Communication for Policy Research South (CPRsouth)

CPRsouth's attempt to build the technical capacity of young and mid-level scholars aims to build a network of researchers that can influence ICT policy in their respective countries. The CPRsouth programme follows a common research methodology (peering and mentoring) and evaluation framework (tracking young scholar development). Project activities consist of: an annual regional conference that includes at least one inter-regional session; a set of tutorials that enable young scholars to interact with international scholars; and an internship programme that increases exchanges of young scholars between the three regions. CPRsouth's focus on public interest research means that it explores issues such as pro-poor access to the internet and mobile phones, the protection of consumer rights, and governance of these technologies for the benefit of vulnerable and underserved populations.

CPRsouth conferences have been held annually since 2007 (see the CPRsouth website for details.) Up to 21 paper presenters are selected through a competitive process. They are then mentored on both content and presentation over a period of about 2 months. In addition to their academic paper, each paper presenter is expected to submit a policy brief - one of the key methods for policy-relevant research to be communicated to policymakers and regulators. As such, the paper presenters are also expected to record a video of their presentations and post it on YouTube. A communications expert provides comments and suggestions, and the presentations are then revised accordingly. In addition, the policy briefs are reviewed and commented upon by policy experts. The conference has additional sessions intended to provide insights into communications policy issues, notably keynote speeches and panel discussions involving senior scholars, policy intellectuals, and practitioners.

The Amy Mahan Research Fellowship programme is another CPRsouth activity. The fellows included the young researchers Caesar Huaroto from Peru and María Verónica Alderete from Argentina, who completed their internships in Peru and Colombia, respectively; Cesar Renteria from Mexico and Gisselle Vila from Peru were the winners of the research fellowship contest. Each of these young researchers has produced a research report.

Three DIRSI-CPRsouth workshops were held in 2011, 2012, and 2013, which covered topics such as the participation of the state in the promotion of broadband and research and impact on telecommunications policies. The workshops were attended by young people from the government sector, academia, and civil society. Fifty-one young researchers received training, thanks to the participation of various ICT researchers and experts. It is important to highlight that 25 of the young people who received training during the workshops have also participated as speakers in ACORN-REDECOM (American Communication Research Network-Red Americana de Investigación y Comunicación) conferences.

A further set of workshops in Latin America, held between 2011 and 2013, covered topics such as the participation of the state in the promotion of broadband and the impact of research on telecommunications policies. The workshops were attended by young people from government, academia, and civil society. Fifty-one young researchers received training, thanks to the participation of various ICT researchers and experts. It is important to highlight that 25 of these young people also participated as speakers in ACORN-REDECOM (American Communication Research Network-Red Americana de Investigación y Comunicación) conferences.

DIRSI provides organisational support to ACORN-REDECOM for the development of the network's conferences, content administration for their website and social platforms, and the organisation of workshops before the conferences. Finally, the project has sought to integrate the ACORN-REDECOM network with the CPRsouth network; to this end, ACORN-REDECOM's website was completely redesigned, changing the name of the network - CPRLatam - as well as the graphic image.

CPRafrica was launched in April 2010 and is hosted by Research ICT Africa with the intention of encouraging intellectual endeavors and research in the area of ICT policy and regulation in Africa. It seeks to create a forum where African academics and researchers can profile their research to provide a base to contribute to global debates from an African perspective. The overall objective is to nurture policy intellectuals capable of informed and effective interventions in ICT policy and regulatory processes, specifically in developing-country contexts. CPRafrica also holds conferences; the first one took place at the University of Cape Town in 2010, followed by annual conferences in association with the University of Nairobi (where the second meeting was held in 2011), and in 2012 with the University of Mauritius in Port Louis. To prepare scholars from Africa and Asia to participate in international research conferences, a young scholars mentor programme was attached to the conference.

From 2015-2016, the programme experimented with and contributed to a new local cadre of networked economy policy leaders across Asia and Africa. This phase of the programme supported increased efforts to evaluate the programme's contribution to leadership building and policy impacts: The CPRsouth secretariat worked to document how and to what extent the programme is successful at producing next generation policy leaders. The project will produce an end-line tracer study on the efficacy of the programme, as well as policy contributions by CPRsouth scholars in their respective countries. Among the activities supported are tutorials, conferences, development of a social-media-based platform for practitioners, and organisation of a workshop on big data and development. Through such endeavours, the project hopes to build a new cohort of communications policy leaders and to provide a nuanced understanding of how to contribute to building communication policy capacities.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)