L I R N E . N E T

[13-14 March] Bruce Girard, Director of Comunica will present a paper on “Broadcasting Policy Exchange: A platform for knowledge sharing, networking and mutual advice on good practice in broadcasting policy, law and regulation” at the Foro Regional para el Desarrollo de Medios, Capítulo Latinoamérica (Global Forum for Media Development, Latin American Chapter). The event will take place at the Hotel Almirante Estelar, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.

Go to the website for la Fundación para un Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (FNPI).
Go to the website for the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD).

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Just published in Information Technologies and International Development (ITID), this article by Steve Esselaar, Christoph Stork, Ali Ndiwalana, Mariama Deen-Swarray, reports on a Research ICT Africa survey. It argues that the negative return on investment reported in the literature can be attributed to the failure to distinguish between the formal and informal sectors. This article demonstrates that informal SMEs have a higher profitability than formal ones. It further shows that ICTs are productive input factors and that their use increases labor productivity for informal as well as formal SMEs. There is still demand for fixed-line phones among SMEs but, as the authors observe, mobile phones have become the default communications tool because fixed lines are either too expensive or not available. The primary policy recommendation arising out of this is that applications for SMEs need to be developed using mobile phones.

Download the journal article in .pdf from the ITID website.

Download the full study, Towards An African e-Index: SME e-Access and Usage in 14 African Countries, from the RIA! website (.pdf, 2.25 MB).

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The first billion internet users were connected because of particular privileges of access to infrastructure, the ability to afford use, education and geography, amongst others. The next billions to be connected to information society networks won’t have the same economic and social privileges and will have different reasons for not already being connected. These reasons need to be identified, targeted and built into information society strategies, business plans and partnerships. In this spirit, the GAID Inaugural Meeting (4-5 February 2008) was an opportunity to discuss and prepare proposals for the II Ministerial Conference on the Information Society, taking place directly after the seminar, and hosted by the El Salvadorian government.

The seminar and network initiative is the joint effort of the UN’s Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the International Development Research Centre-Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (IDRC-ICA), and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribean (ECLAC).

Go to the IDRC resource page for links to presentations, podcasts, bios and background documents for this event.

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[12 February] Rohan Samarajiva of LIRNEasia will chair the Convergence in Regulation panel discussion at GSMA Third Annual Government Mobile Forum. This event is held as part of the GSMA Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain, 11-14 February 2008.

Click here to go to the Mobile World Congress conference website.

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The Research ICT Africa network (RIA!) is now releasing the results of their 2007 Sector Performance Reviews. Sector performance reviews examine the performance of national telecom sectors in terms of delivery agains national policy objectives. The case studies monitor and assess ICT policy (though specifically telecommunications policy) against policy outcomes in the sector, and against the broader impact these policies have on the national economy and society.

For more information, go to Research ICT Africa!
Click on “read the rest of this entry” for links to the country studies in .pdf downloads from the RIA! website.

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