|
|
||
|
January 2018 Table of Contents Trento, Italy to Host 2018 European Regional ITS Conference Abstract Submission Deadline for Seoul Biennial is Fast Approaching 2nd African Regional ITS Conference set for March 15-16, 2018 in Lusaka, Zambia Aswan, Egypt Selected as Host City for 2nd Europe – MENA Regional ITS Conference – Feb. 18-21, 2019 ITS Board Member Profile: Yukiyasu Sakamoto New Year’s Message from the ITS Chair An Invitation to Join the International Telecommunications Society Calendar of Events – 2017-2019
——————- 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: |
Trento, Italy to Host 2018 European Regional ITS Conference The ITS Conference Committee is pleased to announce that the 29th European Regional ITS Conference will be held in Trento, Italy, August 1-4, 2018. The University of Trento will be hosting the Conference.
The theme of the Trento Conference is Towards a Digital Future: Turning Technology into Markets. The Call for Papers invites abstract submissions and proposals for panel sessions on the following subjects (although submissions on other topics are also welcomed): Track 1. High capacity networks
Track 2. Disruptive technologies and IoT
Track 3. Drivers of ICT ecosystem: content and applications
Track 4. Understanding the dynamic nature of ICT markets
Track 5. Pro-active policies and regulation in digital markets
Track 6. Towards environmentally friendly sustainable ICT
Complete details on the Call for Papers, including specifications for — and how to electronically submit – abstracts, are available on the Conference website at http://www.itseurope.org/2018/call-for-papers/ Authors are reminded that the deadline for submitting paper abstracts and proposals for panel sessions is March 30, 2018.
A modern, cosmopolitan city, Trento is not only a leading educational, scientific, financial and political centre, it is among Italy’s highest ranked cities measured by quality of life, standard of living, per capita income, and business and job opportunities. The history of human settlement of the Trentino region dates back at least 8,000 years. Trento was originally a Celtic village. It was then conquered by the Romans in the first century B.C., and subsequently became part of various empires extending over many centuries including the Western Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, Austria (under the Hapsburgs) and, finally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was not until 1919 that the Trentino region became a part of Italy. The city of Trento itself is best known as the site of the Council of Trent, one of the most important councils in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. It was held in three sessions between 1545 and 1563, and marked Catholicism’s doctrinal response to the Protestant Reformation. The Trentino region is world renowned for its many picturesque castles and fortresses.
The city of Trento has many outstanding examples of medieval and Renaissance-era castles, cathedrals and other architectural treasures including Castello del Buonconsiglio, Trento Cathedral, Villa Margon, Palazzo Thun, The Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, Piazza Duomo, the Tridentine Diocesan Museum and Basilica, and Piazza Cesare Battisti.
These and many other historical, cultural, and architectural attractions await participants of ITS Trento 2018.
Local Organizer: Co-Organizer: ITS: Prof. Jason WHALLEY All Conference-related inquiries should be directed to ITS Vice Chair, Professor Jason Whalley at jason.whalley@northumbria.ac.uk.
ITS members wishing to attend this Conference are reminded that they will be eligible for reduced registration fees. We look forward to seeing you in Trento this summer. ————————————————– 2nd African Regional ITS Conference set for March 15-16, 2018 in Lusaka, Zambia Final preparations are now underway for ITS Lusaka 2018.
The theme of this Conference is Communications and Applications for All – The ICT Thrust Transforming Business, Competition, Policy, and Regulation. As such, the Conference will focus on the interplay between developments in technology, markets, policy and regulation in the ICT field in African countries. Broad subject areas to be covered at the Conference include:
Please note that outstanding papers will be considered for publication in an edited book or special issue of Telecommunications Policy. All prospective Conference attendees are advised to inquire well in advance about visa requirements for travel to Zambia from their home country. The Lusaka Conference website provides very helpful information on hotel accommodation and tourism for first-time visitors to Zambia. Please see, http://www.itsafrica.org.zm/venue.php The Conference will begin with a welcome reception on the evening of March 14, 2018. Conference sessions will be spread over two days, starting in the morning of March 15. Coffee and refreshments as well as lunches will be provided to all registered attendees on both days of the Conference. Dinner will also be provided to attendees on the evening of March 15. The Conference program includes a keynote address on Day 1 (March 15), six parallel sessions spread over Days 1 and 2, as well as a plenary session on Day 2 (March 16). The social program for ITS Lusaka 2018 includes an optional tour of Chaminuka Lodge and Game Reserve featuring over 70 species of Zambian wildlife and birds, as well as a tour of Chaminuka art gallery, both on March 17.
