Timor-Leste’s significant natural resources and strategic location in the Indo-Pacific region have rendered the nation a target for exploitation and cyberattacks by non-democratic actors. The nation’s underdeveloped Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry sector also represents a key constraint on economic growth opportunities and future investments. To address this, the Advancing Timor-Leste's Autonomous Telecommunications Landscape (ATLATL) buy-in worked to improve Timor-Leste’s ICT infrastructure, products, and services by creating a policy and legal environment conducive to increased investment and related inclusive growth in the sector.

The ATLATL project has achieved this by establishing a trusted strategic relationship with the Government of Timor-Leste (GOTL) through an embedded technical advisor within the ICT Agency (TIC Timor). The technical advisor helped position international and local experts who could shape the legal framework of Timor-Leste’s ICT sector in adherence with international best practices and relevant treaties, while also ensuring that the framework was appropriate for the local legal and cultural contexts.

SUMMARY OF OUTCOMES

● Drafting of a comprehensive ICT legislative package which adheres to international best practice and treaties.

● Intervening in the policy process to keep Timor-Leste’s World Trade Organization (WTO) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) accession on track.

● Initiation of an institutional relationship between the Government of Timor-Leste and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

The Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) team on Digital Frontiers conducted a study to identify outcomes that were directly caused or significantly contributed to by the ATLATL buy-in. Key outcomes from the ATLATL Outcome Collection Report were captured in a slide deck format for presentation purposes.