Policy World

Communications Policy & Regulation Week 2019

London, UK
7-10 October 2019

Registration is now open for Communications Policy & Regulation Week 2019, and you can see venue and hotel information here.

Regulators can review the key discussion themes here for the International Regulators’ Forum (kindly hosted by Ofcom) which brings together the most senior regulators from across the globe. The IRF takes place on 7-8 October and is a closed meeting for regulators only.

The annual in-person meeting for regulators of small nations takes place after the IRF, on 8 October, and you can see the programme for that meeting here. The SNRF is free to join and is solely for regulators from small nations. This year’s meeting is also kindly hosted by Ofcom.

The final two days of the Week are devoted to our 50th Annual Conference where stakeholders from across the TMT sector join regulators to continue the discussions around governance, content futures, competition policy, spectrum and privacy, safety and security.

Visit our website to see confirmed speakers, and to be kept up to date with the latest news and events from the IIC, do update your communication preferences here.

Competing Continents: the pursuit of excellence in electronic communications

Riga, Latvia
25-26 June 2019

This event brings together expert speakers from around the world, from regulators, industry, civil society and more. One such expert is Susan Ness, distinguished fellow at the German Marshall Fund and the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania (APPC). From industry, we will be joined by Johan Keetelaar, Director Public Policy at Facebook. Dr Roberto Viola, Director-General at DG CONNECT, European Commission, will give a keynote speech. You can see the full line up on our website.

This free event is being held jointly with BEREC, to mark their 10th anniversary and the IIC’s 50th. Both organisations are delighted to be arranging this event in the wonderful Splendid Palace in the cultural city of Riga. Registration is open. If you wish to attend and have not yet registered we would urge you to so immediately to avoid disappointment.

The packed programme covers a range of topics, including sharing experiences of working on the development and roll out of 5G, the development of Artificial Intelligence, blockchain and emerging technologies, platform regulation and how to encourage investment to allow technological innovation while ensuring societal and economic benefits are felt by all. You can see the full programme, and who’s speaking in each session, here.

IIC 2019 Competition for Future Leaders

Open to anyone aged 35 or under, and working in the TMT sector or related academia, the 2019 Future Leaders’ Competition is now open for submissions. 

Now in its second year, the competition aims to showcase the talents of upcoming professionals, and the winner will present their entry at our 50th Annual Conference, in London in October. 

You can learn more here, and download a poster to display in your workplace here.

Please do pass on the details to any colleagues who might be interested in entering, and to help us encourage and promote original thought in the areas of communications and policy.

IIC UK Chapter Event

London, UK
1 July 2019

Registration is still open for the next IIC UK Chapter event, ‘Investment in networks: what’s happening on the ground, and what can we do (or not do) to help?’ 

Kindly hosted by Ofcom, the aim of this discussion is to assess what is actually happening on the ground in terms of investment in advanced networks (fibre and 5G) both in the UK and elsewhere in the world. 

Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, is the keynote speaker. Panel speakers are Virgin Media’s Brigitte Trafford; Reinald Krüger of Vodafone Group; National Infrastructure Commission for Wales' Commissioner, Richard Feasey; Richard Hooper CBE, of the Broadband Stakeholder Group; and Wenbing Yao of Huawei Technologies UK. Learn more.

Event Report: IIC SINGAPORE - TRPC Forum

On 30 May, more than 40 delegates gathered at Telenor’s offices in Singapore for ‘The Humanity in Artificial Intelligence. Participants discussed the issues arising from the increasing deployment of AI, the cultural and ethical nuances of data collection for AI, and the frameworks in place for businesses and policy makers. You can read the event report here, and see details of the speakers and what was covered here.

IIC Europe Chapter

Rome, Italy
18-19 July 2019

The first of the three IIC Europe Chapter events, which will focus on the review of the European Electronic Communications Code, will take place in Rome on 18-19 July 2019.

The Europe Chapter is an initiative of the three IIC Chapters based in Europe (Brussels, Italy and the UK).

Solving the Information Crisis

Intermedia Volume 47, Issue 1

This month’s open access Intermedia article is by the LSE’s Ros Taylor, and continues the discussions around the issue of fake news and disinformation. 

The Truth, Trust and Technology Commission of the London School of Economics and Political Science assessed the issue for its November 2018 report, ‘Tackling the Information Crisis’. Its central proposal for the UK is that an independent platform agency is established. 

This agency would not be a regulator, but would ensure that relevant parties upheld their responsibilities, as well as recommending policies, while remaining an independent body. 

IIC members get full access to all Intermedia articles.

Electronic Communications Services

Following recent rulings by the Court of Justice of the EU, Francesco Liberatore and Matthew Buckwell of Squire Patton Boggs have written two blog posts on the subject of electronic communications services (ECS). Francesco is the chair of the IIC Brussels Chapter.

In the first article, they give an overview of the ruling, and note some of the implications under current legislation, and the EECC.

In the second, they ask what makes an electronic communications service, following the ruling on 19 June on the classification of Gmail in the EU. It was deemed not to be an ECS, and the article highlights key points as to why that was, and what the impact of the ruling is.

IIC Australia Chapter News Round Up

Our Australian Chapter has highlighted a number of topical news articles from the last month. These include the country’s Press Council’s response to the June 2019 raid on the Canberra home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst by Federal Police, and the invitation from IP Australia for stakeholders to register for a free trial of a new Intellectual Property Data Platform. You can find all the articles in our news section.

Public Service Broadcasters must continue to ‘cover the waterfront’

In this blog post, IIC Director General, Andrea Millwood Hargrave, writes about the continued need for Public Service Broadcasters, despite the explosion in content delivered by new companies and technologies.

She also references the IIC’s beginnings, which was as the International Broadcast Institute. You can learn more about our 50 year history here.

Regulatory Watch

Each month we highlight some of the key regulatory news stories from around the world. You can view them all here.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has launched a first call for applications for a broadband fund. The CRTC is accepting applications for projects in the Canadian territories and satellite-dependent communities, where there is a great need for improved broadband internet and mobile wireless services. Learn more.

IIC Singapore Regional Roundup

TRPC is a consulting firm run by Dr Peter Lovelock, an IIC Director and Chapter Head of IIC Singapore. This report contains a digest of legislation, news stories and updates from 14 countries in the Asia Pacific Region.

Among the updates in this month’s issue: India’s newly-elected government aims to scale up the country’s ‘Digital Villages’ initiative, enabling it to extend its Digital India Programme to more rural and remote parts of the country.