Visitors planning to stay for more than a day or two after the Conference may wish to consider taking in some of the following additional sights and activities in and around Lusaka:
For those visitors willing to travel a bit further, two must-see places in Zambia are Victoria Falls and Lower Zambezi National Park.
ITS Lusaka 2018 is being hosted by the International Telecommunications Society and co-hosted by the University of Zambia. Anders Henten (Aalborg University, Denmark) is Program Chair while Simon Tembo (University of Zambia) is Program Vice-Chair. All Conference-related inquiries should be directed to secretariat@itslusaka2018.org ————————————————– ITS Board Member Profile: Yukiyasu Sakamoto
Yukiyasu (Yuki) SAKAMOTO At nearly three decades and counting, no corporation, government agency, or academic or non-profit institution can claim to have been a Global corporate member of ITS for longer than Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT). As one of the benefits of Global Corporate membership in ITS includes a seat on the ITS Board, this also means that no corporation or institutional/non-profit entity or enterprise has been continuously represented on the ITS Board for a longer period of time than NTT. Yukiyasu Sakamoto is NTT’s most recent representative on the ITS Board, having been elected to that position in early 2017. Mr. Sakamoto is the General Manager and Chief Corporate Representative of NTT at the Corporation's Washington DC Representative Office. As NTT’s highest-ranking officer in the U.S. capital, he is responsible for managing and overseeing overall operations including research, liaison activity, and management of relationships with US telecommunications industry representatives in Washington, D.C. Prior to his current overseas assignment, Mr. Sakamoto served as Director, Global R&D and Standardization Strategy, Research & Development Planning Department in NTT’s Tokyo office. His primary responsibility in that position was to direct the development of global marketing strategies promoting NTT Group products and services from an R&D perspective. Mr. Sakamoto joined NTT in 1988 upon obtaining a Bachelor of Laws degree from Nagoya University, Japan and has been continuously employed by the NTT Group of companies ever since. He subsequently obtained an MBA from Imperial College, London, UK in 1994. He is a Board Member of the United States Telecom Association and the Japan Commerce Association of Washington, D.C. While his business responsibilities focus primarily on ICT policy and regulatory issues, he also maintains a very keen interest in policies aimed at fostering economic growth and innovation. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family, occasionally playing golf, or watching a professional shogi (Japanese chess game). He holds a national soccer coaching license and was a volunteer soccer instructor of the local youth team for many years in Japan. Mr. Sakamoto lives with his wife and three children in Bethesda, Maryland and commutes to his office in downtown DC. While being less than enamoured of the frigid winter weather so characteristic of this part of the U.S. east coast, he very much enjoys the lush foliage, natural beauty and serene landscapes of the Maryland and Virginia countryside comprising his home away from home. The ITS Board is delighted to have Yuki Sakamoto as one of its members and looks forward to many years of fruitful and energetic collaboration with him on matters of mutual interest and benefit to ITS and NTT. ————————————————– ITS Conferences 2018 March 2nd African Regional ITS Conference June 22nd ITS Biennial Conference 14th ITS Ph.D. Seminar August 29th European Regional ITS Conference 2019 February 2nd Middle East and North African (MENA) Regional ITS Conference Other Conferences of Potential Interest 2018 March Florence School of Regulation – Communications and Media (FSR C&M) together with the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) and the Florence Competition Programme in Law and Economics (FCP) 2018 Annual Scientific Seminar on the Economics, Law and Policy of Communications and Media Markets June CPR LATAM International Institute of Forecasters (IIF) International Association for Media and Communication Research IAMCR 2018 Conference September 2018 TPRC | 46th Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy |
Abstract Submission Deadline for Seoul Biennial is Fast Approaching The 2018 ITS Biennial Conference will take place in Seoul, Korea, June 24-27, 2018.
The theme of the 22nd ITS Biennial Conference is Beyond the Boundaries: Challenges for Business, Policy and Society. The Call for Papers (CFP) for the Seoul Biennial envisions six separate
Within these tracks, authors are invited to submit papers on a very broad range of subjects including, but not limited to, the following:
Complete details on the Call for Papers, including specifications for — and how to electronically submit – abstracts, are available on the Conference website at: Authors are reminded that the deadline for abstract submission is January 26, 2018. ITS last visited Seoul in 2002 for the 14th ITS Biennial Conference. Much has changed since then. According to a 2015 report of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), South Korea is now the most connected country in the world. Home to Samsung and LG, two of the world’s largest and most successful high-tech companies, South Korea boasts the highest average internet connection speed in the world and the 4th highest penetration rate for smartphones. The Conference will be hosted by three of Korea’s leading academic and scientific institutions and associations: the School of Media & Communication, Korea University; Korea University Research Institute for Information & Culture (KU RIIC); and the Korean Association for Information Society (KAIS). ITS Board member, Professor Seongcheol Kim (Korea University), is Chair of the local Conference Organizing Committee. Professor Youngsun Kwon (KAIST) is Program Chair, while Professor Sangwoo Lee (Yonsei University) is Conference Secretary General. All Conference sessions will be held at Korea University.
