Why LIRNEasia? Priorities, work style, values

LIRNEasia TeamFor LIRNEasia strategic planning workshop, September 19th, 2004

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Two (or many) Asias?

Largest concentration of poor people, particularly S. Asia

Yet Asia is seen as driving the world economy Japan (for several decades) Asian tigers China and India (Asian juggernauts?) on

the rise

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Two (or many) Asias?

Does well in telecom/ICT measures as “Asia” but this is a deceptive label Developed Asia is in many cases ahead

of rest of the world Developing Asia is a straggler

Asians shine in ICT industry worldwide, but skill shortfalls in home countries

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Illustrations ( from ITU Report, September 2004)

Taiwan, China has highest mobiles/100 at 110.84, with Hong Kong China in 3rd place (105.75) Afghanistan & Bangladesh bring up the

rear with 1.00 and 1.01 Korea has 2nd highest est. Internet

users at 60.34/100 inhabitants, with Singapore in 5th place (54.81) Sri Lanka has 1.17/100; India has

1.75/100

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Illustrations ( from ITU Report, September 2004)

Korea has highest broadband penetration at 23.33/100 inhabitants, with Taiwan, China in 5th place (13.35) Indonesia has 0.02/100; India has 0.01/100

(Bhutan, Pakistan, Nepal no reports) Broadband is cheapest in China (USD

9.66/mo.); Taiwan 8th lowest (USD 19.39; and Sri Lanka 11th (USD 21.71) Bhutan asks for USD 1680/mo.and Myanmar for

USD 4794/mo for lower-speed connectivity

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Why LIRNEasia? ICT use is held back in Asia by

laws/policies/regulation Key stakeholders in government/private

sector/civil society in Asian countries have to change this

LIRNEasia will be a catalyst for change Cannot work without the reactants Is miniscule in relation to reactants Unless conditions are satisfied, catalyst cannot

produce results

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What we want to do? Immediate

Build a world-class team of ICT policy/regulation/implementation professionals

For what? To ensure that laws/policies/regulation facilitate

ICT use, not stifle Objective: improving the lives of the people

of Asia Money in the pocket Hope in the heart

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How?

Applied research and dissemination Study best, worst and possibly in-

between but insightful cases that shed light on important issues

Improve the research through mechanisms such as expert fora and Internet discussions that also serve to disseminate knowledge

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How?

Training, preferably context-specific LIRNE.NET executive training courses to

be offered in Asia Context-specific training courses and

workshops that advance the reform process at critical points

Rapid response unit Offer quick access to resources and

training at decisive moments

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Organizational form Lean organization, structured around the

web Project teams

Country case studies will involve one person from inside and one from outside

Emphasis on Asian expertise, but not exclusively Play with technologies

WiFi already in place Access to video-conferencing More . . .

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Distance Learning Centre @ SLIDA, our partner and home

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2004-05: Diversifying investment in network development

Sources, types and methods of investment funding for network development;

Factors determining their availability and application; and

Conditions influencing success or failure

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Possible projects Lessons from

Eastern Nepal and Sri Lanka least-cost subsidy auctions and associated regulatory (in)actions

Innovating at the margins in Indonesia using WiFi

India’s universal service fund: design and implementation

Grameen in Bangladesh: conditions for replication

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Possible projects

Demand-side subsidies, including Vouchers being designed for e Sri Lanka

Microeconomic (community, household) assessment of impacts, benefits & costs of policy/regulatory reform and ICT diffusion

What people do with ICTs and information obtained through ICTs

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Possible projects

Focus on the lack of backbone Sub-Saharan Africa project under discussion with

LINK Centre, South Africa Asian equivalent, covering countries such as

Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kyrgyz Republic (no/access problems)

India, Pakistan, (have, but access/use could be better)

Afghanistan (planning stage; greenfield)

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Anchor/continuing projects Annual sector and regulatory performance

indicators Better than ITU, reaching for OECD—”objective”

Use ITU as base Improve quality Add new indicators, e.g., leased line prices Use standard definitions where possible to allow

comparison Benchmarking tools

May include TRE assessments and survey results—”subjective”

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Anchor/continuing projects

Ongoing training programs Executive level ICT (LIRNE.NET) Middle-level multi-sector regulation, in

association with TERI, SLIDA and others such as SAFIR [South Asian Forum for Infrastructure Regulation]

Web Regular Asia contributions to WDR LIRNE.NET, LIRNEasia.net; asia.lirne.net

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In sum: what is LIRNEasia’s comparative advantage?

We specialize in usable, actionable knowledge Creating (research) Disseminating (multi-mode) Creating conditions for learning

No other work such as managing pilot projects

Demand-driven from one of our three audiences: government, private sector, civil society

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Core values (subject to modification with partnerships)

We are close to the ground, close to the action Operate on the basis of relationships

built and fostered over time People, more than organizations

“Neither here nor there” Not outsiders But not insiders either

E.g., case study responsibilities: 1st chair from outside; 2nd chair from inside

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LIRNEasia’s signature and promise

We will be independent and respected for expertise by multiple sides and parties Exemplified by LIRNEasia Launch

ceremony We will do work that leads to

implementation We will be passionate and committed

Will not avoid controversy but will be fair