By Cyber Era Staff
The International Institute of Communications (IIC) pivots to its busiest year ever in response to COVID-19. “More online and ‘hybrid’ events are likely to be a key part of the IIC’s future programmes” according to the IIC’s President, Chris Chapman.
A statement from Marketing & Chapter Co-ordinator at the International Institute of Communications, Shermin A Ali says addressing the IIC’s AGM, Chapman outlined the success of the Institute’s programmes, after touching on the “unimaginable adjustment to every facet of our personal, professional and civic lives, and in every corner of the globe, brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic”.
According to the IIC statement, after investing significantly in new technical resources to manage the transition to the on-line world, the IIC had hosted 13 online events, involving 2,500 attendees and more than 700 post event viewings since March. This move to online events, while necessitated by the pandemic, had resulted in the IIC widening its reach of policy professionals and regulators across the world.
The Institute also launched a series of podcasts featuring “one on one” discussions around key issues of communications policy. Chapman paid tribute to the leadership of the new Director-General, Lynn Robinson, who took over from the highly respected Andrea Millwood Hargrave in March this year, just as coronavirus restrictions were becoming widespread. Many of these popular events discussed the responses to the pandemic in different parts of the world, especially the acceleration of digital adoption as organisations moved to remote working.
Other subjects included 5G and health misinformation, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, platform competition and “green growth”.
The IIC AGM confirmed the re-appointment of the President and the current board.
The meeting also ratified the appointment of veteran policy professional, Andy Haire, as an IIC Trustee, following his recent retirement from the board.
According to IIC, Haire will join an illustrious group of trustees including Dr. Robert Pepper (Facebook), Michael Nelson, (Cloudflare), Peter Alexiadis (King’s College London) and Dr Zhong Liu (Southwestern University of finance and economics, Chengdu).
The International Institute of Communications exists to promote dialogue around the regulatory and policy challenges facing the telecoms, media and technology industries. It brings together leading policy thinkers from regulatory and government bodies, industry and academia.
Its aims include the dissemination of best practice, the exchange of ideas and the promotion of common understandings. It is independent, neutral and non-profit. Members include global giants AT&T, BT, Cisco, Ericsson, Facebook, Google, Liberty Global, Microsoft, Netflix, Nokia, Sky, Star, Telefonica, Verizon, Vodafone and Walt Disney as well as most of the world’s leading digital and communications regulatory bodies.
The AGM was held on 8 September for members, trustees and directors.
