Sonia Jorge is Research and Consulting Director at Pyramid Research, responsible for Pyramid’s global regulatory and policy consulting practice. Ms. Jorge has close to 20 years of experience as an international consultant in communications policy and regulation, gender and development and has worked extensively with public and private clients in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. Her recent work has focused on ICT policy and regulation, strategic planning for the ICT sector, national ICT policy and program development, new regulatory frameworks (to address competition, interconnection, cost-based pricing, sector development, licensing, convergence), market analysis and business strategies, universal access in the context of development, rural networks and infrastructure planning, gender analysis and awareness in the process of planning for information and communication technologies.
Recent project experience includes:
Mobile Applications for Development in Emerging Markets (2010-on-going research project): Coordinate and lead Pyramid Research’s global initiative on mobile applications for development, focusing on documenting the experiences, assessing technology platforms, and developing innovative indicators to measure impact across sectors and population groups. This initiative includes the publication of research reports on mobile for development themes, such as mAgriculture, mHealth, mEducation, mMoney and mWomen.
Latin America and the Caribbean (projects in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Mexico and the ECTEL states over a number of years): Responsible to develop detailed market analysis and identify key connectivity and access gaps to be addressed by private and public stakeholders. Developed policy statements, universal access/service guidelines and market strategies focusing on promoting development and growth in the sector, for both regulators and operators.
Ghana (2009-2010): Part of a team of experts charged with the development of a strategic plan, institutional framework and capacity building plan for the National Communications Authority.
Liberia (2010): Responsible for the preparation of a rural connectivity development policy and action plan in the context of upcoming submarine cable capacity and the proposed Universal Service Fund for the Government of Liberia.
Mozambique (2009): Responsible for the development of a universal access strategy and implementation plan for the National Institute of Communications of Mozambique. This project included an assessment of universal access in the country, an evaluation of current projects supported by the Universal Access Fund, and the development of programs to expand access to and use of ICT in Mozambique.
Mozambique (2007-2008): Responsible for managing and executing this comprehensive consulting project for the National Institute of Communication in Mozambique. The project included a detailed market analysis (including stakeholder consultations, demand study, regional field visits and assessments), an organizational assessment of the regulator, advice for a new regulatory framework, and a capacity building plan for the regulator.
Ms. Jorge’s other recent projects include: a review and assessment of the experience of Multi-sector Regulatory Agencies (MSRA) in five African countries, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal and Niger; the development of universal service guidelines for the ECTEL member states (5 states in the Eastern Caribbean region); the rural ICT development policy for Indonesia; coordination of research for the REGULATEL/World Bank region-wide study of universal access to communication in 19 Latin American countries; preparation of the UN-Task Force on Financing Mechanisms report on financing ICT for development to be submitted at WSIS; an assessment of capacity needs and development of a capacity-building plan for the Ministry of Communication and the regulator in Ghana; development of training materials on ICT Policy and regulation for various professionals; a gender and telecommunications policy curriculum for the ITU; and national sector policies in a number of countries (Ghana, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Dominican Republic, South Africa).
Ms. Jorge has published widely and presented various papers in international conferences, including several focusing on gender and ICT issues. Ms. Jorge holds a Masters in Public Policy (Tufts University) and a BA/BS in Economics and Business Finance (University of Massachusetts). She is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English, and is based in the company’s headquarters in Cambridge, MA.
