Cambodian ICT Masterplan 2020 5.2 Objectives The government’s policy function and regulatory authority, which is crucial in laying a longterm foundation based on the fair competition and invigoration of the telecom market should be fully established. Cambodia should enact a series of necessary legislations such as an act on the expansion of socio-cultural information infrastructure as well as on sustainable technology advances and industry promotion. 5.3 Refining Regulatory ICT Laws The basic directions regulatory bodies should take in exercising its regulatory authority can be categorized as follows: 1. Be competition-oriented and business friendly 2. Make regulatory procedures and standards transparent and objective 3. Exercise regulatory authority in a timely and relevant manner in accordance with prescribed rules and laws. On top of these directions, regulatory agencies should strike a right balance between competition and earnings stability of telecom carriers that could attract mid- to long-term investment in order to ensure the steady expansion of the nation’s telecommunications network infrastructure, which acts as the foundation for informatization initiatives such as e-Government. 5.4 Implementing e-Government Act It should be recognized that e-Government initiatives are undertaken to efficiently improve government functions rather than for the sake of informatization itself. Also, in pursuing e-Government, not only the government but citizens and businesses need to be identified as customers and co-operators of the service. Secondly, the key elements of implementation strategies should encompass the interconnectivity with other applicable areas, overhaul of relevant systems, and professionals with right expertise in addition to database centers and network facilities. A virtuous improvement cycle needs to be maintained throughout the entire process from planning, design, construction to utilization with appropriate progress management, assessment and feedbacks. In addition, information resource management (IRM) of human, technological and financial resources, information sharing and protection, elimination of digital divide for the underserved population and residents in remote areas are also key to the success of informatization. 17