The Conference itself will begin with a welcome reception for all attendees on the evening of June 24, 2018. Conference sessions will then run continuously for the next two and a half days. They will include Keynote addresses on Day 1 and Day 2, two plenary sessions, seven sets of parallel sessions, and the closing ceremony. Tea breaks, lunches and dinners will be provided on all three days of the Conference, including the main Conference banquet at the end of Day 1, and a special buffet dinner at the Season’s Table at the landmark N Seoul Tower in Namsan, followed by a Han River Cruise on Day 2. The dinner on Day 3 will be at the Sanneri Korean Restaurant on Seoul’s renowned Insa-dong Street. (“Sanneri” means “a small village in a mountain”). It will be followed by a tour of the Gangbuk area of Seoul. The Conference program also includes a Ph.D. Seminar that will commence immediately following the Conference closing ceremony. Online registration for the Conference will begin in March 2018. For further details, please see https://itsseoul2018.org/registration/ All registration and program-related inquiries, including questions about visa requirements for entry into the Republic of Korea and questions about the Ph.D. Seminar, should be directed to Dr. So-Eun Lee (Korea University) at contact@itsseoul2018.org. The Conference website also provides detailed information on numerous hotels within a 10 to 30-minute bus or subway ride of the main conference venue at Korea University. Individuals interested in attending this Conference may wish to add a few extra days to their Korea visit as there is much to see and do in Seoul and nearby areas. Useful tourist information for attendees planning to spend additional time in Korea may be found on the Conference website at https://itsseoul2018.org/information/
With a population (including metropolitan area) of some 25 million people, Seoul is the financial, commercial, political and cultural capital of Korea. Although more than 600 years old, Seoul has managed to preserve much of its traditional architecture while simultaneously showcasing some of the newest and most spectacular high-rise buildings in the world.
Like other metropolises, it is a city that never sleeps, as visitors to its many fascinating night markets and other nocturnal haunts can well attest.
It also offers visitors and residents alike a clean, modern and efficient municipal transportation system. For travellers wedded to their smartphones, tablets and/or personal computers, please note that Seoul has committed to extending free WiFi accessibility to all public spaces and modes of transportation by the start of 2018.
Average late June temperatures in Seoul range from daytime highs in the low 80s °F (∼27°C) to evening lows in the high 60s °F (∼20°C), ideal for strolling about or leisurely dining in outdoor cafes and restaurants (where you never know who you might meet).
Please be sure to add Seoul and the 22nd ITS Biennial Conference to your calendar for the last week of June 2018. ————————————————– Aswan, Egypt Selected as Host City for 2nd Europe – MENA Regional ITS Conference – Feb. 18-21, 2019 The ITS Conference Committee is pleased to announce that Aswan, Egypt has been selected to host the 2nd Europe-Middle East and North African (MENA) Regional ITS Conference. It will be held February 18-21, 2019. The National Telecom Regulatory Authority of Egypt (NTRA) and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (AASTMT) will co-host the Conference.
The Conference theme is Leveraging Technologies to Accelerate Growth. Organizers anticipate that the Call for Papers (CFP) will be issued towards the end of May 2018. The CFP will be disseminated via the ITS-L Listserv distribution list and will also be posted on the ITS website at www.itsworld.org.
Two Best Paper Awards will be granted: one for best paper submitted by a student – “Best Student Paper Award”, and the other for best paper submitted by a post-graduate – “Best Paper Award”. Each award will be valued at U.S. $1,000. All Conference sessions will take place at the premises of the AASTMT. Shuttle buses will be provided to transport all Conference attendees to and from the Conference venue each day. The Egyptian government will provide full security measures for participants at all Conference sessions as well as at all social events organized for Conference attendees. While Aswan is one of the hottest, sunniest and driest cities in the world, its average temperature in February is a very mild 63.5 °F, with daytime highs just reaching the mid to high 70s °F. Aswan experiences zero precipitation in February.
