L I R N E . N E T

The Research ICT Africa (RIA!) August 2008 Policy Brief is based on the preliminary analysis of the Individual and Household ICT Survey undertaken by the network.
The policy brief provides a snapshot of ICT development in Ghana, which has not been robust despite the country having been amongst the early reformers of the African ICT sector. In spite of improvements in certain sector segments, others such as household fixed line, internet access and public telephones, need policy support to catalyse their development.

Click here to download the RIA! Policy Brief (PDF format)

For further information about this report, contact:
Dr. Godfred Frempong <gkfrempong [at] stepri.csir.org.gh>

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Knud Erik Skouby and Reza Tadayoni of the Center for Communication, Media and Information Technologies (CMI), in cooperation with Hugo Jost of Ascom AG, have undertaken an independent assessment of mobile broadband coverage and capacity in Denmark. CMI designed the test and Ascom has undertaken the actual measurement to test coverage and different aspects of capacity. Four networks are included in the assessment: Sonofon, TDC, Telia and 3.

Click here to download the full report: Managerial Report Mobile Internet Benchmarking (PDF format).

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Two new resources prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) explore economic growth in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Click here for Latin America and the Caribbean: GDP growth per country (2004-2009).

Click here for Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2007-2008.

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The Journal of Community Informatics (a global e-journal) is highlighting Wireless Networking for Communities, Citizens and the Public Interest. The first part of the special issue is devoted to thematic papers on issues concerned with community wireless applications. The second section, Notes from the Field, presents a series of case studies and assessments of community wireless projects.

“The papers in this special issue demonstrate that community-based approaches to Wifi development are part of a broader integration of technology, organizational capacity, and local culture. Social goals are part of most community Wifi projects, and integrating these goals and the technical structures of Wifi networks is part of what makes many community Wifi projects successful” (from the Introduction to the special issue by guest editors, Alison Powell & Sascha D. Meinrath).

Click here to go to Special Issue: Wireless Networking for Communities, Citizens and the Public Interest, The Journal of Community Informatics, Vol. 4 No. 1 (2008).

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New presentations are available at Research ICT Africa! (RIA!) based on the findings of RIA’s 2008 nationally representative household survey on e-access and usage.

• Towards Evidence-based Policy in Africa: Access & Usage across 17 countries by Alison Gillwald, presented at ITS, Montreal, 2008
• First glance: E-access and household survey 2008 by Alison Gillwald, presented at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Geneva, May 2008

• Click here to download the RIA policy brief (in .pdf format) summarising the 2008 survey results and recommendations.

• Click here to go to the Research ICT Africa! website.

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In a new working paper, Ewan Sutherland, Research Fellow at the LINK Centre, considers the role of national auditors in telecom policy oversight. “With almost two hundred NRAs the question of their oversight, or the regulation of regulators, is now a very general concern. The processes auditors general use can and do improve the overall system and the workings of both ministries and regulators.” Sutherland sketches out the roles of auditors in ten countries and draws conclusions around the advantages that national auditors can bring to national telecom regulation in terms of processes and oversight; and the parliamentary level requirements to benefit from auditor’s assessments.

Click here to download the full paper in .pdf format.

Click here to go to the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and here for the Intosai Development Initiative (IDI).
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The recent LIRNEasia publication ICT Infrastructure in Emerging Asia: Policy and Regulatory Roadblocks in its Chapter 3, “I Just Called to Say: Teleuse under a Ceasefire,” explores the value and modes of access to telecom in the Jaffna District of Sri Lanka. Clearly there is a great need for infrastructure in such areas to replace infrastructure targeted by war. This chapter observes that post conflict societies “despite considerable financial constraints, have a higher demand for telecom services than people in areas directly unaffected by conflict.”

Another new paper by Agnieszka Konkel and Richard Heeks, considers the issue of ICT infrastructure development in conflict zones from the perspective of investment. Drawing on the cases of Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, the paper elaborates some counter-intuitive evidence to conventional wisdom, in that insecurity does not necessarily deter investment. The authors speculate on three possible hypotheses:

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