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January 2014 Deadline for Abstract Submissions for Brussels Conference Extended to February 5, 2014 ITS Announces 6th ITS Ph.D. Seminar and Issues Call for Papers (CFP) Spotlight on Corporate ITS Welcomes Newest Board Member – Ann Skudlark How to Use and Obtain Maximum Benefit from the ITS-L Listserv
——————- To ensure uninterrupted delivery of the ITS membership journal, Telecommunications Policy, as well as e-mail announcements of upcoming Calls for Papers, publications, conference registration discounts and similar news of potential interest sent via the Don Romaniuk, ITS Secretariat at secretariat@itsworld.org —————— Editor: Don Romaniuk Graphic Design Artist:
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Dear ITS Colleagues: As I look back over the events of 2013, I see many positive achievements and a number of very encouraging trends that auger well for the continued success of our organization. Allow me to begin by noting the very successful regional conferences that were held in Perth, Australia and Florence, Italy in August and October, respectively, of 2013. Florence also hosted the 5th, and possibly best ever, ITS Ph.D. Seminar, which convened immediately after the close of the 24th European Regional ITS Conference. The 2013 Seminar attracted a highly motivated group of graduate students and discussants from around the world, and resulted in two days of stimulating and informative presentations and discussions. 2013 also saw the number of fully paid memberships in ITS exceed 400 for the first time. As reported in the May 2013 issue of Interconnect, while there are many reasons for this, principal among them are: (1) the tremendous value associated with the annual subscription to Telecommunications Policy that is included with every paid membership; (2) the increased reliance by ITS members on the ITS-L to instantaneously communicate information of interest and value to other members; (3) the high and continuously improving calibre of ITS conferences; (4) the significant registration fee discounts available to all ITS members in good standing at all ITS regional conferences; and (5) the many improvements over the years to the content and capabilities of the ITS web site including, especially, the ability to apply for and renew memberships online. These considerations also figured prominently in the results of an online survey of some 1300 ITS-L subscribers conducted in mid-2013 by the ITS Membership and Nominations Committee. A full summary of these survey results can be found in the November 2013 issue of Interconnect. That same issue of Interconnect also reported that, according to a widely used industry metric (the Thompson Reuters annual “impact factor”), Telecommunications Policy scores in the top quintile among peer journals in terms of its influence on its targeted readership. It further reported that, in absolute terms, the number of citations to articles published in Telecommunications Policy has been rising in recent years. These findings are most encouraging in that they confirm what our members have been saying about the significant value to them of the subscription to Telecommunications Policy that comes with their paid ITS membership. Not only that, but ITS members have been voting with their wallets in increasing numbers: membership renewal rates have doubled since Telecommunications Policy became the membership journal of ITS. Among the more visible changes that took place in 2013 were the design, layout and frequency of publication of Interconnect. New issues of the ITS newsletter are now published every two months in a more reader-friendly e-mail format. Please send any comments you may have on the new look and feel of Interconnect to Yu-li Liu, ITS Board member and Chair of the ITS Marketing and Promotions Committee, at yuliliu2009@gmail.com or to ITS Secretariat and Interconnect editor, Don Romaniuk, at secretariat@itsworld.org. The ITS Board also experienced a handful of changes to its composition during 2013. As reported in the last issue of Interconnect (November 2013), Ting Jie Lu was re-elected to the Board in October 2013 after having departed for a year.At the same time, AT&'s representative on the Board since 2008, Sam Parker, resigned as a Director in October coincident with his retirement from AT&T. A nomination process and election were held shortly afterward. I am delighted to announce, in that regard, that Ann Skudlark was elected as Mr. Parker's replacement on the ITS Board, effective December 1, 2013. A very interesting article on Ms. Skudlark can be found in the current (January 2014) issue of Interconnect. I would encourage all ITS members to take a few moments to read it in order to better acquaint yourselves with our newest Director and the many strengths she brings to our Board. Turning briefly to what lies ahead, I am very happy to advise that planning and preparations for all of our previously announced conferences for 2014 and 2015 are proceeding apace. In that regard, I would direct your attention to the articles in the current (January 2014) issue of Interconnect providing the latest updates on the 25th Regional ITS Conference to be held in Brussels, June 22-25, and the 6th ITS Ph.D. Seminar to be held in Brussels immediately afterwards on June 25-26. The Call for Papers for the Ph.D. Seminar was issued early in January 2014 and can be found at www.itseurope.org. As always, I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in the months ahead at one or more of our upcoming Conferences and to engaging you in discussions on the issues and subjects of greatest interest and concern to the telecommunications and broader ICT industry. Sincerely,
