About Us

Welcome to the blog of LSE Network Economy Forum

In a field long dominated by partisan positions supported primarily by the services of consultancies, the LSE Network Economy Forum takes the lead in disseminating quality research and fostering serious debate about telecommunications and internet policy research. The outcome will be a significant rise in the level of sophistication and careful use of high quality studies by all parties involved in the network economy.

The current status of policy discussion in Europe is poor in comparison with North America and East Asia, as indicated by both the persistence of antagonisms and misunderstandings at the policy level and the related inefficiencies in the operations of the network economy.  It is important for us to raise the level of debate and foster better practices in improving, for example, the match between industry capabilities and policy objectives for upgrading broadband infrastructure and its economic utility.

Since June 2011, we held a number of invitation-only workshops and meetings. The format of the workshops follow Chatham House Rules, which have already been successfully tried out since our first event is 2011. The feed-back is that the resulting community building is much appreciated by leading regulators and ensures a unique atmosphere for straightforward and honest exchange of opinions among leading opinion makers and scholars.

Our aim during 2012-2013 has been to provide leadership for the European network economy community and to expand with trans-Atlantic engagement as well as activities on the periphery of Europe later on.

From May 2013, we expand our policy and regulatory remit to the digital economy more broadly.

Team

The LSE Network Economy Forum is part of the research initiatives of LSE Tech, a research team at LSE’s Department of Management active in the area of innovation and technology management. The LSE Tech is led by Dr Jonathan Liebenau. Find more about our current and past projects at lse.ac.uk/LSETech

Advisory board

The advisory board consists of leading opinion formers and decision makers who advise on structure, overall goals, and management. We have especially benefited from the assistance of Leonard Waverman (Calgary/London Business School), Tobias Kretschmer (Munich), James Alleman (Colorado/CITI Columbia Business School), Eli Noam (CITI Columbia Business School), Saul Estrin (LSE), Alex Blowers (Nominet), Jonathan Dann (Barclays Capital), David Stewart (Ofcom), Annegret Groebel (BEREC), and Reinard Gruebel (EUC).

Partners

We have recently received research funding that is relevant to NEF from the European Telecom Network Operators Association [ETNO], Nokia, Microsoft, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, and others.  We also have longstanding links with the BBC and with the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information at Columbia Business School.

Funding

The LSE Network Economy Blog gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Higher Education and Innovation Fund (HEIF) for the period May 2012 to May 2013.

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