In a major win for think tanks seeking to bring evidence to the policy process in developing countries, the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa, by its decision The Competition Commission of South Africa v TELKOM (Case No: 623/2008), has unequivocally overruled the claims of bias leveled against the LINK Centre, then headed by our colleague Alison Gillwald (now heading Research ICTs Africa). In addition to getting its odd argument rejected, Telkom will have to pay a 3.7 Billion Rand fine plus costs. Ouch! Alison is the featured dinner speaker at CPRsouth4 in Negombo, Sri Lanka, on December 7th.
How can my organization/I as an individual researcher participate in the activities of LIRNEasia? LIRNE.NET is made up of research organizations, but we are building up organically, based on actual collaborative work rather than formal agreements. We worked with the LINK Centre in S Africa for years, before it became a member of LIRNE.NET.