Erik Bohlin ————————————————– Spotlight on Corporate Members: TELUS
TELUS Corporation is one of Canada's leading national telecommunications companies, with operations and networks spanning the length and breadth of the country – from the Pacific Ocean in the west, to the Atlantic Ocean in the east and throughout much of Canada's sparsely-settled north. The Company's 4G wireless network currently reaches 99% of all Canadian residents. TELUS is also a full-service local exchange carrier in British Columbia, Alberta and Eastern Quebec. The Company has over 42,000 employees. As at September 30, 2013, TELUS had $11.3 billion in annual revenues and 13.3 million customer connections, including 7.8 million wireless subscribers, 3.3 million wireline network access lines, 1.4 million Internet subscribers and 776,000 TELUS TV customers. Of the Company's two major operating segments, wireless products and services (including voice, data and equipment sales) generated 51% of total revenues, while wireline services (including local and long distance voice; TV; Internet, enhanced data and hosting; and managed and legacy data services) contributed the remainder. Outside of Canada, TELUS International is a business process outsourcing provider, with over 14,000 employees, delivering contact center and IT outsourcing services across a range of industries. TELUS first became active in ITS in the mid-1990s and has remained a corporate member and steadfast financial supporter of ITS since that time. In 1997, TELUS sponsored and hosted Global Networking'97, a North American Regional Conference of ITS that was held in Calgary in association with the International Council for Computer Communication. Not only was the Conference a critical success in terms of its scholarly/scientific content, but it also proved to be very successful for ITS from a financial perspective. Just over a decade later, TELUS sponsored and, together with the Université de Sherbrooke, co-hosted the 17th ITS Biennial Conference in Montreal. It was once again a very successful conference for ITS whether measured by the calibre of its scientific program, the number of new individual members who joined ITS because of it or its positive contribution to ITS' balance sheet. TELUS also designed and launched the very first ITS web site in 2002 and has hosted, maintained and regularly upgraded it ever since—all at no charge to ITS. Philanthropy and volunteerism are central tenets of TELUS' corporate philosophy. Operating under the motto, “We give where we live”, TELUS, its employees and retirees have collectively contributed nearly 5 million hours of volunteer service to communities in every part of Canada and over $300 million dollars to Canadian charities since 2000. For its part, TELUS matches employee and retiree donations, on a dollar for dollar basis, to over 50,000 registered Canadian charities and non-profit organizations. The Company has also established 14 TELUS Community Boards in population centres across Canada to lead TELUS' local philanthropic initiatives. Community leaders and local TELUS employees make up each Board, thus ensuring that all charitable funding decisions remain local. The three most important areas of charitable giving over the past decade have been: (1) arts and culture; (2) sports and education; and (3) health and well being in our environment. TELUS was named the top philanthropic corporation in the world in 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and remains the only Canadian corporation to have ever won this prestigious international award. With respect to corporate governance, TELUS' philosophy is to be an early adopter of best practices. According to the Company, this includes a commitment to “transparent and comprehensive disclosure of its corporate governance practices and to providing voluntary disclosure that goes beyond what is required.” TELUS' efforts in corporate governance and reporting continue to be externally recognized. As reported in the Company's 2013 Statement of Corporate Governance Practices, “(i)n 2012, for the third consecutive year, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) recognized TELUS with the Overall Award of Excellence for Corporate Reporting, its highest award in Canada”. The Company has also been recognized for excellence in several other categories including Communications and Media, Sustainable Development and Corporate Governance Disclosures. Recently elected ITS Vice-Chair, Stephen Schmidt (who was profiled in the August 2013 issue of Interconnect, see http://www.itsworld.org/newsletter/pdfs/Interconnect-August-2013.pdf) has been TELUS' representative on the ITS Board since 2004. For further information about TELUS, please contact Mr. Schmidt at stephen.schmidt@telus.com or visit the TELUS website at www.telus.com. ————————————————– ITS Conferences 2014 June 25th European Regional ITS Conference 6th ITS Ph.D. Seminar November-December 20th ITS Biennial Conference 2015 African Regional ITS Conference
