Hellerstein & Associates' consultants have extensive knowledge and experience in ICT Policy development, broadband buildout, e-Government strategies, market analysis, strategy consulting, marketing, business development, investment promotion, and communications strategies. Hellerstein & Associates' consultants have provided technical assistance on evaluating the impact of ICT policies on business and economic developments, privatizations, liberalizations, e-Government assessments, cloud computing, data centers, Smart Cities, Digital TV Transition, telecom, technology, regulatory capacity building, and e-Government projects to companies and Governments in both developed and developing countries, in particular in emerging, transitional, and post-conflict countries.

The geographic experience of H&A is extensive, covering Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Western CIS, the Caucuses, Asia, and the Pacific. More information about Hellerstein & Associates can be found here.

Clients have included: the Government of the Bahamas, USTDA, the World Bank, InfoDev, the IFC, Annenberg School of Communications, the Commerical Law Development Program (US Department of Commerce), the Internet Society, and other institutions and organizations.

Hellerstein & Associates has the proven experience and the ability to translate technical, complex and multifaceted issues into lay terms to help its clients achieve their goals. We have a particular expertise in uncovering hard to find information and in translating complicated issues into lay terms.

Judith Hellerstein, is the Founder and CEO of Hellerstein & Associates, www.jhellerstein.com, a research consultancy specializing in opening up telecom and technology opportunities worldwide. Judith has over twenty years experience in developing policies, regulations, building regulatory capacity, strategy development, broadband build out, e-Government assessment, regulatory reform, competition law, and on Internet Governance issues having worked on several high profile projects while she was at the International Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission, MCI Communications, and Former Vice President Gore's Reinventing Government office before founding her firm. Judith has advised regulators, Governments, international organizations and commercial and non-profit clients around the world on the adoption of telecommunications laws and policies that best promote competition and the development of the ICT sector, including market and regulatory reforms. She conducts research and analysis on Internet Governance, tracking of Internet policy issues, ICT regulations, cloud computing, smart cities, broadband deployment, ICT policy development, mainstreaming ICT, cybercrime, and on competition policy issues. She has also designed and developed tools for sector assessments and e-government assessments.

Judith is the Chair of the At-Large Technology Task Force and Secretariat of the North American Regional At Large Organization (NARALO) both within ICANN. Judith has worked with actors across stakeholder groups in the Internet ecosystem to develop and manage Internet-related projects and campaigns. She helps clients keep current on states of affair across the many areas that Internet Governance and Policy issues are debated and discussed, monitoring & tracking developments, providing analysis, and intervening if desired. Judith has extensive experience with multistakeholder approaches to governance and other policy issues and also has strong research, writing, and analysis expertise.

Judith has vast experience in coordinating projects from inception to completion, including coordinating inputs from the World Bank, from other consultancies, academicians, practitioners, Governments, and subject experts. She has been Project Manager/Coordinator for several projects and has strong organizational, problem-solving, and planning expertise and is also experienced in leading projects requiring strong interpersonal skills for planning, gaining cooperation, making decisions, and consensus building.

Judith has a Masters in Public Administration from the Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in New York City, where she focused on International Development. She was awarded the prestigious Public Fellowship Award and has published many papers relating to public policy in the ICT market.

Rene Adrian Bustillo an Associate, is an expert in telecommunications law and regulation with broad experience in the fields of Project Management, Strategic Planning of Public Sector Reform, Telecom Operations, ICT, and Internet & Network Services. He has spent most of his career working on Telecom and ICT issues in Bolivia and in other Latin American countries.

During his 22 year professional career Mr. Bustillo worked at several posts at SITTEL (Bolivia's Telecom Regulatory Authority). In January 2003, he was appointed Superintendent of Telecommunications of SITTEL (rank equivalent to Minister) by the President of Bolivia to carry forward the telecom sector reforms implanted since 1995. While he was Superintendent he reordered and rearranged Electromagnetic Frequency Assignments, devised Public Tender Regulation for Licensing, implemented multi-carrier selection scheme for long-distance, established ITU Fundamental Technical Plans, restructured the institution with a focus on consumer and market protection, settled disputes between operators, obtained recognition at regional level, certified main regulatory processes for ISO 9001:2000, carried out successful auction processes for new services and mobile, launched ENTEL's Internet Services nationwide, participated in ENTEL's privatization process and was instrumental in restructuring the largest Bolivian fixed-line operator (COTEL) from bankruptcy though intervention.

