Ms Claire Milne and Dr David Souter

This optional course is capped at 30 students and is intended primarily for students on MSc Media, Communication and Development. It is also available as an option course to students on the MSc Media and Communications, MSc Media and Communications (Research) and MSc Media and Communications (Media and Communication Governance). Remaining places will be available first to MSc students in the Department of Media and Communications.

This course will examine communication policies and their relationship with society and development, focusing particularly on the application of information and communication technologies, especially the internet and mobile services. It will draw attention to some issues of critical importance in current ICT policymaking, including the relationship between the ICT sector and other areas of public policy (such as development, governance, the environment and rights) and the relationships among technology, market development and regulation. The course will draw on case studies and the lecturers' practitioner experience in communications development and deployment in Europe, Africa and Asia. Course objectives are: to examine the relationship between ICT policy and wider public policy domains; to explore the development and regulation of communications in industrial and developing countries; to understand current experience and the application of policy development and research methods in these areas; and to illustrate these issues, using case studies.

Lecture (one-hour) x 10 LT; seminar (one-hour) x 10 LT.

(Seminars may be given by different teachers.  They do not necessarily deal with the same topics each week, but they all cover the same ground.)

All students are expected to complete advance reading, prepare seminar presentations, and submit one formative essay of 1,500 words which differs from the topic addressed by the summative essay.

Drake, William J. & Wildon, Ernest J. III (eds), 2008. Governing Global Electronic Networks, MIT Press; International Telecommunication Union, 2010. Measuring the Information Society; Jørgensen, Rikke Frank (ed), 2006. Human Rights in the Global Information Society, MIT; King, Kenneth & McGrath, Simon, 2004. Knowledge for Development, HSRC Press and Zed Books; MacLean, Don (ed), 2005. Internet Governance: a Grand Collaboration, United Nations; Mahan, Amy and Melody, William (eds), 2007. Diversifying Participation in Network Development. IDRC, Uruguay; Milne, Claire and Feijoo-Gonzalez, Claudio (eds), 2008. Info Volume 10 Issue 5. Special Issue: Re-thinking universal service policy for the digital era; Infodev 2011, Telecommunications Regulation Handbook; UNICEF 2010, Mobiles for Development; Milward-Oliver, Gerard (ed), 2005. Maitland+20: Fixing the Missing Link. Anima Centre; The Climate Group, 2008. SMART 2020, Global E-Sustainability Initiative; Torero, Maximo and von Braun, Joachim (eds), 2006. Information and Communication Technologies for Development and Poverty Reduction: The Potential of Telecommunications. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC, Johns Hopkins University Press; Unwin, Tim (ed.), 2009. ICT4D, Cambridge University Press.

A written assignment of not more than 3,000 words.