Project Leader: Alan G. Alegre
Recipient Institution: Foundation for Media Alternatives  
Amount: USD 26,477
Duration: 18 Months
Commencement Date: June 2005

Project Abstract

As the the Tunis phase of the WSIS approaches, a valid question has been asked: what will be the real impact of this UN-led global consensus on participating countries? An approach that countries must consider is to "embed" the WSIS approach and its global outputs to specific local contexts, and use WSIS as an opportunity for enhancing national information and communication-related development plans.

The Philippines has just set up its Commission on ICT (CICT). Given the opportunities presented by both WSIS and a process which values a multi-stakeholder approach in support of a strong CICT public interest agenda, it would be crucial then to examine concrete policy areas which are important for the local/national context. A focused research process is thus suggested in which:

• key policy areas for priority policy development are pinpointed; 
• learnings gleaned from local and international experience, as well as innovative praxis from the ground, are synthesized and considered; 
• current policy options, including the positions of various stakeholders, are outlined and analyzed; 
• recommendations based on a set of development-related public interest criteria are presented.

This proposal seeks support for the production of seven research papers on strategic policy areas in the Philippines, and to implement a multi-stakeholder approach in its production and validation. Round table discussions and Validation Workshops seek to complement the research process and produce outputs that can benefit the national and regional community with sound infocomms policies.