Fondecyt Project Takes Part in the 10th International Congress of the AE-IC

Last Wednesday, May 20th, the team of researchers of the Fondecyt Project on Convergent Regulation shared the main findings of their work at the Tenth International Congress “Communicating Uncertainty”, organized by the Spanish Association of Communication Research (AE-IC). The project’s participation revolved around two lectures that addressed the institutional design and autonomy of regulatory agencies.

The first presentation, led by Chiara Sáez and Patricia Peña, was entitled “Critical Factors for the Establishment of a Convergent Regulatory Institutional Framework of Communications Based on a Study of Four National Cases”.

The researchers disclosed the results of the project’s third year, focused on identifying best practices for designing a Convergent Regulatory Institutional Framework of Communications (IRCC) that is effective for the Chilean case.

Currently in its fourth year, the research analyzed legal frameworks and gathered testimonies from the civil society, the academia and the bodies of four international experiences: IFETEL (Mexico), CRTC (Canada), CRC (Colombia) and Ofcom (United Kingdom).

The findings brought to light by the authors underscore that these agencies are not homogeneous but deeply shaped by each country’s political culture, a determining factor that coexists with the agency of the actors participating in the process.

Independence of Regulatory Authorities

In the second block, researchers Javier García and Jorge Avilés presented “Independence Indicators of Independent Convergent Regulatory Authorities of Communications”.

The lecture outlined a methodological proposal for assessing the autonomy of collegiate governing bodies in the field of telecommunications, broadcasting and digital services.

The tool is composed of eight multidimensional indicators that analyze the composition and appointment of leading authorities under criteria of structure, integrity, eligibility, appointment, periodization, renewal, removal and exclusivity.

The researchers warned that the international cases show more sophisticated standards for safeguarding the specialization and independence of their boards. With this, the project seeks to consolidate a robust analytical matrix for the systematic and comparative assessment of regulatory governance in digital convergence.