Aswan is an ancient Egyptian city with a very storied history. The stone quarries from which granite was mined to build the pyramids, temples, obelisks, monuments and other magnificent structures of the golden age of the Pharaohs were located at Aswan. Its location just below the first cataract of the Nile, from which it was possible to easily sail north — without natural barriers or obstructions — to the Nile delta over 1000 kms away ensured its importance as a military garrison and a major trading outpost for thousands of years.
No trip to Aswan would be complete without visiting at least some of the spectacular historical sites surviving from ancient times including the Qubbet el-Hawa, the Abu Simbel Temples, the Philae Temple, Agilkia Island, Elephantine Island, the Tombs of the Nobles, the Temple of Khnum, Sehel Island, Trajan’s Kiosk, and scores of other archeological treasures from ancient times, not to mention several “newer” additions to the storehouse of architectural and archeological wonders that constitute modern Egypt (including the Monastery of Saint Simeon, the Mausoleum of Aga Khan, the El-Tabia Mosque, the Nubian Museum, the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael and the Aswan Museum).
Further details on this Conference will be provided in the March 2018 issue of Interconnect. In the meantime, please add February 18-21, 2019 to your Conference calendar. ITS members wishing to attend this Conference are reminded that they will be eligible for reduced registration fees. ————————————————– New Year’s Message from the ITS Chair
Dear ITS Colleagues: As I look back over the events of 2017, I note that very successful Regional Conferences were held this past summer in Kyoto, Japan and Passau, Germany. We also convened a timely and innovative Symposium on Cybersecurity in Bangkok, Thailand this past December. The Bangkok workshop was notable in that it was a focused, single topic event that was organized dynamically in response to an emerging need. The Symposium had strong local attendance (100+), was very well organized by Dr. Erik Bohlin (with the assistance and energetic support of Veerayut Thirathanakul, International Affairs Officer of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission of Thailand) and benefitted from the participation of ITS Board members including Profs. Hitoshi Mitomo and Stanford Levin. I very much believe that ITS would benefit from more such “spontaneous” events in the future as a complement to our more traditional style of Conference proceedings. The Kyoto and Passau Conferences were likewise successful in all major respects (organization, content, hospitality). Notable achievements include: strong local and regional attendance as well as a large number of quality abstracts at Kyoto. The Passau Conference had vibrant and interesting panels (including excellent industry representation) and papers that pushed past the boundaries of traditional telecommunications topics. With respect to the Kyoto Conference, special thanks to Prof. Masatsugu Tsuji, the many members of the Kyoto Conference Organizing Committee, Kobe International University, and the numerous sponsors and academic partners of ITS Kyoto 2017 are very much in order for their hard work, dedicated efforts, financial and logistical support, and hospitality, all of which contributed immensely to the success of this Conference. Likewise, on behalf of ITS, I wish to extend to the following individuals our deepest gratitude for their efforts in putting together such a wonderful learning and social experience for all who attended the Passau Conference: Prof. Jan Krämer and the local Organizing Committee, the University of Passau, and our two stalwart ITS organizers of European Regional Conferences, Prof. Jason Whalley and Dr. Brigitte Preissl. A key focus this past year was on achieving better temporal and geographic coordination of Conferences to minimize conflicts and optimize attendance. This included adopting a policy (but not a fixed rule) of having not more than three Conferences in a given year. Also, we are working to ensure better coordination of dates for Asian and European Conferences. Looking ahead to our 2018-2019 Conference calendar, Regional Conferences are planned for Lusaka, Zambia (March 2018), Trento, Italy (August 2018), and Aswan, Egypt (February 2019). Our 22nd Biennial Conference, meanwhile, will be held in Seoul, Korea in June of this year. Among our top priorities over the next 14 months are to ensure that these Conferences are well-promoted to attract high calibre research papers and growing numbers of presenters and attendees, always with a view to showcasing content relevant to all three primary ITS stakeholder groups (government, industry, academia). The ITS Board experienced a handful of changes to its composition during 2017. The Board welcomed two new members last year: Georg Serentschy (of Serentschy Advisory Services GmbH) and Yukiyasu Sakamoto (NTT’s new representative on the ITS Board). Sadly, our organization also lost long-time Board member Gary Madden last summer. Professor Madden passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in July at the age of 64. Dr. Lorenzo Pupillo, long-time representative of Telecom Italia, also stepped down from the ITS Board in 2017. Finally, I wish to mention that further upgrades are being planned for our web site. In particular, we are planning to renew and re-launch our web site with functionality and features that, in the medium term, will establish the site as a destination for more than just conference information. These features will be more interactive (over time) and will reflect more original content (beyond conference information). It is hoped that this, in turn, will contribute to better communication and a broadening of the value-proposition of ITS. Over time, members, including especially Board members, will be encouraged to contribute fresh content to the new web site via such means as blog postings, reports, etc. A more content-rich web site will only deliver added-value if the content is there and is updated in a timely manner. And with that, I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in the months and years ahead and to engaging you in discussions on the issues and subjects of greatest interest and concern to the telecommunications and broader ICT industry. I also welcome your thoughts on how we can make ITS more relevant and valuable to you and to the broader ICT community. With warmest wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year!
