World Dialogue on Regulation

In addition to Amy Mahan's  flagging of "information that will be critical for communities," it is important for policy makers and regulators to know in some detail how ICT use and services are changing, and hence what particular attention can be given to the fostering of technologies and applications, for example, or the way communities can collaborate with commercial providers.  Development of financial services on mobile phones is an interesting example, and one others know better.  My understanding is that in some countries, services developed over mobiles include banking, micro credit, micro insurance and currency (cash card, trading of minutes).  Clearly ICT Regulators need to be talking to Financial Services Regulators, and have a common approach.  These services merit expansion, as they are becoming important even (and probably particularly) at the 'bottom of the pyramid.'  At the same time, they need risk management, again particularly in poorer communities, where people can't afford, for example, to lose savings to unscrupulous operators.  So 'light but deft' regulation is called for.

As Hugo Carrión makes clear, this doesn't exist everywhere, and even the well regulated countries are not perfect and always challenged by new developments. One thing that seems to work, or be generally important, is a good (even if small) research capability which is connected to and involves the stakeholders in government, civil society, private for-profit and not-for-profit sectors – and beneficially to similar research experience in/from other countries. In situations where regulation is poor because it is not motivated to be better, knowledge feeds activism as well as better regulatory performance.

Other services are pressing. In the area music and entertainment, for example, providers are in some countries promoting audio and multi-media transmission, and in others retarding or largely preventing it. At stake in most cases is the spread of culture and material in demand – regionally and nationally popular bands, for example, often operating on a shoestring – and the quality of life of a LOT of people. The declining cost and rising capabilities of smartphones and the like make this area increasingly important.

Next to telehealth and distance learning services, trade/distribution services are perhaps best known – squeezing the middlemen in particular – and this applies to a wide variety of sectors from agriculture and mining to transportation and accommodation arranging. Mobiles are now key in crisis early warning and response systems (tsunami) and, importantly for many people, more local security uses can't be far behind. It seems likely that e-government and other business services are developing over mobile devices in poorer areas in some countries; legal and security services for example.  In some cases, such as security services and uses/benefits, mobiles may introduce services that were previously non-existent, not just done differently.

The challenges for ICT policy and regulation will continue to be steep, on mobiles and mobile services for general and BOP expansion in particular, but in similar ways on more fixed-line technologies, and their interaction with mobiles.  Countries vary in their motivation and capability, but in most cases, I put my money on national and regional research/policy/stakeholder networks, and their international collaborators like LIRNE.NET.  One focus of the research would be ongoing survey and understanding of demand and service development, particularly in poorer communities, and including the whole range of active and emerging services.  They will all be active before long, as in wealthier societies.