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BHUTAN

Bhutan Prjet Reprt

oN EmERgiNg moBilE

A P P l i c A T i o N s

o P P o R T U N i T y

J U N E 2 0 1 2T e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n D e v e l o p m e n t S e c t o r


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Bhutan project report on emergingmobile applications opportunity

June 2012


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This ITU project responds to a request for ITU assistance to identify, evaluate and provide input to theemerging mobile applications opportunity in Bhutan, and includes policy recommendations on regulatory

matters and technical standards. Chetan Sharma is the primary author of the report and Dr. S.K. Misra is

the primary author for the m-health sections of the report.

ITU 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the

prior written permission of ITU.


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Bhutan project report on emerging mobile applications opportunity

iii

Table of contents

Page

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................... v

1. Executive summary ........................................................................................................................ 1

2. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1

a. Background .......................................................................................................................... 1

b. Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 1

c. Role of ITU for promoting ICT applications .......................................................................... 2

d. Mobile growth around the world ........................................................................................ 2

e. Mobile apps usage around the world .................................................................................. 5

f. How governments are using mobile apps to engage with citizens ..................................... 6

g. What does it take to make the application ecosystem robust? .......................................... 8

3. Key observations ............................................................................................................................ 10

4. State of the Bhutan wireless market: Challenges and opportunities ............................................. 12

5. Key stakeholders in the mobile applications market in Bhutan ..................................................... 14

6. Priority mobile application areas ................................................................................................... 15

1. Mobile health ....................................................................................................................... 15

2. Mobile agriculture ............................................................................................................... 17

3. Mobile finance and banking ................................................................................................ 19

d. Mobile disaster management and communication ............................................................. 20

7. Mobile apps and GNH..................................................................................................................... 21

8. Mobile and ICT roadmap ................................................................................................................ 22

9. Technical architecture and best practices ...................................................................................... 23

a. Underlying infrastructure and consumer expectations ....................................................... 24

b. Platform interoperability ..................................................................................................... 24

c. Interactive voice response ................................................................................................... 24

10. Bhutans mobile app landscape and action plan ............................................................................ 25

a. Whats present and already working? ................................................................................. 25

b. Recommendations and suggestions to build a thriving mobile apps economy .................. 25

Annex 1: Mobile health ............................................................................................................................. 32

M-health project 1 Empowering rural healthcare workers with m-health tools ........................ 32

M-health project 2 Health information services over mobile handsets ...................................... 34

Annex 2: Mobile agriculture project ......................................................................................................... 35

Annex 3: Mobile finance project ............................................................................................................... 37

Annex 4: Mobile disaster management project ........................................................................................ 39


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Page

Annex 5: Mobile web vs. mobile apps ....................................................................................................... 41

List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................. 44

List of Figures

Figure 1: Global mobile industry growth 2000-2011 ................................................................................ 2

Figure 2: Global mobile technology evolution 1980-2025 ........................................................................ 3

Figure 3: Growth in mobile and data subscribers ..................................................................................... 3

Figure 4: The mobile subscription distribution between developed and developing countries .............. 4

Figure 5: Mobile services across various rural and urban user segments ................................................ 5

Figure 6: Jobs app ...................................................................................................................................... 7

Figure 7: Travel app ................................................................................................................................... 7

Figure 8: Disaster management app ......................................................................................................... 8

Figure 9: Mobile penetration of developing countries in Asia .................................................................. 12

Figure 10: Bhutan telecom subscriptions .................................................................................................. 13

Figure 11. Bhutan mobile market growth ................................................................................................. 13

Figure 12: Mobile app for pest control information ................................................................................. 18

Figure 13: Mobile app for soil information ............................................................................................... 18

Figure 14: Mobile app for commodity futures and options ...................................................................... 19

Figure 15: Mobile services framework ...................................................................................................... 24

Figure 16: mHealth4u

for rural healthcare ............................................................................................. 33

Figure 17: Mobile agriculture application framework .............................................................................. 36

Figure 18: Mobile Agriculture Application ................................................................................................ 36

Figure 19: Mobile banking application framework ................................................................................... 38

Figure 20: Mobile banking application ...................................................................................................... 39

Figure 21: Mobile disaster management application framework ............................................................. 40

Figure 22: AT&T Winter Olympics Application for the Vancouver 2010 Games ....................................... 41

List of Tables

Table 1: Characteristics of developing and developed countries mobile markets ................................... 4

Table 2: Mobile applications launched by governments in different countries ....................................... 6

Table 3: Mobile apps and GNH .................................................................................................................. 22

Table 4: Pros and cons of mobile apps vs. mobile web ............................................................................. 42


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Acknowledgements

Chetan Sharma is the primary author of the report. Dr. S.K. Misra is the primary author for the m-health

sections of the report. Authors would like to thank the following individuals who provided input andguidance to the working sessions and for the preparation of the report:

Bhimraj Chhetri Bhutan Power Corporation

Chandrika Tamang Bank of Bhutan

Chencho Tshering Royal Audit Authority

Choki Nima Ministry of Economic Affairs

Chungku Department of Information Technology and Telecom (DITT)

Dawa Pem PCE, Royal University of Bhutan

Dechen Chhoeden DITT

Dechen Tshomo New Edge Technologies

Deewaker Chhetri Bmobile, Bhutan Telecom

Dophu Department of Civil and Citizenship Registration, MoHCA

Dorji Wangmo PPD, MoIC

Gaki Tshering Ministry of Health

Hari Prasad Kafley iTechnologies

Jigme Nidup National Statistical Bureau (NSB)

Jigme Tenzing DITT

Karma Choden Ministry of Education

Karma Dorji eDruk

Karma Tenzin DITT

Kelzang Jurmey Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan (RMA)

Kinley penjor Tashi Infocomm Ltd.

Kinzang Namgay Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Ltd.

Lobzang Jamtsho DITT

Passang Wangdi Bmobile, Bhutan Telecom

Pema Choejey DITT

Pema Dorji RUB

Phub Dorji Tashi Infocomm Ltd.

Phuntsho Tobgay DITT

Sameer Sharma ITU

Santosh Gurung Peljorkhang Pvt. Limited

Sarla Sharma Chetan Sharma Consulting

Sashi Giri Tashi Infocomm Ltd.

Sonam Choki DITT

Sonam Dendup Bhutan Power Corporation

Sonam Rinzin Election Commission of BhutanSuresh Nepal Ministry of Human and Labour Resources


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Tashi Tobgay Royal Civil Service Commission

Tashi Yezer RMA, PSSD

Thukten Dhendup Athang Tech

Tingting Dema Supreme Court

Tshering Dorji NSB

Tshering Wangchuk Dept. of Disaster Management

Tshering Wangchuk Royal Audit Authority

Tshering Yangchen Royal Audit Authority

Uden Sherpa DITT

Ugyen Pem BICMA

Ugyen Tshering FRSD, RMA

Ugyen Tshering Royal Institute of Management

Yeshey Pelden DITT


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1. Executive summary

The mobile market is booming. The advent of data-centric networks, high-performing mobile devices, and

engaging applications has put mobile at the centre of computing evolution around the world. Recognizing

the opportunity, the Government of Bhutan requested ITU for assistance to better understand the

landscape, the opportunities, the challenges, and the technology and policy framework required to launch

a government-to-citizen initiative to reach more citizens in more places.

