Research first presented at the CPRsouth conference in Yangon in September 2017 was cited by LIRNEasia’s senior policy fellow Abu Saeed Khan in a presentation made to senior government officials, environmental officers, mobile operators and academics of the Kingdom of Bhutan.
The paper, “Measuring disbursement efficacy of Universal Service Funds: Case studies from India, Malaysia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka,” which was was judged “Best Policy Brief” at the conference, proposed a metric for assessing the efficacy of USFs. More importantly, it used the metric to identify that many such funds (including that of Pakistan which is commonly considered an exemplary fund) are not being used efficiently. The study found that while effective collection resulted in an accumulation of funds, disbursement was not as effective.
Abu presented these findings at a Training Workshop on ICT, Climate Change and Green Growth held at the Royal Institute of Management in Thimphu on 26 October 2017. The event was jointly organized by the United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT/ESCAP) and the Royal Institute of Management of Bhutan.
The workshop explored the potential of ICT to transform the economy into an engine for sustainable “green” growth, and considers how to integrate ICT into such an economy.
Abu’s represented LIRNEasia at the event as the resource person for APCICT. His presentation used the findings from the paper by Rohan Samarajiva and Gayani Hurulle, to point to the problems with following the USF-related recommendations of the Broadband Commission Working Group.
Abu’s full slide-set is online here.
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