Stephen Schmidt ————————————————– An Invitation to Join the International Telecommunications Society Who We Are The International Telecommunications Society (ITS) is an association of professionals in the evolving communications sector, including telephony, computing, Internet, broadcasting, content (media) and related industries. Our goal is to provide a forum where people can meet to identify developing business and regulatory issues and share new findings, public policy ideas and research methodologies. We are an independent, non-aligned and not-for-profit organization with a worldwide network of several hundred members, from over 40 countries, from the academic, private sector and government communities. Our diverse membership base is a source of innovative ideas and solutions not likely to be developed in one discipline, one profession or one country. Our work focuses on the socioeconomic, technological, legal, regulatory, competitive, organizational, and ethical dimensions of public policy issues. We welcome new members who want to participate in this important work. Benefits of ITS Membership There are many benefits of ITS membership including the opportunity to present, as well as to obtain access to, economic research and strategic policy papers at conferences, workshops or seminars hosted by ITS and to meet and interact with public policy decision-makers, corporate executives, students, academics and industry professionals at numerous ITS-sponsored events throughout the year. Membership benefits also include an annual subscription to the ITS membership journal, Telecommunications Policy, which is published 11 times a year, as well as access to the ITS-L Listserv, which is used to notify members of upcoming ITS events and of publication of each new issue of Interconnect, the official newsletter of ITS. Please note that the registration fees for all ITS Biennial Conferences include a two-year individual membership in ITS (including a two-year subscription to Telecommunications Policy). In addition, all ITS members in good standing are entitled to reduced registration fees at all ITS-organized Regional Conferences. Other individual membership benefits include online access to papers presented at ITS Conferences, discounts as announced for ITS publications, and occasional special discounts on ITS conference proceedings. Conferences ITS holds a number of outstanding conferences each year, and the past few years have been no exception. Our largest and most dynamic gatherings are our Biennial Conferences. The 21st and most recent ITS Biennial Conference was held in Taipei, Taiwan in June 2016. The 2018 ITS Biennial Conference will be held in Seoul, Korea, June 24-27. See the Conference web site at https://itsseoul2018.org for the Call for Papers as well as other information about this Conference. Other cities that have hosted ITS Biennial conferences include Rio de Janeiro, Bangkok, Tokyo, Montreal, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Seoul, Berlin, Sydney, Stockholm, Venice, Boston and Seville, among others. ITS also organizes one or more regional conferences each year in various parts of the world. In the past two years, regional conferences have been held in Passau, Germany; Kyoto, Japan; Cambridge, UK; Accra, Ghana; New Delhi, India: and Los Angeles, USA. Select conference papers are frequently published in Telecommunications Policy. Since 2010, ITS has also hosted twelve Ph.D. Seminars in conjunction with Biennial and major regional conferences. The objective of these Seminars is to allow leading academics, industry experts and researchers to share their knowledge and expertise with a select group of younger researchers in a highly focused learning environment. To date, over 80 Ph.D. students from more than two-dozen countries have participated in these Seminars. Students selected as having authored the most innovative and thoughtful papers at these Seminars are encouraged to submit them for publication on a refereed basis in Telecommunications Policy. Periodically, scholarships are also awarded for the best student papers. On the immediate horizon, and as is described in more detail in this issue of Interconnect, ITS conferences are planned for Lusaka, Zambia (March 15-16, 2018), Seoul, Korea (June 24-27, 2018), Trento, Italy (August 1-4, 2018), and Aswan, Egypt (February 18-21, 2019). Information on all upcoming ITS conferences is posted on the ITS web site at www.itsworld.org. In addition, periodic updates on future conferences, including announcements of Calls for Papers, are regularly sent to ITS members via the ITS-L Listserv distribution list. Further Information About ITS For further information about ITS please visit our website at www.itsworld.org. Please feel free to direct any questions to any member of the Board of Directors (see website for contact information) or to the ITS Secretariat at secretariat@itsworld.org. Please Join Us Today To join ITS, simply go to www.itsworld.org and click on “Membership”. The cost of an annual ITS membership is U.S. $125. Credit card payments (VISA and MasterCard) are accepted. Please consider becoming an ITS member today. |