The ITU team spent time in November 2011 with various ministries in Bhutan, conducting a mobile

application workshop, understanding and gathering requirements for various applications, and forming

consensus on application areas for initial launch.

The key objective of the project was to understand the specific requirement of Bhutan and the conditions

in the field and, based on the data and information, devise a mobile application strategy for the top four

prioritized areas of interest. Each country has its own unique culture, consumer behaviour pattern, and

consumer expectations, and technology evolution cycles. The report delves into an in-depth analysis of

the Bhutan mobile market and follows-up with a series of specific requirements in Bhutan and presents a

series of recommendations that can help launch a vibrant mobile apps market in the country.

The four mobile application areas that are chosen for initial launch are agriculture, disaster management,

financial services, and health. The report discusses each of the areas in detail as well as lays out the

proposal and requirements for building these applications. The report also discusses the technology and

policy framework for implementing the suite of mobile apps.

2. Introduction

a. Background

This ITU project aims to evaluate and provide input to the emerging mobile applications (apps)

opportunity in Bhutan especially for government-to-citizen services. The Ministry of Information andCommunications in Bhutan requested ITU to assist in identifying mobile apps for government in various

vertical areas related to the different ministries and to suggest sound and coherent but implementable

policy recommendations on regulatory regimes and technological standards that are relevant for the

deployment of such mobile apps.

The first phase of the project involved meeting with key stakeholders related to the mobile apps project

and carry out an assessment of the needs of the various ministries. This phase also included a hands-on

workshop on mobile applications and various ITU initiatives in the region and worldwide.

The next phase of the project involved an assessment and study of the global trends in mobile application

development, Bhutans regulatory and technological challenges and how they can streamline a process to

gain maximum efficiency. The goal was to also analyse the information and data collected during the field

trip and formulate suitable policy recommendations. The deliverable of this phase is this report with adetailed discussion of the various topics requested by the government, including the formulation and

recommendation of technology and policy to expedite the development and implementation of mobile

apps. The report also discusses the requirements for mobile apps in four key prioritized areas of health,

agriculture, finance, and disaster management.

The final phase of the ITU project will be to build the mobile apps in the prioritized areas of interest

according to the requirements discussed in phase two.

b. Objectives

The key objective of the project was to understand the specific requirement of Bhutan and the conditions

on the field and based on the data and information devise a mobile apps strategy for the top four


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prioritized areas of interest. Each country has its own unique culture, consumer behaviour pattern, and

consumer expectations, and technology evolution cycles.

c. Role of ITU for promoting ICT applications

The purpose ofProgramme 21

(Hyderabad, 2010) is to support the ITU membership in improving access toICT applications and services, especially in underserved and rural areas, achieving trust and confidence in

the use of ICTs, the Internet and next-generation networks, promoting fair and equitable access to critical

Internet resources. The activities in the broad area ofICT Applications include promoting and

implementing e-Services and e-Applications (e.g.,e-Government2, e-Business, e-Learning,e-Health

3,

e-Employment,e-Environment4, e-Agriculture, e-Science, etc.) in developing countries.

d. Mobile growth around the world

Mobile subscriptions have seen a tremendous growth in the last decade. In late 2011, the global total

exceeded 6 billion accounting for roughly 86 per cent penetration with over 33 per cent of them being

data subscribers (messaging not included). While the first billion took 19 years, this last billion only took

15 months. The significant acceleration in the last couple of years has been primarily due to the explosive

growth in the developing markets led by India and China which have accounted for the bulk of the

growth.

Figure 1: Global mobile industry growth 2000-2011

Source: Author

In terms of revenue, mobile data has been the primary driver of growth as voice revenues are declining in

almost all markets. Mobile data led by SMS and data access5

have also altered the device and network

landscape. Most countries have already deployed 3G and are looking to upgrade to 4G. The insatiable

1 www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/docs/WTDC2010%20Final%20Report-%20Porgramme%202.pdf

2 www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-gov.html

3 www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-health.html

4 www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-env.html

5 Data access refers to the ability of the mobile device to access the Internet
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/docs/WTDC2010%20Final%20Report-%20Porgramme%202.pdfhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/docs/WTDC2010%20Final%20Report-%20Porgramme%202.pdfhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-gov.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-gov.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-health.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-health.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-health.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-env.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-env.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/docs/WTDC2010%20Final%20Report-%20Porgramme%202.pdfhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/docs/WTDC2010%20Final%20Report-%20Porgramme%202.pdfhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-gov.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-gov.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-health.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-health.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-health.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-health.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-health.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-health.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-gov.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/docs/WTDC2010%20Final%20Report-%20Porgramme%202.pdfhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-env.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-health.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/e-gov.htmlhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/docs/WTDC2010%20Final%20Report-%20Porgramme%202.pdf


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demand for mobile data is forcing mobile operators to seek more spectrum or higher frequencies from

government bodies, upgrade their networks, and look for ways to generate revenue from this demand.

Figure 2: Global mobile technology evolution 1980-2025

Source: Author

In the next three years, mobile data subscription is expected to exceed 50 per cent. The advent of apps

has helped fuel the growth in the number of data subscribers as the availability of flat fee pricing has

attracted users to upgrade and try out new applications. In many countries, almost all smartphones and

many feature phones are now required to have a data subscription.

Figure 3: Growth in mobile and data subscribers

Source: Author

In developing countries, mobile data is primarily driven by SMS but it is starting to change as consumers

buy smartphones on 3G+ networks, operators offer compelling data packages, and developers build apps


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that are both useful and fun. Table 1 shows the key differences between the developed and developing

country mobile apps ecosystems.6

Figure 4: The mobile subscription distribution between developed and developing countries

Source: Author

Mobile apps have been around since the late nineties and the apps stores have been available for a quite

some time as well. Operators have been offering content and applications on their app stores for most of

the last decade.

Table 1: Characteristics of developing and developed countries mobile markets

Developed Developing

Subscriber Penetration 100%+ 50-60% but growing fast

Network deployment 3G/4G 2G/3G

Handsets Smartphones, Connected Devices Feature phones, low-end

smartphones

Primary Usage Apps, Web, Voice, Messaging Voice, Messaging

ARPU Levels USD 30-USD 55 < USD 20Apps for Vertical Industry Enterprise, Retail, Entertainment,

Tourism

Health, Financial

Government entities have also taken notice and both developed and developing countries have launched

services in the field of government to citizen services, education, employment services, tax payments,

transportation, digital signature, elections, agriculture, disaster management, health and more.

6Mobile App Ecosystem in this report refers to the group of companies participating in building the mobile apps for e.g.

the operators, developers, device manufacturers, application tools providers, infrastructure providers, regulatory

bodies, and others.


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e. Mobile apps usage around the world

The overall mobile apps downloads are expected to increase from over 7 billion in 2009 to almost

50 billion by 2012 growing at the rate of 92 per cent CAGR (compound annual growth rate). The revenue

from mobile apps which includes both paid downloads and revenue from advertising and virtual goods is

expected to increase from USD 4.1 billion in 2009 to USD 17.5 billion by 2012 at the rate of 62 per cent

CAGR. Although on-deck (operator managed) mobile apps sales exceeded those from off-deck 7 in 2009,

by 2012, off-deck is expected to hold the lions share of the mobile apps revenue.

The dynamics of the app market are quite different in emerging countries where to effectively generate

revenue from significant app momentum (app downloads/active user and growth rates in some of these

countries exceed those from the western markets, irrespective of the device type), creative strategies are

needed to attract new consumers and different business models will be required to make the regional

ecosystems viable.

