Presented by Shazna Zuhyle at the 16th World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium
Presented by Prof. Rohan Samarajiva at United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development. December, 2018.
What evidence is best to support decisions on information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives? How can we ensure that the evidence comprises the most robust and least biased research?
Call it an African miracle. Eleven years ago mobile money was born in Kenya. Today the service processes one billion dollars every day through 690 million registered accounts, generating direct revenues of over $2.4 billion worldwide. Impoverish citizens without bank accounts enjoy the most secured way to transact through mobile payment systems.
Rohan Samarajiva, Gayani Hurulle, (2018) "Metrics to improve universal-service fund disbursements", Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance,
Nepal performs better on Internet connectivity and mobile phone use than its wealthier neighbors in Asia, our AfterAccess surveys showed.
Seventy-two percent of the Nepali population aged 15-65 owned a mobile phone, and 60% of these were Internet-enabled (feature or smartphone). In addition, 46% of Nepali’s are aware of the Internet – the highest reported number out of the Asian countries included in the report: India, Pakistan, Myanmar Bangladesh and Cambodia.
Presented by Helani Galpaya (@helanigalpaya), CEO, LIRNEasia and Tharaka Amarasinghe (@tharaka89), Research Manager, LIRNEasia on 4 October 2018 in Kathmandu, Nepal
Presented by Helani Galpaya and Tharaka Amarasinghe on 2 October 2018 in Dhaka, Bangladesh
ICT contribution
to Sri Lanka’s and the region’s logistics sector
Professor Rohan Samarajiva
(drawing from Abu Saeed Khan; After Access Team & Shazna Zuhyle of LIRNEasia & ITU-ESCAP)
Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Sri Lanka, 19 September 2018
The slideset used in the speech given as Chief Guest at the closing ceremony of Research for Transport and Logistics Industry 2018 Conference, on 7 July 2018.
Cybersecurity of developing countries is most at risk! Gartner projects that more than 20 billion IoT devices will be connected by 2020. The security of these Internet Of Things (IOT), relating to cyber security, in a broader sense hinges on service continuity and availability. Whether it be a DDoS attack that affects the availability or a malicious attack on the configuration that brings down the IoT device(s) or exposes private data, they all converge on the concept of cybersecurity. LIRNEasia partnered with Vanuatu Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, Prime Minister’s Office, Netherlands Radio communications Agency / University of Twente and the Internet Society (ISOC) in introducing the Raster Tool and engaging the participants in an IOT cybersecurity assessment exercise.
There is little doubt that China has made achievements in the telecom sector. Their reforms were based on managed competition between state-owned companies. Now we will see the model replicated in a poor country. It will be good to see if it will work. In addition, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that the state operator would be split in two in order to foster greater competition in the market, saying: “There will be two telecom corporations and shares will be sold in both.
Two years ago, when I presented a paper on Myanmar’s policy challenges at the LKY School of Public Policy in Singapore, the key point that came up in discussion was what role of the military would play in the fourth operator. What we speculated is coming true, according to Frontier Myanmar: It is unusual for a country’s military leaders to attend the launch of a telecoms company. But at the launch of Mytel, Myanmar’s fourth telecoms operator, around 50 high-ranking military officers were in attendance, including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and Defence Minister Lieutenant General Sein Win. Lieutenant General Tran Don, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Defence, also attended the June 9 ceremony. Telecom International Myanmar Company Limited, which operates under the brand name Mytel, is 49 percent owned by Viettel, which is wholly owned by Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense.
Google alerted me that a new article had been published on Upgrading Myanmar’s internet connection by the well-funded and hyperactive A4AI. I had the alerts on because I’ve been working in Myanmar since 2012. I was surprised. The article reminded me of what the lawyers in the Attorney General’s Department in Sri Lanka call a balloon opinion. The words are there.
A trade publication, Satellite Today, has written about an agreement between a satellite provider and the Ministry of Transport and Communication of Myanmar. Under the new multi-year, multi-transponder agreement, Intelsat 39 will host both C- and Ku-band satellite services for Myanmarsat-2, which will enable the government of Myanmar to significantly enhance its existing network as well as the networks of other mobile operators and media companies. This will advance the expansion of affordable, high-speed broadband and internet connectivity to government agencies, businesses and communities throughout the country. It will also support and advance the MOTC’s goal of ensuring that 95 percent of its population will have access to broadband connectivity by 2022. By integrating satellite solutions into its own mobile networks, the MOTC will be able to dramatically increase its overall network bandwidth, speed and reliability as it expands 3G and 4G services into the more remote areas of Myanmar.