Annual Conference 2018

thE 49TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE

10-11 October 2018
Mexico City

The IIC’s 49th Annual Conference took place this year in Mexico City, following the International Regulators’ Forum. Around 250 senior executives and public policy-makers in the TMT sphere came together from across the globe to discuss big picture themes affecting the communications community. The key themes discussed are displayed below. In addition, a number of workshops and breakout sessions also took place over the two days. Expert speakers from around the world participated in the International Regulators’ Forum and Annual Conference, sharing their experiences with the issues which were debated.

Click here for information on Communications Policy & Regulation Week 2018.

Annual Conference Videos

A playlist containing all available videos from the 49th Annual Conference is available here. For individual videos by session, please view the Programme and click the links next to individual speakers or plenary sessions.

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KEY DISCUSSION THEMES

Election year

What are the priorities and medium-term objectives of new administrations in the region with respect to the converging communications ecosystem?

Delivering connectivity

Building certainty and incentives to promote investment and innovation.

Ensuring access and inclusion

Bridging the digital divide to bring more people online in rural and underserved communities; closing the gender gap.

Competition dynamics and market concentration

How to quantify? How to address? Balancing ex ante / ex post interventions.

Digital content in a highly competitive, OTT world

Creating a virtuous cycle of network access, content consumption, media pluralism and rich, local, content/application creation.

Creating robust data economies

Policy, strategy, trade and the role of regulation to help drive the 'internet of consumption' to become the 'internet of production'.

There were focused breakout sessions and workshops on themes including:

• Net neutrality and zero rating – regulatory and competition authority approaches
• Privacy and data protection – balancing citizen, consumer and business agendas
• Cyber security and critical national infrastructure protection
• Tackling piracy and copyright protection - internet culture versus copyright
• Game changing technologies - Artificial intelligence / Blockchain and cryptocurrencies
• Aligning regional/ international spectrum to fuel new innovation opportunities: what comes next?

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

Michael Punke

Vice President, Global Public Policy, Amazon Web Services

Adriana Labardini

ICT Regulation Consultant; Director, International Institute of Communications

Ajit Pai

Chairman, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), USA

Clara Luz Álvarez

Professor and Researcher Universidad Panamericana

Gabriel Contreras Saldivar

President, IFT - Federal Institute of Telecommunications, Mexico

Jeffrey A. Campbell

Vice President, The Americas of Global Government Affairs, Cisco Systems, Inc.

Luis Fernando Garcia Muñoz

Director, Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales (R3D), Mexico

María Elena Estavillo Flores (Dr)

Commissioner, IFT - Federal Institute of Telecommunications; Co-founder Conectadas, Mexico

Sebastián M Cabello

Associate Director, Latin America, Policy Impact Partners

Thomas M Dailey

Vice President and General Counsel -International and Chief Corporate Strategy Counsel, Verizon International

MAIN EVENTS FOR CPR WEEK

International Regulators' Forum

This year we were hosted by IFT, the Mexican Regulator.

The 49th Annual Conference

Approximately 200 participants attended from around the world.

Round tables and discussion workshops

The Week included an AI workshop and several breakout sessions where topics were explored in depth.

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

Drinks Reception

Delegates and speakers had the opportunity to meet informally at the close of the IRF programme ahead of the two-day Conference.

 

Conference Gala Dinner

Attendees enjoyed good food and the chance to discuss the day's proceedings.

IIC Annual General Meeting

11 October 2018: For Members, Trustees and Directors