Figure 5 shows various mobile apps segmented by regional demographics. Overall, by enhancing

discovery, improving user experience, dropping price barriers, and increasing developer revenue share,

the apps ecosystem can continue to prosper.

Figure 5: Mobile services across various rural and urban user segments

Source: Analysys Mason, 2010.

The business models for apps have evolved over time. Initially, the focus was entirely on the paiddownloads or the subscription based models that bundled other forms of content like ringtones and

pictures with applications.8

However, over the last 3-4 years, advertising based models have become both

popular and successful with developers and the app ecosystem. In fact, for some developers, the

advertising revenue on some platforms (like Android) is bigger than the revenues generated from the paid

downloads.9

Some mobile players have focused on building loyal and vibrant communities which creates

an audience for selling/up-selling/cross-selling virtual, digital, and even physical goods.

7Off-deck refers to the applications that can be downloaded onto the mobile device from sites other than those offered

by customers mobile operator8

Ringtones and graphics are not included in the definition of applications for the purposes of this report.9

In part, this also has to do with inefficient billing methods that often discourage consumers to complete the paid

transaction.

Rural Urban / Semi-urban

Primary User Segment

Lifestyle/Entertainment

Livelihood

Agriculture

alerts

Health

support for

cattle

Education

Governance

News alerts

LBS

Push Email

Job Listings

Health

Support

Shopping &

Payment

Financial

Inclusion

Entertainment

Services

Utility Services for Rural and Urban User Segment

PrimaryValue

Proposition

Majority of the utility services adopted by ruralsegments enhance livelihood

Agriculture alerts and health support for cattleincreases the productivity of farmers

In urban areas,majority of utility

services are point

solutions such as

interview support,

learn English, while

few services suchas job listings

provides livelihood

support


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The main forms of revenue generation for mobile apps are:

1. Paid

a. Subscription

b. In-app (within application)

2. Advertising

a. Impression-based

b. Performance-based

c. Promotion (or marketing)

3. Virtual Goods

4. Up-selling/cross-selling other goods

5. Hybrid (combination of the above)

For apps launched by government, the apps are either free or there is a service fee for usage to cover the

cost.

f. How governments are using mobile apps to engage with citizens

ICT plays a significant role in the development, growth, and economic success of any country. It plays a

particularly important role in the evolution of a developing country. Technology can not only help solve

some critical problems such as healthcare but also provide an efficient tool to the government to reach its

citizens.

Given that the penetration of computers in developing countries lags mobile penetration, mobile provides

the most effective medium for governments to reach their citizens with services and important messages.

This can be accomplished by using the tools such as SMS, mobile websites, and mobile apps and services.

Many countries have been using these tools to inform, engage, and provide services to its citizens. TheITU M-Government report10

lists several government initiatives from around the world that show how

mobile services are being used by governments to connect with their citizens, and some examples of this

are given in Table 2.

Table 2: Mobile applications launched by governments in different countries

Application Type Countries Apps

Government to Citizens Canada, Bahrain, Turkey, Korea, Spain, Italy Wireless Portal

Singapore, China, Oman, Hungary, Malta, Korea SMS alerts

UK, Mexico, China, Netherlands, Philippines Emergency alerts

Education Philippines, India SMS apps

Employment Services Brazil, Sweden, Philippines

Inquiry Services Indonesia, Estonia, Spain, US

Tax payments India, Ireland, Korea, Spain

Transportation Estonia, Finland, Austria

Digital Signatures Sweden, Austria

Elections France, Indonesia, Kenya, UK, Venezuela, Estonia, Korea

10Source: M-Government Mobile Technologies for Responsive Governments and Connected Societies

www.itu.int/pub/D-STR-GOV.M_GOV-2011
http://www.itu.int/pub/D-STR-GOV.M_GOV-2011http://www.itu.int/pub/D-STR-GOV.M_GOV-2011http://www.itu.int/pub/D-STR-GOV.M_GOV-2011


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Some of these application types are informational only to keep citizens aware of a process, ensuring

transparency and accountability, while others try to tackle some basic need or issues in the region, like

education, employment services, or financial services. Others aim to get more civic participation like

election applications. Both developed and developing countries have embraced mobile as a channel for

communication because it provides the best reach amongst all other media channels. Examples of such

mobile apps are shown in Figure 6, 7 and 8.

Figure 6: Jobs app

Source: iFedJobs (US Federal Government).

Figure 7: Travel app

Source: Gyeonggi Provincial Government in South Korea.


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Figure 8: Disaster management app

Source: FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), United States

Developing countries are also taking advantage of SMS and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) as they are

better vehicles for communication due to device demographics. For example, Airtel in India launched its

SMS based m-health pack where people can subscribe to various categories of alerts genres such as

women, men, cardiac, diabetes, Tuberculosis, swine flu, typhoid, weight and diet, beauty and skin care,

earthquake and tsunami alerts, etc.

Over the next few years, the role of mobile enabled ITCs (Information and Communications Technology)

will be central to any citizen application available from their government.

g. What does it take to make the application ecosystem robust?

The gains mentioned in this report will not be realized unless the various players in the ecosystem come

together to lay out an implementation roadmap in their respective regions. Laying out a vision is one

thing, implementing it efficiently is another. There are significant hurdles to realizing an mServices

(mobile enabled services) platform or service. First and foremost, such efforts require investment. How do

such projects get funded? Whats the financial incentive? Is it a commercially-driven endeavour or

something that is funded by government? Who is going to drive it? Answers to such questions will dictate

the pace of deployment over the next ten years.

In addition, the use of wireless technology for health-care, emergency services, agriculture, education and

others will raise serious questions of security, privacy, regulation, legality, public policy, and cost.

The introduction of mobile technology into the equation will help decentralize the efforts, infrastructure,

and the costs. For instance, cell phones can turn into data collection devices in the case of a weather-

based emergency, health-care services can be provided to remote locations using mobile, and instead of

going to a training class or school, lessons can be downloaded and completed in locations not requiring

travel. Since, more resources can be pulled in and the available resources can be brought to more people,

this helps lower the infrastructure costs while massively increasing the service and data availability.


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Some entities will find their power and control in the ecosystem redistributed. Many will embrace it as an

opportunity or a new reality, but some will resist the change fiercely and force the pace to slow down.

How the information and success stories are shared and replicated will also be a key in realizing the vision

of an mServices platform. Strong leadership is needed to distil and distribute information and best

practices, and to promote the development of shared infrastructure to minimize costs.

To reach the rural markets around the world, sub-USD 20 or free handsets will be needed. Regions wherestarvation is the primary challenge are not going to embrace mobile technology until the most basic needs

are met. What business models will enable such deployment? Better user experience and increased

access to information on mobile devices will also lead to changes in consumer behaviour and

expectations. How fast will the various industries collaborate to respond to such needs?

Private-public partnerships

One of the most important elements to have an impact on the evolution of the mobile services platform,

irrespective of the applications that are built on such an infrastructure, will be the collaboration between

private and public enterprises. Profit-driven companies, research institutes, government agencies, not-

for-profit entities, and charitable organizations each bring specific goals and talents to the creation of a

coherent mServices platform. Partnerships between these organizations will be essential for the followingreasons:

Funding Without significant funding and focus, even the simplest of goals face challenges. The

various participants in the ecosystem need to come together to serve common goals that impact

people in their community. Financial and technical resources need to be pulled together to

ensure that the best teams are in place and that resources are not wasted due to duplication of

efforts or poor information dissemination. The deployment of emergency services in the state of

Andhra Pradesh in India is a good example of private-public collaboration and funding to bring

about change and have a lasting impact.

