Social Science Research Council

Rohan Samarajiva, project leader

A majority of the world’s population does not have access to the ICT infrastructure while a minority has access to it in multiple forms. This has given rise to concern about the potential for increased marginalization of large segments of the world population and exacerbation of differences in life opportunities, constituting a long-term threat to national and global security. Primarily in response to the enormous unsatisfied demand for access to ICT infrastructure, but also driven by the larger concern of increasing inequality, a major wave of reforms in policies affecting the supply of infrastructure is spreading across the world. Opening up of the space for finding innovative solutions to the problem of connecting the massive numbers of people who wish to use the ICT infrastructure is a positive feature of this wave of reforms. The reforms also include an important role for foreign direct investment, a significant shift from past practice. Foreign investment has led to the emergence of firms and network designs that do not necessarily overlap with national borders, essentially creating policy spaces that do not correspond with national territorial spaces.

This project seeks to map the multiple dimensions of the emergent policy space, with emphasis on the complex and multi-faceted problem of increasing connectivity to the ICT infrastructure, and to draw conclusions about the policy and regulatory actions that have been most conducive to increasing connectivity. An in-depth comparative analysis employing meta-analysis of existing studies, supplemented by additional data gathering through interviews and documentary research, will be conducted. The expected results will contribute to a fuller understanding of connectivity to the ICT infrastructure in developing countries and will contribute to the development and adoption of appropriate policy instruments.

The research will be undertaken in the context of, and contribute to, an innovative nine-month long “Dialogue” of policymakers and experts involved in the reform of ICT infrastructure sectors worldwide. This will enrich the research and will significantly shorten the lag between the conduct of research and its application.