Public issue policy
Research and write policy brief focused on a public issue raised in one of the units in the second half of the course. Choose one of these four units: games & socializing or privacy & surveillance You must focus on a different unit that you did in Assignment 2.
In your policy brief, provide a summary, analysis, and series of recommendations associated with an emerging issue in mobile technology. You will need to find and describe an issue, and situate it in the context of the unit you are focusing on. Here are some questions you might consider in your research and writing:
Where and when did this issue start?
What does this issue involve? Highlight its pros and cons.
What are the potential benefits and shortcomings of the issue you are describing?
Who are the winners and losers?
What are the implications of the issue for your chosen organization?
What social, political, economic, or cultural contexts are associated with your issue?
Conclude with a recommended approach or strategy that your organization should take with regards to the issue being considered.
Make sure you identify the audience of your policy brief and tailor your writing to this group. It might be a business (a device manufacturer or network operator), a government agency (such as the Privacy Commissioner or Industry Canada), or a civil society organization (such as Open Media or the Electronic Frontier Foundation).
Your policy brief should be approximately 3-4 pages (850 words). It should be written formally, aimed at your audience. As with your other assignments, include a reference list.
IDRC on How to Write a Policy Brief: https://www.idrc.ca/EN/Resources/Tools_and_Training/Documents/how-to-write-a-policy-brief.pdf (Links to an external site.)
Melinda Lewis on What Makes a Good Policy Brief: https://melindaklewis.com/2009/09/30/what-makes-a-good-policy-brief/ (Links to an external site.)
IPF on what is a policy brief: https://www.policy.hu/ipf/fel-pubs/samples/PolicyBrief-described.pdf (Links to an external site.)
Johns Hopkins on health policy briefs: https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/womens-and-childrens-health-policy-center/de/policy_brief/index.html (Links to an external site.)
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Examples of policy briefs:
Brookings institute telecom policy brief: https://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2004/1/telecommunications%20litan/pb129.pdf (Links to an external site.)
Centre for Internet and Society’s policy brief on unlicensed spectrum in India: https://cis-india.org/telecom/unlicensed-spectrum-policy-brief-for-govt-of-india (Links to an external site.)
Rohan Samarajiva’s policy brief on the Internet (Rohan is a grad of SFU CMNS, back when I started as a grad student!): https://www.ecipe.org/media/publication_pdfs/PB201212b.pdf (Links to an external site.)
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