The other two models of funding are either government or private. The Bhutan Foreign Direct

Investment (FDI) policy allows for 100 per cent foreign investment. More awareness might be

needed before the latter takes hold. In the interim, government has to drive projects either

through initiating these projects on their own or by cultivating win-win partnerships with the

private sector.

Technical collaboration During the 2006 wildfires in San Diego, United States, that led to the

biggest evacuation in the countrys history, the emergency command centre didnt have the

capability to send SMS messages to citizens on the basis of location or severity of impact. The

process required to work with the operators wasnt in place and would have taken weeks to work

out. Similarly, the scientific community knew about the 2004 South-East Asia Tsunami hours in

advance but didnt have a way to communicate to people in the impact zone. It is imperative that

local agencies and operators work on a plan to enable instant communication from emergency

command centres.

Education and awareness Even the best technology and carefully crafted plans will fail unless

there is sufficient education and awareness about the initiatives, capabilities, and expected

responsibilities of those in the evolving communications landscape. Efforts should be put in place

to make citizens aware of the various options and information available and how to use such

resources.

Regulations -The government and related entities have the responsibility to foster growth and

remove impediments by keeping policies and regulations up-to-date. With respect to mobility,

work needs to be done to ensure market competition, protect customer privacy, secure sensitive

information, and clearly delineate liability as technology becomes more and more ingrained in

our daily lives. As commerce will inevitably move towards mobile, the threat of fraud, money

laundering, identify theft, and privacy will be of greater concern. Adequate laws and protectionneed to be in place.


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3. Key observations

In November 2011, the ITU team spent time with various ministries and key stakeholders in Bhutan to

better understand the landscape, the requirements, and the needs of the local mobile market. This

section discusses some of the observations from the mission.

Mobile is the biggest digital channel

Not surprisingly, mobile far outpaces other channels for information distribution and outreach. Compared

to over 420 000 mobile subscriptions, there are only 40 000computers and 100 000 TV sets in Bhutan.11

As such, mobile represents a big opportunity for both the government sector but also the private sector in

reaching people far and wide.

3G is in its infancy

While 3G has been launched by both the operators, the uptake has been tepid due to high prices of

devices and data services. For wide adoption of mobile apps, a robust 3G data strategy is essential or

performance and affordability issues will drive consumers away from using the data services and apps.

Limited mobile data/apps services

Data applications are generally limited to SMS which is used by only 20-30 per cent of the consumer base.

Mobile apps ecosystem needs to be cultivated and the awareness of such apps will need to go up for

wider adoption.

Lack of deeper industry KPIs

Although there were some basic industry metrics like subscriptions are available, a deeper understanding

of usage and subscriber demographics is lacking at both the operator and the regulator level. More

emphasis on gathering data is required so any strategy can leverage such knowledge and build targeted

solutions rather than building solutions in vacuum.

G2C initiatives in progress but mobilization of services is not clear

Government has an extensive ICT initiative that relates to government-to-citizen (G2C) services, however,the role of mobile and how some of the services might be mobilized is unclear.

Community centre network: a great resource

There are 20 districts with 205 villages in Bhutan. Government is investing heavily in building a community

centre network equipped with computing resources that serve the local (and remote) communities of

Bhutan. This resource along with some trained local experts can help educate the people on mobile apps

and their usage, answer questions, and help them embrace mobile data services at a much faster pace

than would otherwise happen.

Limited ICT resources

One of the areas of development is ICT resources. There are roughly 350 individuals who can qualify as a

resource, as such most of the projects are outsourced with the internal resources involved in managing

the project instead of actively participating in the development process. Even private software companies

severely lack competent mobile apps programmers and developers.

Mobile apps roadmap needs to conform to the existing guidelines and roadmaps

There has been significant work done in developing the Bhutan ICT roadmap and the Gross National

Happiness (GNH) guidelines (see Section 8). Any mobile apps project and future development needs to

conform to these two guiding principles and operate within the confines of the vision set forth by these

two documents.

11 BICMA, 2011.


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Capacity building is essential

As indicated above, the number of active mobile developer resources are fairly limited in Bhutan. To

foster and cultivate a sustainable mobile applications industry, the public-private partnership needs to

cultivate the applications developer industry locally, foster competitive environment and reward and

encourage entrepreneurs.

Network capacity needs to be expanded

The mobile networks might not be built to handle peak demands. Many users expressed frustration with

the slow speeds and the lack of consistent performance. Expansion of network capacity can address

network clogging, congestion and service downtime. Hence it can provide a better user experience.

Localization is a challenge

While most of the urban population is fairly conversant with English, citizens in rural areas are not.

However, localization is a challenge although the Ministry of Information and Communication (MoIC) is

working on solutions. For some applications, text-to-speech solutions will be needed.

Mobile health opportunities

The Ministry of Health has considerable experience in carrying out various telemedicine projects and are

currently involved in two operational projects. The Health Help Centre project has produced immense

impact in terms of utilization. The Ministry of Health has shown a positive attitude towards ICT adoption

to enhance the capacity and feels m-health will add value. The ICT policy of the government has an

agenda of using mobile applications to improve service delivery for the citizens including health.

Call-centre synergy and consolidation opportunity

There are some good existing frameworks and case studies in place like the healthcare call-centre that

helps facilitate the health emergency and regular medical calls from citizens especially in rural areas. The

service is mobile enabled so that workers in the field can keep the call centre abreast of the progress in

real-time. Such a technology setup can be easily extended to disaster management, other health services,

and agriculture services.Ministry of Agriculture has an interactive voice response (IVR) app that connects users to the pricing

database. A mobile app can leverage the existing framework and database setup to help build the

applications quickly.

Set of centralized databases can be leveraged across applications

Since many of the government services require user authentication, these applications can leverage a

common set of database resources for authentication. While banks, operators, and government have

different needs for such databases, the basic authentication for such services can be leveraged through a

single API (application programming interface) call. It will help to simplifiy the authentication process and

will also give valuable insights into the those using the various mobile data services.

A platform approach is needed for mobile apps

Bhutan is a relatively small country and while the various ministries will have different requirements and

needs with different timelines for mobile application development, there is an opportunity to consolidate

some of the underlying requirements such as authentication, security, server, messaging, etc. under a

common platform. This will enable the reduction of the cost of these solutions and as new ministries are

looking to launch mobile apps, and they can leverage the existing framework.


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4. State of the Bhutan wireless market: Challenges and opportunities

Bhutans mobile industry has grown rapidly in the last four years and is similar to neighbouring countries

as far as mobile penetration is concerned. With roughly 428 000 subscriptions, mobile penetration has

reached nearly 60 per cent just behind India, China, and Pakistan and ahead of Bangladesh. Bhutan also

has one of the highest mobile to fixed telecom subscriptions ratio in the region meaning that mobile is the

prime driver of telecom growth in the country.

Figure 9: Mobile penetration of developing countries in Asia

Source: Author

Bhutans mobile market is controlled by two operators government backed BT and privately owned

enterprise Tashi Telecom. BT has roughly three times the subscribers compared to Tashi.

