh also have large populations and a desire to harness opportunities offered by the Internet to contribute to socio-economic development.
Across the region, Internet access is seen as key to economic development and provides people with the ability to connect with family and friends across the world, and a conduit to share its culture across the digital world.
How We Work:
The Asia-Pacific Bureau acts as an advisor to other Internet Society departments on issues in South Asia affecting our work. Its also provides critical insight on local business, technology and policy issues to the Internet Society and its stakeholders.
The Bureau also work with Chapters to grow individual memberships, support their initiatives and help them advance in their support of the Internet Society's mission and values. This includes the focus on building trust and providing transparent guidance for Chapters and helping each chapter develop strong projects.
We Focus On:
Building Local Strength - The Asia-Pacific Bureau works to inspire and empower local communities to develop the Internet and its applications to express their creativity and unique voice.
Infrastructure - The Asia-Pacific Bureau works with technical experts to improve infrastructure and platforms that support the Internet.
Policy - The Asia-Pacific Bureau works in local and global fora to bring sound understanding of both the challenges and advantages to Internet development so informed decisions can be made.
Capacity Building - The Asia-Pacific Bureau identifies needs and opportunities for educational initiatives, focusing on priorities for the region related to capacity building. It reviews proposals sent to the Internet Society and gives advice, identifying local initiatives and partners for education activities, and finding and working with local sponsors for events and initiatives.
Standards/Technology - The Asia-Pacific Bureau promotes the Internet Society's support of Internet standards development (through the IETF - Internet Engineering Task Force) and evolution of Internet technologies, promotes and emphasises the need for an open and technically secure and stable Internet for the benefit and use of everyone, and encourages participation in the standards development process (e.g. through IETF fellowships).