LIRNE - IDRC Meeting, June 2008, Ottawa
On 23 June in Ottawa, Canada, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Learning Initiatives on Reforms for Network Economies (LIRNE.NET) network held a meeting with researchers from the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Dialogue on the Information Society (DIRSI), LIRNEasia, the LINK Centre and Research ICT Africa (RIA!), Comunica, and from the LIRNE network in Europe - Center for Communication, Media and Information Technologies (CMI) at Aalborg University, and the Center for Information and Communication Technologies (CICT), at the Technical University of Denmark. The intention of this event, in addition to presenting research, was to have a conversation with the invited participants and amongst ourselves. The four sessions of this day-long event were constructed in such a way as to provide opportunity for dialogue and creative reflection on the work of the network, why we do what we do, how we engage ICT regulatory research effectively and ensure impact.
Continue to the rest of this entry for presentation downloads and meeting information.
Click here to see photos of this event.
Click here to read the LIRNEasia report on this event.
Expert Meetings are held by the network as opportunities to present and discuss recently completed research with sector representatives, to share findings and methodologies and to engage experts from other organisations and networks. In addition to LIRNE researchers, participants in the meeting included representatives from Industry Canada, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Statistics Canada, Canadian academics and consultants also dedicated to research around regulation and ICT for development.
The LIRNE.NET - IDRC meeting was opened by Rohinton Medhora (IDRC) who endorsed the IDRC’s commitment to research network development, particularly for this area of research. IDRC has been the primary funder of LIRNE.NET. The introduction from the founder of LIRNE.NET, Professor Bill Melody, considered paths forward for the network as the ICT terrain and development objectives evolve.
IDRC Welcome – Rohinton Medhora, Vice-President, Programs
LIRNE.NET Welcome – Professor William H. Melody
Session 1
Experience from the centres:
Improving access to ICTs via alternative regulatory and other interventions
In 2009, the LINK Centre will be 10 years old and LIRNEasia will celebrate its fifth year of existence. DIRSI is the youngest member of the network. Although at different stages of development, all claim the best ICT regulatory research talent for their regions and are intensely engaged in filling knowledge gaps and identifying paths forward for new research agendas. This first session was designed as a discussion and exposé of the kind of objectives that have been formulated by the centres to move ahead regulatory agendas and changes in the ICT sector via developing and strategic use of evidence-based research. The presenters used either very short presentations, or in the case of Rohan Samarajiva, only a business card, with LIRNEasia’s Mission Statement highlighted on the back.
LIRNEasia – Rohan Samarajiva (LiRNEasia’s Mission Statement)
DIRSI – Hernan Galperin, (presentation .pdf)
Research ICT Africa! / LINK Centre – Alison Gillwald, (presentation .ppt)
LIRNE Europe – Anders Henten, (presentation .pdf)
LIRNE.NET / Comunica – Amy Mahan, (presentation .pdf)
Session Chair: William H. Melody, LIRNE.NET / Technical University of Denmark, (presentation .pdf)
Session 2
Knowledge from the field
This second session is devoted to three stories from the field – What is it like to conduct survey research in deeply rural areas? What are some of the intricacies of achieving policy influence in India? How does ethnographic research deepen our understanding of survey results? Warning, the presentations in this section are heavy and will take time to download.
Research ICT Africa! – Not your average OECD survey – Olivier Nana Nzepa, (presentation .pdf)
LIRNEasia – Romancing the DoT: LIRNEasia’s policy interventions in India – Payal Malik, (presentation .pdf)
DIRSI – Wha’ a Gwaan? Ethnographic findings from Jamaica – Hopeton Dunn, (presentation .pdf)
Session Chair: Laurent Elder, Pan Asia Networking (PAN) Programme Leader
Session 3
Research in service of evidence-based policymaking
Because LIRNE.NET is a research network, it is difficult to avoid at least one part of the day dedicated to a celebration of research findings. This session showcased recently completed research from across the LIRNE network including Research ICT Africa’s groundbreaking African e-Index work, DIRSI’s Mobile Opportunities survey research from Latin America and the Caribbean, LIRNE’s regulatory authority website benchmarking which is a project spanning the different LIRNE centres, and foreshadowed new research from LIRNEasia’s benchmarking sector performance.
DIRSI – Mobile Opportunities Survey – Judith Mariscal, (presentation .pdf)
Research ICT Africa! / LINK Centre – Towards an African e-Index – Christoph Stork, (presentation .zip)
LIRNEasia – Tools for effective regulation using benchmarks and indicators – Helani Galpaya, (presentation .pdf)
LIRNE – NRA Website Benchmarking – Amy Mahan, (presentation .pdf)
Session Chair: Prabir Neogi, Industry Canada
Session 4
Capacity building in the regions
The final session of the day was dedicated to capacity building initiatives by the different regional centres. LIRNEasia which has cultivated CPRsouth, and DIRSI and RIA! both of which have committed significant effort to develop new ICT research talent in their respective regions. After the closing by IDRC’s Michael Clarke, there was a social opportunity for informal discussion and a poster session held by DIRSI junior researchers.
LIRNEasia – CPRsouth – Rohan Samarajiva (presentation .pdf)
DIRSI – Roxana Barrantes (presentation .pdf)
Research ICT Africa! / LINK Centre – Alison Gillwald (chart .pdf)
Session Chair: Randy Spence, Director, Economic and Social Development Affiliates
Closing – Michael Clarke, Director of the Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) Program Area
Session Chair: Khaled Fourati, Program Officer (ICT4D Africa), IDRC
Poster session for junior researchers from DIRSI (abstracts .pdf)
- Aileen Aguero (poster .pdf)
- Luis F. Gamboa (poster .pdf)
- Fernando Ramirez (poster .ppt)
Meeting documents (in .pdf format):
- Meeting agenda
- Participant’s short biographies
- Junior researchers’ presentation abstracts
Meeting organisers
Organising a meeting of this kind requires logistical expertise to ensure that people have the information and documentation they need to travel and arrive on time, and to have a place to stay when they do arrive, not to mention all of the details of a comfortable surrounding (such as coffee and catering) that demand attention in order for the meeting to take place in the best of possible circumstances. It is usually only when things go wrong that it is evident just how many things can go wrong. For this meeting, we were happily spared this kind of negative insight! We thank Anne Louiseize, IDRC Program Assistant in Ottawa and Alexandra Dans with Comunica in Montevideo for ensuring optimal conditions for a productive meeting.
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