Other Conferences of Potential Interest 2014 March WIK International Conference EuroCPR2014 May CPR LATAM (formerly ACORN-REDECOM) June 13th International Conference on Mobile Business International Institute of Forecasters (IIF) July International Association for Media and Communication Research August 2014 Ph.D. Summer School on Political Economy of ICT
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Deadline for Abstract Submissions The Organizing Committee for the 25th European Regional ITS Conference has announced an extension in the deadline for abstract submission to February 5, 2014. The original deadline was January 15, but was relaxed by three weeks in response to numerous requests from interested presenters. The Conference itself will be held in Brussels, Belgium, June 22-25, 2014. The theme of the Brussels Conference is Disruptive Innovation in the ICT Industries: Challenges for European Policy and Business. The Call for Papers (CFP) invites papers and panel submissions on a broad range of topics including, but not limited to, telecommunications economics and regulation; broadband and next generation networks; new services and business models; media, content and telecoms; emerging policy issues; and ICT and economic development. The Conference is being hosted by iMinds, an independent research institute, founded by the Flemish government, the mission of which is to stimulate ICT innovation. All Conference sessions will be held at the KVAB (Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België – Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium). The Conference Organizing Committee comprises Pieter Ballon (Chair): iMinds-SMIT-Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB); Sven Lindmark: iMinds-SMIT-VUB; Luciano Morganti: iMinds-SMIT-VUB; Sofie Verbrugge: iMinds-IBCN-Universiteit Gent; and ITS Board members, Brigitte Preissl: German National Library of Economics (ZBW) and Jason Whalley: University of Northumbria, UK. Further details on this Conference, including the Call for Papers, are available on the Brussels Conference web site at http://www.itseurope.org/. Online registration for the Conference, meanwhile, will be made available by mid to late March 2014.
————————————————– ITS Announces 6th ITS Ph.D. Seminar ITS will convene its 6th Ph.D. Seminar on June 25 in Brussels, immediately following the closing ceremony for the 2014 European Regional Conference. The two-day event will be held at the same venue as the main Brussels Conference. As with all prior ITS Ph.D. Seminars, the objective of the 2014 event is to allow leading academics, industry experts and researchers to share their knowledge and expertise with a select group of graduate students in a highly focused learning environment. In this spirit, the discussion will centre and build upon ideas presented by the student participants, rather than focus on the mere presentation of papers. The Call for Papers (CFP) for the 2014 Ph.D. Seminar was issued early in January. Up to 15 graduate students will be invited to participate based on responses received to the CFP. An equal number of distinguished international scholars from within the ITS community will participate as discussants. The CFP invites submissions from graduate students on any ICT-related topic falling within any of the five broad study areas listed below:
The above list is not intended to be exhaustive, however, and other topics will be considered for presentation and discussion at the Seminar based on originality, relevance and merit. Complete papers, together with a CV, should be sent to Erik Bohlin at erik.bohlin@chalmers.se and to Brigitte Preissl at b.preissl@zbw.eu. The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2014. The complete text of the CFP is available on the Brussels Conference web site at http://www.itseurope.org/. The Ph.D. Seminar is being organized by ITS and Chalmers University of Technology and will be hosted by iMinds. Access to the Ph.D. Seminar will be free of charge to all participants in the 2014 European Regional Conference. Student participants in the Ph.D. Seminar will also be able to attend the main Brussels Conference on a complimentary basis. Students will still be required to cover their own travel and accommodation costs. Organizational support, however, will be provided. Students successfully completing the Seminar will receive a certificate from the International Telecommunications Society. A selection of papers presented at the Seminar will be encouraged for refereed submission in Telecommunications Policy.
