More coverage on LBO of the proceedings of the LIRNEasia@5 conference:
“The biggest contribution from research is not what is adopted, but what is adopted,” says Bill Melody, founding director of World Dialog on Regulation for Network Economies.
“Harmful policies that are avoided with the information generated from research.”
R K Arnold the head of the executive secretariat of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India says all its recommendation is based on extensive but decisions are not
“We used a (LirneAsia) research on a tax and the government reduced the tax. In infrastructure sharing we drawn heavily on your research,” Arnold said.
“But whether the decision makers use it at the top depends on a very fluid situation.”
In many countries government were heavily taxing telecom services. LirneAsia itself intervened in Sri Lanka to stop a levy from hurting the poorest users.
IDRC, a body that is funding research bodies says evidence has to be pushed to decision makers for people to benefit.
“Research can play a very critical role in specificity and timing,” says Stephen McGurk, IDRC India.
“To be heard requires persistence and timing.”
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