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LAC Workshop on ICTs Regulation and Equity Print E-mail
Written by Amy Mahan   
Monday, 27 June 2005

Major steps were taken toward the consolidation of a regional research network focusing on pro-poor telecommunication strategies for Latin American & the Caribbean (LAC) during a meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 6-8 June 2005. Known by its Spanish acronym, DIRSI, the Regional Dialogue on the Information Society (Diálogo regional sobre la sociedad de la información) brings together researchers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago and Uruguay. LIRNE and the World Dialogue on Regulation are founding members of the network.

The network has embarked on an ambitious pro-poor research agenda with an equally ambitious timeframe, planning to publish its first results in time for November’s WSIS summit in Tunisia.

The research is organised around the following themes:

  1. Information poverty – demand side analysis and indicators;
  2. Universal service policies and digital empowerment in the post reform period: regulatory resources and instruments and regulatory institutional design;
  3. New network ownership models and management, and development of access networks: the role of local communities (cooperatives, municipalities).

The network also drafted its mission statement and objectives, and elected an internal steering committee for DIRSI network.

Mission:

Create knowledge to support policymaking that promotes effective participation of poor and marginalised communities of Latin America and the Caribbean, in the information society.

Objectives:

  • Develop a state-of-the-art applied ICT4D research agenda that focuses on pro-poor pro-market to promote equitable access and effective use of ICTs by poor and marginalised communities in LAC;
  • Consolidate an interregional and interdisciplinary network of leading researchers and scientists;
  • Build research capacity by promoting opportunities for new researchers;
  • Promote strategies for equitable access to goods and services of the knowledge economy;
  • Be a focal point for South-South and South-North  collaboration and sharing of research findings.

Steering Committee:

  • Roxana Barrantes (administrative affairs)
  • Hernan Galperin (foreign/external relations)
  • Judith Mariscal (editorial board)