While 3G was launched by both operators in the last two years, the market is predominantly 2G because

of low data usage. And just like other countries in the region, the market is primarily prepaid with less

than 10 000 postpaid subscriptions.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) is in the vicinity of USD 8 which is on the higher end of the scale forcountries in the region.

Approximately 20 per cent of the subscription base uses smartphones. Due to a 30 per cent surcharge on

such devices, and most are bought from outside Bhutan. iPhones and Android devices are in use but not

through official channels.

Bhutans terrain is quite mountainous and difficult to navigate. As such, mobile devices will continue to be

the primary way to connect people especially in remote villages and communities that are often days

away from the capital city, Thimphu. Mobile devices are also going to be the primary vehicle for

government and private interests to connect with civilians on a regular basis as well as during

emergencies.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

140%


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Figure 10: Bhutan telecom subscriptions

Source: BICMA, 2011.

Figure 11. Bhutan mobile market growth

Source: BICMA, 2011.

As such the mobile market presents a significant growth opportunity in Bhutan and could have a

transformative impact on the economy, including social growth, communications, and civic participation.

So far the growth has been primarily in the area of voice communications. Data usage is in its infancy.

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

400000

450000

500000

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Mobile

Fixed

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

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60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Mobile as % of Telecom Subs % Mobile Penetration


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Roughly 20-30 per cent of the consumers use SMS, amounting to < 1 message/subscriber/day

(comparatively, consumers in the Philippines send messages at the rate of 18 messages/subscriber/day).

Mobile data usage is tepid due to high data cost, lack of wide availability of cheap smartphones, a weak

application market, and slow growth of the 3G network which will be essential for accelerating usage and

adoption.

To foster growth, the following recommendations and suggestions are made:

Enable the use of cheaper smartphone devices. Operators should be allowed to bundle and offer

handset packages without a surcharge. Mobile smartphones and tablets should be classified as

computers and the 30 per cent surcharge should be reduced or eliminated.

Lower data tariffs to promote usage. As consumers see the benefits of being connected and of

accessing anywhere-anytime data services, usage will evolve from being seen as luxury services to

necessity.

Promote local application developer ecosystem. While apps developed for a wider market are

available, the mobile data/app market will not grow unless there are locally relevant applications

and services. Government and the private industry should take steps to encourage entrepreneurs

to build applications, compete on quality, and be rewarded on successful implementations.Operators will have to play a strong role in such an endeavour.

Look at application areas that can benefit from being customized in Dzongkha. While most of the

urban population is quite conversant and fluent in English, to bring the broader population into

the mobile data realm, applications will have to be adapted to local language as well as

iconography for visual implementations. For critical application areas such as agriculture and

disaster management, IVR-based applications can serve as a good intermediate step.

Improve upon the reliability and performance of the data networks as well as the applications

infrastructure. If consumer expectation can be met then mobile services usage and adoption will

increase.

Build local talent. The Bhutan IT market is relatively small, so bringing in overseas talent oroutsourcing is not an ideal option. Since this is going to be a long-term sustainable industry, it is

best to focus on growing the developer ecosystem locally and have enough work and projects for

them that the ecosystem stays viable and sustainable.

Build network for capacity especially for critical applications such as disaster management,

health, and finance. The network should be robust enough to cope with sudden increases in

traffic.

Foster research and development on mobile apps by providing research grants, seed funds and

business development funds. Bhutan Innovation and Technology Centre (BITC) in the IT Park can

be leveraged and used as an innovation test bed.

5. Key stakeholders in the mobile applications market in Bhutan

There are several key stakeholders in the development of mobile applications market in Bhutan. Several

of the team members also participated in the ITU Mobile Applications Workshop held in Thimphu on

21 November 2011.

Department of Information Technology and Telecom

Regulatory Authority BICMA (Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority)

Mobile Operators Bhutan Telecom (B-Mobile) and Tashi InfoComm

Department of Revenue

Department of Health


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Department of Agriculture

Department of Utility

NSB (National Statistics Bureau)

RMA (Royal Monetary Authority)

Application Developers

The different ministries have specific needs in terms of applications and services that they want to

provide to citizens. Regulatory authorities such as BICMA and RMA have the responsibility of overseeing

the policy framework. Mobile operators play a critical role in connecting the fabric of applications to the

consumers via the networks they maintain and the devices they sell. Though application developers are a

very small community in Bhutan, they are likely to play an increasingly important role in the ICT growth in

Bhutan.

6. Priority mobile application areas

ITU in consultation with stakeholders in Bhutan agreed to focus its attention on four key areas that wereprioritized collectively.

The areas of interest are:

1. Mobile Health

2. Mobile Agriculture

3. Mobile Finance and Banking

4. Mobile Disaster Management and Communication

1. Mobile health

Advances in mobile communications and medical technologies have facilitated development of innovative

low cost mobile e-health tools having potential in applications for rural healthcare. Using ICTs and

especially mobile eHealth applications is a promising way to improve user-friendliness of low cost m-

health tools for effective healthcare delivery by primary healthcare workers and also for remote

monitoring and data collection for surveillance. Mobility as such brings in added value of continuous

availability and timely information access. One additional benefit of ICT based solutions is the possibility

for various types of customization, allowing support for a wider set of application requirements than was

originally planned, and meeting changing needs and targets of individuals or larger user segments.

Telemedicine is the use of medical information that is exchanged from one treatment site to another via

electronic communications. The term tele-health is closely related to telemedicine. It describes remote

healthcare delivery that may or may not include clinical services. Both telemedicine and tele-health maycomprise videoconferencing, transmission of still medical images, document sharing, and remote

monitoring of vital signs. Recent evolution of wireless communication technologies have enabled

telemedicine systems to operate even in the remotest place for rural health practices hence expanding

telemedicine benefits, applications, and services. In developing countries, the majority of the people are

living in the rural and remote locations where even the basic facilities are not available. Due to various

logistic reasons, public health system in Bhutan has not been able to provide basic medical services even

at the level of first encounter i.e. Basic Health Unit. Recently, technical developments have taken place

over and above the standard telemedicine system which has led to the development of ICT based tools

using mobile broadband network enabling health systems to deliver care at remote health delivery points.

Technical developments include:

Computer systems: Low cost atom based processors were used for deploying large numbers of

telemedicine terminals. Current technologies like unicast/ multicast works even using low

bandwidth and resources.


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Communication technology: Low cost communication facilities can now be the alternative

solution for transmitting the data, voice and video to the nearby telemedicine enabled service

provider. With the advancement of communication technologies people are now gradually

thinking of alternative methods like using both wired in the form of ADSL broadband and wireless

broadband provided by various service providers in the form of high speed broadband plug in.

Software based video conferencing system: mobility and lowering cost of devices can only beachieved by replacing hardware with software based a video conferencing system. Various

software based video conferencing tools like webex, home meeting

, people-link

, vennfer

and

vidyo

conferencing systems are now integrated in m-health tools. The minimum bandwidth

required for hardware based video conferencing is 256 kbps but with software solution video

conferences could be possible with lower bandwidth.