As Superintendent of Telecommunications, he was a key player in setting up the Bolivian's National Strategy for ICTs, presented at the 2005 Information Society Summit in Tunisia. Many of the activities performed by the regulatory agency in Bolivia aimed at developing the ICT sector in rural areas, and Mr. Bustillo fostered the development of programs such as telecenters, computers for schools, and roundtable discussions with civil society, government, and industry for preparation of the so called "digital agenda" in the country. He has also, worked for the largest telecom operator in Bolivia, Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (ENTEL) and held several positions, including Data Networks Division Chief.
Mr. Bustillo also worked as Spectrum Management Consultant in Colombia where he was responsible for providing a diagnostic of the current regulatory regime and evaluating existing policies and proposing options and alternatives for the Ministry of Communications and the telecom regulator (CRT) to establish a new policy and regulatory framework. He also prepared a study, about Broadband technologies, convergence, and regulatory situation for REGULATEL, performing a country-by-country diagnostic of the broadband regulatory regime and recommending regulatory and normative measures.

He is both an Engineer and a registered Attorney, having graduated as Electrical Engineer Cum Laude from Utah State University (U.S.), with a Masters Degree in Computer Systems Design from the University of Houston-Clear Lake (U.S.), and holds a Degree in Civil Law from "Franz Tamayo" University (Bolivia). Mr. Bustillo is also a university professor for ninth and tenth semester courses for Data Communication and Project Assessment/Counseling, at the Electrical Engineering School of the Universidad Mayor de San Andres (UMSA) in Bolivia. He is frequently invited to speak in forums and workshops in fields related to sector regulation and infrastructure, telecommunications, and ICT development. Mr. Bustillo is a dual citizen (U.S. and Bolivian), and speaks Spanish (Native Proficiency), English (Advanced Professional Proficiency), and German (General Proficiency).

Dr. Lishan Adam has more than 28 years of professional, post-graduate experience in ICT sector analysis in Ethiopia, Africa, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Eastern Europe with focus on broadband access, infrastructure development, policy and regulation in the ICT and telecommunication sector, e-government systems and applications in sectors like health, education, agriculture and trade. Initially, he worked at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa as a programmer, trainer, network manager and a regional advisor. During the process he served as the first low cost network manager for Ethiopia and played a role in the development of national ICT policy in the country. Since he began consulting in 2003, Mr. Adam provided advice to governments, international institutions and regional bodies on the communications/broadband infrastructure development, e-government, e-applications, digital inclusion and policy and regulatory matters covering spectrum management, licensing, interconnection, standards, type approval, and digital migration. In Ethiopia he played a key role in the design a cloud computing strategy, a national postal addressing system, the development of e-services and more recently in development of a business plan for the Ethiopian Information Technology Park, Ethio IT Village.

He has extensive teaching and curriculum design experience in the ICT application regulatory field. Apart from teaching courses in information management at Addis Ababa University, he served as an academic at the Universities of Stellenbosch in South Africa as an Associate Professor on Information Systems teaching courses on ICT policy and knowledge management; at University of West Indies as course convenor on telecommunications planning with focus on policy, regulation and telecommunications business; and the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa as Associate Professor on ICT Policy and regulation.

As a member of the Research ICT Africa, he was involved in demand and supply analysis of ICT sector in eastern Africa with focus on the review of Ethiopian Telecommunications Sector in 2007, 2011/2012. His experience in telecommunication policy covers the following aspects:

Dr. Mark Kennet, PhD Economics-Demand and Pricing, specializes in engineering-economic cost modeling, demand modeling, and econometric studies. He is an international telecommunications and Internet consultant with many years of experience in regulatory issues on both the government and industry sides. Dr. Kennet’s work has included the development of cost modeling tools for interconnection and universal service applications in a wide variety of countries, including United States, Portugal, Peru, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Namibia, Kenya, Australia, and the Maldives, and other countries in all the populated continents. He is best-known for his work on telecommunications economic cost models and has contributed to regulatory and/or private sector models in a wide variety of nations, including the United States, Gabon, Portugal, Peru, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Namibia, Kenya, Australia, and the Maldives, and other countries in all the populated continents. Dr. Kennet has served as a consultant to efforts to develop national broadband networks in Peru, Mexico, and Gabon.

Dr. Kennet has also worked as a university professor and a senior economist in various government agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission. In the academic arena, Dr. Kennet has authored or co-authored a number of professional articles and books on telecommunications economics and policy, and has served on the faculties of the University of California-Santa Cruz, Tulane University, and George Washington University. In the United States government, Kennet helped develop the North American Industrial Classification System and was instrumental in creating the regulations and cost model used to determine rural telecommunications subsidies.

