Newly appointed adjunct professor at the UCT Graduate School of Business, Dr Alison Gillwald, will build on her experience in the field of ICT policy to focus on the telecoms regulatory environment in Africa.
The South African researcher will concentrate on strengthening ICT research, policy and regulatory capacity on the continent, and develop the GSB's teaching focus on emerging economies.
Her role will primarily be aligned with the work of the Management Programme in Infrastructure Reform and Regulation (MIR) at the GSB, according to a statement.
Gillwald is also the executive director of Research ICT Africa, a non-profit network of ICT researchers from 18 African countries, which focuses on developing the research capacity needed to inform effective ICT governance in Africa.
According to her, having a strong and competitive ICT sector in Africa cannot be underestimated.
"Broadband and phone services are the backbone of business and competing in the global marketplace is virtually impossible without them. Africa will never be a true global force until there is sufficient ICT access on this continent," she says.
Connecting society
Gillwald notes that one of the primary challenges for African regulators is building the institutional capacity and individual competencies to regulate the dynamic telecommunications sector.
However, while Africa's lagging position in relation to other global regions is often laid at the national regulatory authority's door, regulators are only the implementers of policy, she stresses.
“One of the biggest policy constraints in many countries is the limitations that continue to exist on market entry. Where countries have opened up their markets, especially those that have done so in a service neutral way - allowing operators to offer whatever services in whatever manner consumers want and can afford to pay for - have seen massive growth,” explains Gillwald.
She adds that while competition and open access regimes are essential for stimulating market growth, improving access, and lowering prices, these conditions are not sufficient in themselves.
“There is a need for effective regulation of other factors such as spectrum and interconnection and tariffs in order to facilitate access to and increase the affordability of services.
“While African regulators seek to grapple with these second-generation regulatory challenges (monopoly regulation being the first) they do not have the luxury of resolving these before dealing with the realities of convergence that is already upon them.”
Gillwald argues that regulators have to be given the means to create fair, competitive markets through transparent regulation, as well as innovative ways of regulating the new converged environment, often with constrained resources. Otherwise their citizens won't be able to enjoy the benefits of integrated, seamless, high-bandwidth communications that underpin modern information societies, she states.
Training tools
Gillwald explains that research and training are imperative to the successful transformation of countries into information societies and knowledge economies, and should go hand in hand.
“This is where the training programme at the GSB seeks to intervene and contribute to creating the conditions on the continent that will allow all its citizens to enjoy the benefits of connectivity in a globalised world,” she says.
"We have done 'executive education' short courses for developing country regulators, policy makers and parliamentarians at the GSB. With this permanent post, we will extend this commitment to developing expertise and excellence on the continent, by offering doctoral supervision in the area of ICT policy and regulation within the MIR," she adds.
Previously, Gillwald was an associate professor at the Witwatersrand University Graduate School of Public and Development Management. Here she founded the Learning Information Networking and Knowledge Centre, to fast-track ICT policy and regulatory training in southern Africa.
She was also appointed to serve on the founding Council of the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. This body was responsible for the implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which introduced a dedicated sector regulator in SA.
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