L I R N E . N E T

Participants from policy and regulatory agencies, telecommunications operators and ISPs, the private and public sector, educators and civil society organizations, as well as interested individuals, recently came together, in Trinidad and Tobago, to discuss the potential for mobile Internet technology to promote economic and social development in the Caribbean and to contemplate what is required to create an enabling environment.

These discussions were the focus of the Sixth Caribbean Internet Forum, which took place at the Crown Plaza, Port of Spain from October 29 to 31, 2008. The Forum was organized by the MRP (Telecommunications) programme of The University of the West Indies (UWI), and co-hosted by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL).

Click here for the agenda, presentations and other resources.

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The University of the West Indies 2008 graduation ceremony saw the graduation of the third and final cohort of The University of the West Indies Master’s degree in Regulation and Policy (MRP) programme. This programme, which was delivered through the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, offered a specialization in telecommunications intended to meet the challenges of managing liberalization of the sector.

After a year of stakeholder consultations and intensive planning, the MRP (Telecommunications) programme was launched in December 2003, with scholarship support from the Cable and Wireless Virtual Academy. It serviced three cohorts of students through a multidisciplinary two-year programme. Because of the nature of the programme both students and staff came from diverse backgrounds and were widely spread geographically. The programme has over seventy graduates from thirty-two developing countries around the world. Teaching staff and project supervisors contributed to the programme, as experts of the highest calibre in their fields, from the Caribbean, Europe, USA and Africa.
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LIRNEasia, in collaboration with the Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore and the University of Hong Kong, is organizing a conference entitled “Infrastructure Regulation: What works, Why, and How do we know?,” 26-27 February, 2009, at the University of Hong Kong.

Sponsored by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the conference will address the following questions: Does regulation work? What kind of regulation works? What kinds don’t work? Why do some forms of regulation work and not others? How do we know whether they work or not? How do we isolate the effects of different political, economic and legal contexts? Are there systematic differences among water, telecommunications, energy and transport infrastructure that necessitate particular regulatory design?

Click here for the call for papers (deadline 5 December 2008).

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Building on a long standing commitment of offering low cost mobile handsets, Nokia has announced initiatives to expand “that vision by introducing a number of devices and services that aim to bring the power of the Internet to these markets as well. The mobile device and the Internet are a powerful combination in connecting people with each other, accessing information, news, entertainment and sharing. By introducing products and services that are affordable, relevant and easy-to-use, we believe Nokia can fuel the growth of the Internet in emerging markets through mobility.”

See NOKIA press release.

See Ken Banks‘ (kiwanja.net) PCWorld article, Nokia: From Technical Development to Human Development?

Also see mobile use at the bottom of the pyramid research findings:

From DIRSI:
Mobile Opportunities: Poverty and Telephony Access in Latin America and the Caribbean
Click here for country reports.

From LIRNEasia:
ICT Infrastructure in Emerging Asia: Policy and Regulatory Roadblocks (edited by Rohan Samarajiva and Ayesha Zainudeen) Sage India/IDRC 2008

• Chapter 1: What Do Users at the Bottom of the Pyramid Want? Ayesha Zainudeen
• Chapter 2: Strategies on a Shoestring Ayesha Zainudeen and Tahani Iqbal (more…)

Rohan Samarajiva, Executive Director of LIRNEasia has been elected to the Board of the International Communication Association (ICA) for a three-year term. This duty will commence at the close of the 2009 ICA Conference, to be held in Chicago, from 21-25 May 09.

Click here for the current ICA Board & Executive Committee members.
Click here for information about the 59th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association.
Click here for information about the LIRNEasia pre-ICA conference event, Mobile 2.0: Beyond voice?

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