The ICT Regulation Toolkit, produced by the Information for Development Program (infoDev) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), is a much expanded, practical web-based tool intended for ICT policy-makers and regulators in developing countries. Work on the toolkit began in 2004, as an update of infoDev’s popular and influential Telecommunications Regulation Handbook of 2000 and as a support tool for ITU’s annual Global Symposium for Regulators. The Toolkit is a living resource which is expanded and updated on an almost daily basis, including with inputs from users, with over 600 downloads by users each day.
The Toolkit is divided into seven modules clustered around key themes. It also provides access to more than 350 practice notes drawing from experiences across the globe and over 1000 relevant reference documents from both developed and developing countries. The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) landscape has continued to evolve significantly since the publication of the Handbook, improving opportunities and raising new challenges. Many developments will promote greater access to ICTs, especially in developing countries. At the same time, these developments are disrupting the status quo for traditional telecommunications operators. The objective of the Toolkit is to help regulatory professionals and specialists, members of the ITU and clients of the World Bank to design effective and enabling regulatory frameworks that harness the latest technological and market advances while facing the challenges of a changing sector. The Toolkit is designed to better assist developing countries in using ICTs as a development tool. The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) recognized the key role that an effective regulatory framework plays in promoting widespread access to ICTs and the Information Society, which in turn is increasingly used as a tool in meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
The Toolkit is available at http://ictregulationtoolkit.org/.
The modules of the ICT Regulatory Toolkit are:
(1) Regulating the Telecommunications Sector: Overview
(2) Competition and Price Regulation (including Interconnection)
(3) Authorization of Telecommunications Services
(4) Universal Access
(5) Radio Spectrum Management
(6) Legal and Institutional Framework
(7) New Technologies and Their Impact on Regulation
These modules have been prepared by a distinguished list of contributors from academia, industry, infoDev, the ITU, the legal profession and the World Bank Group, with a structured peer review process that draws upon the resources of the wider ICT community. This module provides an overview of the Toolkit and some contextual background on one of the fastest developing and most transformational sectors of the global economy. The associated transformation impacts the way we live, work, play and interact. It even impacts the language we use. Additionally, developments in ICTs are dramatically affecting the way the sector is regulated, which is driving new thinking about a new regulatory paradigm in the context of the legacy of the existing body of ICT regulation.
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Virtual Training on Telecommunications Policy and Regulations (OFTA Virtual Training Centre)