Evidence supporting m-health benefits

m-health applications show great promise in improving health services and outcomes. However, there is a

lack of evidence concerning the wide-scale impact of m-health projects. The limited scale and scope of

evaluation in m-health projects is partly due to the newness of the technology but also to the desire to

have results quickly. A robust evidence base about the effectiveness of mobile health technology isimportant not only for cost-effectiveness and scale-up purposes, but also to share information about what

works and what doesnt work. John Hopkins form the Bloomberg School of Public Health has launched an

m-health toolkit ([email protected]) which gathers evidence by carrying out literature search and

provides links to abstracts of journal articles that share results of robust randomized trials of a number of

m-health projects. Some examples are reproduced here:

1. An Analysis of mHealth in Maternal and Newborn Health Programs and Their Outcomes Around

the World12

A total of 34 articles and reports contributed to the findings with information about the use and

limitations of m-health for prenatal and neonatal healthcare access and delivery. Health systems

have implemented m-health programmes to facilitate emergency medical responses, point-of-

care support, health promotion and data collection. However, the policy infrastructure for

funding, coordinating and guiding the sustainable adoption of prenatal and neonatal m-health

services remains under-developed. The integration of mobile health for prenatal and newborn

health services has demonstrated positive outcomes, but the sustainability and scalability of

operations requires further feedback from and evaluation of ongoing programmes.

2. The effect of mobile phone text-message reminders on Kenyan health workers' adherence to

malaria treatment guidelines: a cluster randomized trial13

Health workers' malaria case-management practices often differ from national guidelines. The

study assessed whether text-message reminders sent to health workers' mobile phones could

improve and maintain their adherence to treatment guidelines for outpatient pediatric malaria in

Kenya. With a computer-generated sequence, health facilities were randomly allocated to eitherthe intervention group, in which all health workers received text messages on their personal

mobile phones on malaria case-management for six months, or the control group, in which health

workers did not receive any text messages. The study showed, in resource-limited settings,

malaria control programmes should consider use of text messaging to improve health workers'

case-management practices.

3. The development and evaluation of a PDA-based method for public health surveillance data

collection in developing countries14

12Maternal Child Health Journal, 2011.

13Lancet, 2011.

14 International Journal of Medical Informatics, 2009.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Epidemiological data and Information are often used together by public health agencies around

the world, particularly in developing countries, to meet their needs of low-cost public health data

management; however, the current open source data management technology lacks a mobile

component to meet the needs of mobile public health data collectors. The goal of this project is

to explore the opportunity of filling this gap through developing and trial of a personal digital

assistant (PDA) based data collection/entry system. It evaluated whether such a system couldincrease efficiency and reduce data transcription errors for public surveillance data collection in

developing countries represented by Fiji. A generic PDA-based data collection software eSTEPS

was developed. The software and the data collected using it directly interfaces with EpiData. A

field trial was conducted to test the viability of public health surveillance data collection using

eSTEPS. The design was a randomized, controlled trial with cross-over design. The trial results

prove that eSTEPS is a feasible solution for public health surveillance data collection in the field.

Several deficiencies of the software were also identified and would be addressed in the next

version.

4. Case Study from India: Maternal and Child Tracking System15

When a mother dies, children lose their primary caregiver, communities are denied the paid and

unpaid labour, and countries forego her contributions to economic and social development. Awoman's death is more than a personal tragedy--it represents an enormous cost to her country,

her community, and her family. Any social and economic investment that has been made in her

life is lost. Her family loses her love, her nurturing, and her productivity inside and outside the

home. More than a decade of research has shown that small and affordable measures can

significantly reduce the health risks that women face when they become pregnant. Most

maternal deaths could be prevented if women had access to appropriate health care during

pregnancy, childbirth, and immediately afterwards. Keeping this philosophy in mind the National

Rural Health Mission, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Government of India has

launched web based system for tracking pregnant mother and new born to ensure institutional

delivery and care of new born.

2. Mobile agriculture

Agriculture in Bhutan has a dominant role in the economy of the country accounting for over 20 per cent

of countrys GDP. The primary goals of agriculture in Bhutan is to raise the per capita income as well

improve self-sufficiency of people living in remote and rural areas. Farmers who sell their produce are

looking for accurate pricing information, have questions about pests and weather conditions,

Learning from other implementations

Figure 12 shows a mobile app that provides guidance on current effective management options for insects

and other arthropod pests affecting soybeans growth in certain states in the United States.

Figure 13 shows a mobile app from Soilweb which is GPS based, giving real-time access to USDA-NRCS soilsurvey data. The application retrieves graphical summaries of soil types associated with current iPhone

location, based on user defined horizontal precision. Sketches of soil profiles are linked to their official soil

series description (OSD) page.

Figure 14 indicates a mobile app from KIS Future used to track prices on commodity futures and options

for grains, livestock, etc.

15 http://nrhm-mcts.nic.in/MCH, http://e-mamta.gujarat.gov.in
http://nrhm-mcts.nic.in/MCHhttp://nrhm-mcts.nic.in/MCHhttp://nrhm-mcts.nic.in/MCHhttp://e-mamta.gujarat.gov.in/http://e-mamta.gujarat.gov.in/http://e-mamta.gujarat.gov.in/http://nrhm-mcts.nic.in/MCH


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Figure 12: Mobile app for pest control information

Source:?

Figure 13: Mobile app for soil information

Source: Soilweb


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Figure 14: Mobile app for commodity futures and options

Source: KIS Future

3. Mobile finance and banking

Many of the citizens in the developing countries dont have access to banking and financial services. Given

that most of these people have mobile phones, it makes perfect sense to use mobile as a vehicle for

conducting financial and banking transactions.

There are three key challenges that need to be addressed in any mobile banking/payment initiative:

Building the agent network

Looking at other similar initiatives around the world, one of the key success factors is building a robust

agent network that is motivated to work hard to create and fulfil demand, that is connected deeply into

the fabric of the society and there is an incentive for them to work hard and be a fierce advocate of the

service not only because it is good for the citizens but also because it is good for them personally. Without

the proper incentives or the adequate reach, such initiatives flounder before they can get any traction.

Typically, operators and the postal department are in the best position to leverage their existing

distribution network.

Policy of telecom and banking collaboration

Mobile operators and financial institutions both have a stake in a robust mobile finance and bankingecosystem. Financial institutions want to extend their reach and services to the underserved or citizens

who do not have their own bank account, and mobile operators want to facilitate the transactions, help in

mitigating risks and fraud and provide a reliable experience so that consumers can keep on using the

service without reservations. Collaboration of both sectors is therefore essential.

Awareness of services

It is critical for any new service or application to be simple to use and reliable so that customers can

expect it to work most of the time. Given that the application is of a financial nature, privacy and security

are of paramount concern for consumers. As these services spread, users should have easy access to help

and answers to basic questions, as well as to be able to report issues when needed.


