Benchmarking national e-readiness and propoor progress (4th. Research Cycle Sub-Theme) Print E-mail
Tuesday, 17 October 2006

This subtheme is concerned with assessing ICT indicators in context of national environments ability to support new areas of ICT use and information practices (laws, standards, protocols, e-security frameworks, etc.) and to assess both readiness for and progress on development-centred pro-poor ICT initiatives.

WDR research and focus to-date has not addressed e-Government or e-Governance per se (as noted above, LINK/RIA! will begin to address government usage in the coming research cycle), also, significant work has been done in previous WDR research cycles in terms of developing benchmarks and studies to identify well-functioning regulatory regimes (such as the benchmark studies assessing Telecom Regulatory Environments, and regional assessments of regulatory websites).

Key Projects
The Telecom Regulatory Environment (TRE) instrument developed by LIRNEasia and already piloted in Sri Lanka is a perceptual index which gauges the state of the regulatory regime. (See Sri Lanka TRE case study). The TRE is based on the perceptions of efficacy, by key groups, i.e., a set of representative and informed group of respondents. This group would include top-level management of operators, journalists, financial institutions and generally any organization or individuals with direct or indirect knowledge of the sector for the entire period of the study. The TRE is based on the elements of regulation identified by the Reference Paper of the GATS Protocol 4. The TRE had five dimensions: Market entry, management of scarce resources, interconnection, tariff regulation, and enforcement of competition and regulatory rules.  At the research planning meeting in March 2006, a sixth dimension, universal access, was added. 

TRE studies will be a priority for all LIRNE regions during this research cycle. LIRNEasia will undertake six new assessments, the LINK Centre will apply the methodology for the first time across 15 African economies, and DIRSI in Latin America will undertake three new TRE country case studies. The combined new research and assessments from WDR’s third research cycle will also be used to form a comprehensive summary assessment of the TRE instrument and findings to-date.

In Latin America & the Caribbean, DIRSI and ECLAC are effecting a Review of ICT enabled development, a country-by-country overview of ICT and development indicators.