By: Diane Stirling
(315) 443-8975
School of Information Studies Professor Martha A. Garcia-Murillo has been awarded a Cátedra Telefonica fellowship to conduct research this spring at the Institute of International Studies in Barcelona.
Garcia-Murillo said she is looking forward to the fellowship and the opportunity to examine the impact of information and communication technologies in Latin American countries. She will be looking at how mobile technology regulation, private-sector practices, and technology investment affect the economies of underdeveloped countries. In particular, she will assess whether new technologies facilitate the creation, development, and growth of small, new, and informal businesses; how they might do so; and the resulting effects on a country’s overall economy. Those are research initiatives she also expects to continue assessing in the future, she said.
Garcia-Murillo has the distinction of being the only visiting researcher selected for the Telefonica fellowship this year. She will conclude her visitation by presenting a summary of her preliminary research findings at a seminar for faculty and researchers at IBEI and other academic institutions in the Barcelona area. She said she hopes the fellowship period will permit her to establish research links and academic relationships with other faculty and institutions that will be beneficial to the School.
Telefonica is a Spanish communications operator and one of the world’s largest fully integrated companies providing communications, information and entertainment solutions to consumers. It operates in 25 countries in Europe, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific, serving 325 million customers. The company annually awards and funds a select number of academic fellowships for research on topics in telecommunications policy and regulation in conjunction with the Institute of International Studies.
Garcia-Murillo has been on the faculty at the iSchool since 1999. She has degrees in international relations, economics, and political economy and public policy. She is known her professional consulting activity for several United Nations agencies, as well as for her work providing training to regulators from all over the world through the World Bank and the U.S. State Department.