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By far the biggest success story in the field of mobile finance and payments has been that of MPESA in

Kenya. Some of the salient features that made it successful are:

lack of alternatives/traditional banking infrastructure;

simple implementation using SMS;

safaricom domination for coverage and will to implement a nationwide solution;

incentives for Agents, distribution network of 32 000 agents key to success training, incentives,

education;

wide availability;

consumer motivation as a real problem was solved;

M-PESA deeply embedded in everyday life;

service focus on customer loyalty rather than application profits

The Philippines has also been a pioneer in this field, launching mobile money services over the course ofthe last decade. The salient features of its service are:

launched by Smart Money (2001), Globe Gcash (2004);

75 per cent of the population do not have their own bank account(unbanked);

using it for savings, insurance, loans;

50 per cent of active mobile users are unbanked

26 per cent of active users have incomes below USD 5 per day

On average, unbanked mobile money users spend USD 1.9 more per month than their peers.

d. Mobile disaster management and communication

No country, developed or developing is immune to natural or man-made disasters. However, mobile

technology will have a significant impact on how we detect, monitor, analyse, and respond to small- and

large-scale disasters. One of the areas where mobile technology will have the most significant impact is

emergency response. The always-on capability of mobile devices will allow a channel of communication

with the populace in an emergency situation. The channel can not only be used to inform but also to

guide the affected in a very personalized way, and in the process save millions of lives. Mobile technology

will have an impact in the following areas of public safety:

Early detection Just like life-threatening diseases, the chances of survival from a disaster are

greatest if detected very early. To gain an upper hand on any crisis, the command-centre must be

in a position to take inputs from a variety of sources human, machine, and sensors through avariety of channels, including mobile devices, emails, phone calls, etc. By using such an

infrastructure of early detection, many serious crises could be averted, lowering the human cost.

Data gathering the biggest impediment in effective command-and-control during an emergency

is lack of data. Command centres are often operating in the dark without any real-time feeds that

can help them prioritize and direct resources effectively. By placing various sensors in the

impacted area as well as using the available cellular connections as sensor objects, officials will

have a much better grasp on situational awareness

that can have significant impact on planning

and execution of a strategy. For example, by having the data inputs of GIS, GPS, wind flow,

temperature, humidity, fuel load, topology, satellite imagery, citizen response, traffic status, and

evacuation response, first responders to fires can be better prepared to quickly grasp the

situation and respond appropriately.


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Modelling and predicting disasters Disasters dont announce their arrival. As such, significant

effort must be put in to model and predict behaviour of emergencies such as epidemics, terrorist

attacks, wildfires and earthquakes. Mobile technologies can help officials form an evacuation plan

and inform all affected citizens by feeding modelled data into a real-time emergency response.

Guidance in emergency response The effectiveness of a response is determined by how rapid it

is and how good the communication is. By coordinating well with application platforms andoperators, command centres can issue very specific guidance and information to end-users so

that they know exactly what to do, which route to take, how to contact the authorities, etc. The

guidance platform is not only for the end-users, but for the authorities as well. They will be better

able to coordinate their response by tracking their assets and resources, providing up-to-the

second status reports, and most important, based on real-time modelling, what to expect in the

next few minutes and hours.


The i-mode Disaster Message Board Service launched by NTT DoCoMo was one of the first disaster

management mobile services of its kind. It was launched in 2004 in Japanese and English languages. The

purpose was simple to permit i-mode subscribers (their mobile data users) within the disaster area toplace and check messages in order to inform relatives and associates of their security and situation. The

goal and desire was that the timely information released in the public domain will help reduce panic and

network congestion during time of emergency. It was to help both the authorities and citizens.

Similarly, in UK and Hong Kong, China, SMS based alerts applications were launched to alert consumers

about the threats within 30 seconds of the alert being received by the police. During the SARS incident,

the Hong Kong, China, Government used the SMS channel to send text messages to 6 million mobile

phones to dispel any rumours or misinformation about the planned government action to stop the

syndrome.

Other countries like Czech Republic, France, and Turkey have used mobile to release information in post-

disaster scenarios as well.

An effective disaster management system requires coordination between the various agencies and

ministries and the mobile operators to ensure delivery of the right message at the right time. From simple

applications such as alerts to releasing timely information can go a long way in assisting distressed citizens

in desperate times of need.

7. Mobile apps and GNH

Bhutan has pioneered the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH). The GNH commission is tasked

with the responsibility of ensuring that any major initiative is looked at through the lens of the 72-point

GNH programme to ensure that it helps broad national goals set by the planning commission as well

improves citizens lives across nine key dimensions.Table 3 illustrates how the four key application areas of mobile health, mobile finance and banking,

mobile disaster management, and mobile agriculture intersect the GNH.


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Table 3: Mobile apps and GNH

MobileAg

riculture

Mobile

Health

MobileFinance

DisasterMa

nagement

Psychological well

being

General Well Being

Ecology Names and species of plants and animals

Health Self-Reported Health Status

# of healthy days in the past 30 days

BMI

Knowledge of transmission of HIV/AIDS virus

Duration for a child to be breast fed only

Walking distance to health care centre

Living standards Purchase of second hand clothes

Community

Vitality

Victim of crime

Amount of donation in cash value

Good

Governance

Performance of central government in reducing

income gap

Additionally, these apps can help increase commerce, provide better healthcare services while improving

the reach of such services, and save lives in disaster and emergency situations.

8. Mobile and ICT roadmap

The Ministry of Information and Communications outlines its vision16

as follows:

The vision of the Bhutan information sector (with MOIC at the helm) is to nurture an information society

bonded by a shared national consciousness. This consciousness will be the foundation of a national

identity that is built on the values of Gross National Happiness.

In the Bhutan ICT Roadmap report, the ICT Vision for Bhutan is laid out as an ICT-enabled, knowledge-

based society as a foundation for Gross National Happiness, with the following key outcomes:

ICT for good governance

Transparency and Accountability

Effectiveness and Efficiency

Citizen and Business Centricity

Citizen Participation and Engagement

ICT for Bhutanese Information Society

ICT Lifestyle

16 Vision for Information Society Bhutan in the 21st century.


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Equal and Ease of Access of Information

Learning Society

Preserving, Evolving and Promoting Culture

Environmental Consciousness

ICT as a key enabler for sustainable economic development Develop ICT Infrastructure

Promote Economic Development

Innovation and Creativity

Industry/Business Sector and Institution Leveraging ICT

The application areas of health, finance, disaster management, and agriculture are chosen for their

impact and they also conform to the most immediate needs of Bhutan and are aligned with the ICT goals

under the GNH framework.

Mobile disaster management will offer good governance by enabling the government to be more

responsive, efficient, and effective under emergency situations when lives are at risk and the

need for information dire.

Mobile health will provide equal and easy access to information as well spread learning faster. It

will also promote ICT lifestyle enabling Bhutan to adopt an information lifestyle much quicker.

Mobile finance will promote economic development through innovation, spread the banking

infrastructure to the unbanked and the underserved by leveraging the ICT framework.

Agriculture is one of the most critical industries in Bhutan that has a direct impact on commerce

and the revenues. By providing a mobile application catered towards the agriculture sector,

timely information can be made available for better decisions and higher overall revenue.

9. Technical architecture and best practicesGiven that there are four distinct projects, one might consider a more modular approach of having the

four entities build their own application but considering the size of Bhutan (approximately 700 000

citizens) and that the developer market is still immature, a common services framework approach will be

most suited for the market. In such a scenario, the various stakeholders can share commonly required

components such as messaging, security, webserver, authentication, and others while building the

application specific technology on top of the common layers.

The middleware platform is key to building innovative services in the mobile ecosystem. In this section we

will discuss a high-level framework that can form the basis of developing new applications and services.

The best way to think of the long term mobile services platform is to imagine a modular and decentralized

framework that enables plug-and-play functionality and integration through software-as-a-service (SaaS)architecture. In this framework, each module is available on-demand (as opposed to a tedious integration

effort with individual or multiple operators or other service providers). As shown in Figure 15, a mobile

services framework is built on an operator network (which in addition to mobile might also have fixed

online and cable networks). The operator network may be built on different access technologies, from

mobile standards such as WCDMA, LTE, EV-DO, 802.11x, and WPAN to fixed-access networks like cable,

DSL, or FTTH (fibre to the home). On top of the access layer is the service enablement layer a set of

network features that help build applications and services modules on top.

