Summary

Background

While considerable global experience and "good practice" is available for guidance, much of it is only partially relevant and helpful for the needs of developing-country policy makers and regulators, given their unique circumstances and constraints. Furthermore, given the step-by-step and contextual nature of most policy and regulation, "one-off" training and capacity building for policy makers and regulators does not adequately equip them to make the sequential, complex and locally-contextualized decisions necessary to guide a long and complicated process of sector reform.

For this reason, enhancing local and regional capacity to analyze policy and regulatory issues, adapt global experience to local realities, and advise policy makers and regulators on concrete options and decisions is crucial to creating appropriate enabling environments for expanding affordable access to ICT in developing countries.

Many donors and other international organizations, including, notably, the ITU, are involved in a wide range of capacity building initiatives related to ICT policy and regulation in developing countries.  Yet there is increasing sentiment among donors and developing country stakeholders that these efforts are not well-coordinated, often overlap, and in many cases fail to create sustainable and credible local and regional capacity that attracts the support of local policy makers and regulators, and that has tangible positive impact on policy and regulatory decision making.

To address these issues, infoDev has commissioned a major needs assessment and gap analysis on these issues in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.  This work has three components:

• An Inventory of Current Initiatives: The project will survey and analyze existing initiatives, both short-term and sustained, designed to provide training and capacity-building for ICT policy and regulation in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. 
• A Needs/Demand Assessment: The project will identify priority needs and local demand for research, analytical and advisory capacity-building on ICT policy and regulation in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, with a particular focus on the demand and need for local, and locally-contextualized, research, analysis and advice.
• Gap Analysis and Recommendations: The project will produce a detailed analysis of the major gaps in capacity-building, with a particular focus on how existing regional/subregional institutions and initiatives could be reinforced in a sustainable fashion and how their research, analytical and advisory programs and services, and those of donors and other partners, could be enhanced to promote the growth of local and regional capacity to adapt global experience to local context.

This project began in September 2006 and the findings will be published in late Spring 2007.