During a recent debate about the standards for a future 6G network a simple question was asked: what is it for? Many argue that even 5G is of more interest to the industry than it is to consumers. Once such person is Professor William Webb. He argues, in a thought-provoking article, (‘The history of telecoms is at an end’) that we mostly have all the connectivity we need and that the industry needs to focus on efficiency over innovation.
Perhaps another way of putting it is that it is a different kind of innovation that is needed. In the first of their two part examination of the rise of community-centred connectivity, Mike Jensen and Adriana Labardini make the case for local, ‘ground-up’ initiatives. They can, they contend, often be much more responsive and affordable than commercial networks and simultaneously address broader issues of inequality, especially for rural and indigenous communities and for women.
As the discussion over online safety and social media continues (often literally) to rage, Ilker Bahar has written a timely piece about safety in the metaverse. He looks at the approaches adopted by two platforms – Rec Room and VRChat. Although these are designed to be intimate spaces, the ideas he draws attention to could surely have broader applications.
Our events programme continues to expand, and we were delighted at the success of our first ever event in Botswana in September. There are more and more Chapter events taking place. Please do get involved if you aren’t already. Our Annual Conference takes place in Bangkok this November, hosted by our friends at the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission of Thailand. We already have an outstanding line-up of speakers. An event not to be missed!
Finally, we have added a ‘search by topic’ function on the homepage so previous articles are easy to find. There a many hidden gems, so do give it a try.
