The annual Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy (commonly referred to as TPRC based on its historical name Telecommunications Policy Research Conference) is a multidisciplinary forum where scholars engaged in publishable research relevant to issues of national and international policy on communications, information, and the Internet present their work for audiences of fellow scholars and public- and private-sector decision makers engaged in telecommunications, media, and information policy.
Contents
Purpose and organization
The purpose of the Conference is to acquaint those active in the policy-making field with the best of recent research and to familiarize researchers with the knowledge requirements of public policymakers and the various affected industries. The conference consists of panelists who present papers selected based on abstracts, as well as discussion panels and keynote speakers; the Program Committee of TPRC is responsible for the selection of all papers and presenters.
The Conference is organized by TPRC, Inc., a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of Maryland. TPRC is governed by an international Board of Directors, consisting of individuals from the academy, industry, government, and non-profit sectors, and currently (2011–12) chaired by Johannes M. Bauer (Michigan State University). The conference program is organized by a Program Committee, currently (2011–12) chaired by Pierre de Vries (University of Washington and Silicon Flatirons Center, University of Colorado).
Topics addressed at TPRC
Contributors to TPRC present legal, economic, social, and technical work on a range of topics and subject matter areas, including but not limited to: voice, video, and data communications using wireline and wireless networks; traditional mass media including radio and television broadcasting, cable- and satellite-delivered communication; the growth and evolution of the Internet ecosystem; technological convergence and its implications for statutes, regulations, and treaties; intellectual property; electronic commerce; privacy and cybersecurity; and the role of communications, information, and the Internet in economic development.
Publication and archiving of papers
Beginning with the 2008 conference, TPRC papers are archived in the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN). Selected papers are published in special issues of Telecommunications Policy and The Journal of Information Policy.
Timeline for paper submission and selection
A call for papers is typically circulated in January of each year. Abstracts are due by the end March and authors chosen to present are notified in June. To encourage participation by young and emerging scholars, TPRC also holds an international student paper competition with cash and in-kind prizes for the top three papers as selected by the Program Committee. This competition is based on full papers, typically due at the end of April.
TPRC 2016 (44th Anniversary)
The 2016 conference will take place September 30–October 1, 2016 at the George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, VA.
Board of Directors (2011-2012)
Program Committee Chairs (2003-2012)
History
TPRC was founded in 1972 by a group of regulators, governmental researchers and representatives of diverse academic communities who met at the first Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (subsequently renamed TPRC) organized by the Office of Telecommunications Policy in the White House. As communications policy has grown in importance to where the very term “telecommunications” is inadequate, the conference has evolved and expanded. TPRC saw the birth of the discourse on spectrum auctions. TPRC offered the first panel on the social and political implications of e-commerce in 1994. Conference topics have increasingly emphasized the interaction among disciplines, including network science and engineering, economics, law, and social sciences.
See, "From A Novel Conference: The Origin of TPRC", by Bruce M. Owen from the book: TELEPHONY, THE INTERNET, AND THE MEDIA Selected Papers from the 1997 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference. Edited by Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason, University of Michigan and David Waterman, Indiana University.