————————————————– ITS Welcomes Newest Board ITS is pleased to announce the election of Ann Skudlark to the Society's Board of Directors effective December 1, 2013. Ms. Skudlark replaces Sam Parker as the representative of ITS Global Corporate member, AT&T, on the ITS Board. As reported in the November 2013 issue of Interconnect, Mr. Parker announced his retirement from AT&T last fall and stepped down as a Director of ITS at the end of October 2013 after more than four years on the Board. ITS Chair, Dr. Erik Bohlin, thanked Mr. Parker for his dedicated service as a member of the Board and extended to him his fondest best wishes for a long, healthy and most enjoyable retirement.
Ann Skudlark brings a very impressive array of managerial, technical and scientific credentials to the ITS Board. She has over 25 years of senior management experience with AT&T Labs, has six patents filed/pending with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, has presented scholarly papers at nearly a dozen ITS Conferences around the world, and has authored or co-authored numerous other academic/scientific papers for publication in various scholarly journals. Her research interests include deregulation, convergence and bundling of new telecommunications services; detection of malware vulnerability, identity theft, fraud and SMS spam in large cellular networks; and privacy issues in digital media. Ms. Skudlark currently holds the position of Director – AT&T Big Data Research. She has previously held positions in marketing, strategy and consumer operations. Ms. Skudlark received her Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in marketing management (magna cum laude), from the University of Rhode Island, and a Master of Business Administration degree (with a concentration on finance) from the University of South Florida. She has also completed a number of post-graduate and Ph.D. courses from New York University and Rutgers University. After spending most of her professional career on the U.S. east coast, Ms. Skudlark was recently transferred to AT&'s west coast regional headquarters in San Ramon, located in the San Francisco Bay area of northern California. Ms. Skudlark occupies her time away from the office pursuing an engaging mix of hobbies, diversions, personal interests and community service. She is an avid outdoorsperson and lifelong athlete. She has been a member and Regional Captain of AT&'s National Running Team for nearly three decades. Although she has competed at distances between 400 metres and the half marathon, her specialty is the 5 km run. Along with her husband and three children, Ms. Skudlark enjoys hiking in the U. S. National Parks, with the Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier (in Washington) and Glacier (in Montana) among her favourites. Next in line in her pursuit of all 59 National Parks are Haleakalā (in Maui) and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (on the Big Island). Among her other interests are classical music, and opera in particular. Her community service over the past 25 years includes extended terms on the Executive and/or Boards of non-profit organizations ranging from her neighborhood civic association, to local and regional chamber music and symphonic societies and two decades of active membership in, and support of, the Girl Scouts of the USA. “We're delighted to have Ann join us on the ITS Board,” stated ITS Chair, Erik Bohlin. “She brings to our organization not only a dynamic range of technical skills and experience as an ICT professional, but also irrepressible energy and enthusiasm. We look forward to many years of productive collaboration with her in advancing the goals and objectives of our scientific Society in all spheres endeavour.” ————————————————– How to Use and Obtain Maximum Benefit Among the benefits of ITS membership is an automatic subscription to the ITS-L Listserv, an electronic distribution list that reaches nearly1300 academics, researchers, professionals, business consultants, industry practitioners, government policy-makers and members of regulatory agencies active in the information and communications industries. Using the ITS-L Listserv is easy. Simply compose your Please note that the ability to send and receive messages over the ITS-L is directly linked to the e-mail address each member has on file with the ITS Secretariat. If your e-mail address changes you must notify the ITS Secretariat of this change if you wish to maintain uninterrupted access to the Listserv. ITS encourages the distribution of the following types of content over the ITS-L:
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Anyone considered to be abusing the ITS-L may be temporarily or permanently removed from the subscriber list by the ITS Secretariat. Anyone with a question regarding the appropriateness of a prospective Listserv posting is invited to contact the ITS Secretariat at secretariat@itsworld.org for assistance. The ITS-L Listserv was launched in 2003. Since that time, the annual volume of traffic carried over the ITS-L has shown impressive and uninterrupted growth. It has clearly become a preferred means among ITS members of rapidly and broadly disseminating information of potential interest and value to professional colleagues, associates and collaborators around the globe. It goes without saying that ITS is delighted with this outcome and very much encourages continued — and expanded — use of, and reliance upon, the ITS-L by its members. |