The service enablement layer will have the most fundamental capabilities enabled by the network such as

messaging and browsing, security and authentication, payment, banking, and billing, personalization and

customer relationship management (CRM), video and music streaming, location, presence and context-

awareness, and much more. Using these capabilities, operators, third parties and other service providers

can then build application modules that can either be operator-specific or can run independent of the

operator. In an ideal world, the capabilities of the network will be abstracted from the access network


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such that applications can take advantage of these features without time-consuming and complex

integration. By building modular components at each level and by abstracting and exposing the service

enablement layer to third parties, operators can help build a compelling framework that accelerates the

introduction of new services and applications.

Figure 15: Mobile services framework

Source: Author

a. Underlying infrastructure and consumer expectations

There are two key infrastructure layers whose reliability and performance is critical to the overall

adoption of mobile apps in Bhutan.

The first layer is the access layer for mobile data services GPRS/WCDMA layer needs to perform reliably

and over regulatory/industry accepted KPIs (key performance indicators). It should also be able to

withstand peak demands in case of emergency or peak service demand.

The second layer is the suite of basic modules such as messaging, authentication, billing, security,

analytics, etc. Since these components will form the bedrock foundation of the mobile apps ecosystem in

Bhutan. These modules should be able to scale to demand, the codebase should be kept to up-to-date,

and the enhancements, revisions, and upgrades should be quickly approved.

b. Platform interoperability

Since the recommendation is to use a common platform for the Bhutan mobile apps infrastructure,

platform and module, interoperability is going to be essential for this strategy to work. For example, there

might be multiple user databases one with the operator, one with the disaster management system,

one with the Ministry of Health, etc. To avoid duplication, the applications run by different organizations

using these databases should be able to interoperate for basic things like authentication, messaging, etc.

This will allow quicker time to market and reduction in cost structure for any new app that is launched.

c. Interactive voice response

Interactive voice response (IVR) applications might be required to cover rural and portions of the

population that might not be conversant with English.


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10. Bhutans mobile app landscape and action plan

With the right incentives, policies, and initiatives; Bhutan can accelerate the growth of mobile data and

the introduction of mobile data apps into the market. However, the present state of the private sector

means that the government will have to play a significantly stronger role in jump starting the market. This

section of the report discusses the recommendations around technology, policy, and ecosystem

development that can enable a more robust mobile data apps infrastructure in Bhutan.

a. Whats present and already working?

With almost 60 per cent mobile penetration, a good foundation for launching mobile apps has been laid.

Given that a good majority of the population can understand enough English to interact with mobile apps,

this can help kick-start a suite of apps without looking to launch apps in multiple languages initially. Also,

there is already a basic framework in place in some of the ministries for mobile apps like the IVR app run

by the Ministry of Agriculture and the mobile app run by the Ministry of Health. Some basic framework

also exists for some of the areas of interest like the regulations for branchless banking in Bhutan by the

Royal Monetary Authority in Bhutan.

b. Recommendations and suggestions to build a thriving mobile apps economy

Bhutan can accelerate its growth towards a thriving mobile apps ecosystem by working on a set of policy,

technology, and ecosystem development goals over the course of the next 12-24 months.

1) Establish a central coordinating authority

Given that the mobile apps initiative is in its infancy, resources are constrained, and a lot of the

ministries will be seeking similar functional requirements for their specific applications, a central

coordinating authority should be designated to coordinate the development and evolution

requirements, the launch and communication of the government-to-citizen mobile apps.

Given that the MoIC is at the centre of many of the ICT initiatives, it makes sense to have MoICcoordinate the development of apps amongst the various government ministries. The role will

encompass the following:

a) Form a committee to draw up the roadmap for commonly used modules. During the first

phase, the focus should be on messaging and authentication since virtually all apps will use

this functionality. The goal is to have all the ministries use a common framework to build

their own applications where feasible.

b) The committee would consist of representatives from the concerned ministries (with the

participation of at least the following ministries Health, Disaster Management, Financial

Regulator, and Agriculture), the two operators, MoIC, and any development firms that might

be involved in building the modules.

c) The role of the committee will be to gather the requirements and formulate a productroadmap that incorporates and prioritizes the requirements from disparate ministries.

d) The committee will also be responsible for resolving conflicts and competing requirements.

Additionally, the committee will ensure that the functional components will be able to scale

with future demand.

e) The committee will maintain the documentation of functional requirements and APIs, and

best practices.

f) The committee or individuals from the committee will also act as advisors to other ministries

on the specific mobile apps requirements that are planned by other government

bodies/ministries so as to minimize repetition and help coordinate similar efforts to

effectively maximize developer resource output.


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It will be important that central coordinating authority is quick in making decisions, is efficient in

considering the requirement requests, and doesnt become a bureaucratic roadblock for others.

2) Build on existing policy framework

There are already a few regulatory and framework documents in place namely,

Vision for Information Society Bhutan in the 21st

century Regulations for branchless banking in Bhutan by Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan

Bhutan ICT Roadmap

The mobile apps framework needs to build on the guiding principles laid out in these documents.

3) Actively involve mobile operators

The role of the mobile operators will be critical to the development, launch, and promotion of

these applications. In some of the apps like disaster management and financial services, their role

will be central.

For mobile disaster management, the app should rely on operators ability to locate a mobile

device based on cell-tower or GPS and send the necessary message during an emergency.For financial services, mobile operators should be allowed to:

operate as non-bank branchless banking financial service provider;

have the financial resources to launch the services and compete in the market place;

offer some other services to competing entities like the banks e.g. fraud prevention,

authentication, profiling, etc.

For other apps, mobile operators can act as an authentication clearing house for verifying the

subscriber before and during a given session or transaction.

4) Focus on enabling and opening up the key infrastructure building blocks

Since both messaging and authentication will involve the operators, it will be important to gettheir input into the process of how these two modules will work seamlessly with both the

operators and hide the complexity of different networks from the application.

As more components are added, the goal should be to build them so multiple parties can use

them using open APIs. The APIs should be flexible enough for simple requests and mature enough

to incorporate complex inputs.

5) Put a process in place to review and approve requirements and updates

All parties involved should agree on how the requirements are submitted, reviewed, and

approved so this can be integrated into the planning process of individual apps by ministries.

6) Reuse and share

Often apps have similar sub-components (beyond the common platform components mentioned

earlier) like logging, analytics, UI rendering, etc. Efforts should be made to promote reuse of

these software components when feasible. As such, common source code repository and

documentation should be maintained which will help promote this practice.

7) Documentation

It is essential to keep both the specification requirement and source code documentation up to

date as new resources become available.

8) Analytics and data

For any app, programmers should embed the code that logs customer interactions with the apps.

The analytics and data component of the apps are essential to understand how consumers areusing the applications and if the various features of the application are working as anticipated. So


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Care should be taken to secure the data and protect the privacy of the users. Policies should be in

place to govern the use of data (see also the policy framework in recommendation 9)

9) Build the mobile (apps) policy framework

The policy framework for mobile apps centres on transparency, privacy and security of data and

how the data is used and shared amongst various e

Documents

Bhutan EV4