The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) is inviting proposals for the 7th Annual Connecting Rural Communities (CRC) Africa 2012 Forum, to be held at the Miatta Conference Centre in Freetown, Sierra Leone from 20 to 22 June under the aegis of Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Information and Communications and its national regulator, Natcom.
For seven years running, the CTO’s CRC series has been creating a high-level platform for in-depth deliberations on how universal access can be achieved through multi-stakeholder partnerships. This year’s conference, themed The Road to Rural Broadband: Making the Economics Work, will be continuing that tradition.
Proposals for presentations, case studies, demonstrations and exhibits for catalysing Internet and broadband use in rural areas are being sought for Day 1 and 2 of the conference as follows:
• The critical role of Universal Service Funds
• Policy and regulatory tools for stimulating rural demand and supply
• Context-appropriate devices and infrastructure
• Removing national digital divides: case studies from the Commonwealth and beyond
• Measuring and understanding the socio-economic impact of rural ICT development.
The conference will conclude on June 22 with a half-day workshop on universal access delivered by CTO sector member, Price WaterhouseCoopers, followed by a field visit.
For more information visit www.cto.int