During the past twenty years, Dr. Kennet's work has included the development of cost modeling tools for interconnection and universal service applications in a wide variety of countries, including United States, Portugal, Peru, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Namibia, Kenya, Australia, and the Maldives, and other countries in all the populated continents. Dr. Kennet has advised on telecoms regulations in the United States, Jordan, and ECTEL. In addition, Dr. Kennet has served as a consultant to efforts to develop national broadband networks in Peru and Mexico. Dr. Kennet is co-author of a book published by MIT Press, "Cost Proxy Models and Telecommunications Policy: A New Approach to Empirical Analysis" (with F. Gasmi, J.-J. Laffont, and W.W. Sharkey) and has published numerous academic articles on the subject

Dr. Kennet has vast experience in developing and completing projects both large and small, including with the World Bank as well as governments and private companies. He has managed and coordinated a number of projects and has very strong problem-solving skills. He has the ability to work flexibly on a range of assignments, and to adjust and prioritize a variety of tasks. Dr. Kennet holds a B.S. in economics and mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin.

Daniel Espitia is an economic development specialist with 24 years of professional experience in public sector reform in the ICT sector, privatization and restructuring; 20 years of experience as development economist, policy and regulation planning specialist, regional harmonization, institutional restructuring and governance. Mr. Espitia has extensive Field experience in the ICT development in 33 countries worldwide, in Africa, Latin America and South East Asia, including some regional economic blocks. He is a specialized project manager with 18 years experience directing complex international projects coordinating multi-disciplinary specialists, chief of liaison in communications and negotiation with stakeholders that include: individuals, companies, regional organizations, development banks, NGOs, government ministries and agencies, specialized presidential offices, and as on-call mission specialist for the UN.

Mr. Espitia is a senior expert with a number of international organizations including USAID, the IDRC, the World Bank, the WTO, regional development banks and international NGOs and has a successful track record in international project management and on the design, development and application of economic development models in the field of access to information and communications.

His competence in public sector reform projects is focused on government strategic planning, multi-industry business development and business case modeling. He has also significant experience in institutional restructuring projects, and has been an executive coach with conflict resolution skills and has been called to facilitate resolution of organizational conflict crisis situations.

Alan Hooper has particular expertise in public private partnerships (PPP), privatization, financial and organizational re-structuring, infrastructure finance, project finance and cross-border investment. He has strong negotiations experience and specific sector expertise in telecommunications, development banking, tourism and agribusiness.

Alan has an extensive track record in leading sensitive and high-level commercial negotiations in the telecommunications sector. Most recently, when he was the lead negotiator of the advisory team supporting the Kenyan Ministers of Finance and Telecommunications and other senior Kenyan Government officials working on the Privatization of Telkom Kenya Ltd. (TKL). Alan was involved in sensitive high-level negotiations concerning unbundling of TKL's 60% in Safaricom, with the top management of Vodafone UK. This paved the way for the successful US$390 million privatization of TKL by sale of 51% to France Telecom, and was an essential pre-cursor to the initial public offering (IPO) of 25% of the shares in Safaricom on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, the largest IPO ever in sub Saharan Africa outside of South Africa.

In Africa, Alan has worked in Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda where he has advised on telecommunications regulatory issues with a focus on implementing Universal Service, privatization, and attracting direct foreign investment into the telecommunications sector.

Alan has substantial transactional experience in telecommunications. He has led transactions with five different African operators while they were being privatized. Alan was also financial and strategic advisor to the team from Telkom SA that conceptualized and implemented the US$650 million, 28,000km, SAT3-SAFE submarine cable linking Europe and the West coast of Africa to Asia. He has the capacity to identify and evaluate the economic, financial and legal implications of different courses of action available to Government in seeking an agreement. In the course of his career with the International Finance Corporation and subsequently, Mr. Hooper has been responsible for the evaluation of the financial viability of literally hundreds of projects, and for the successful financing of dozens of them. In the field of telecommunications he has been involved in some of the largest transactions on the African continent (see above) and also some of the smallest. In South Africa, together with Mr. Espitia, he has assisted small groups of black entrepreneurs in rural areas of South Africa with the successful development of winning strategies for highly competitive underserviced area licenses.

Alan has an MBA from Harvard Universitys Business School, a MSc diploma in Management Science from Edinburgh University, UK, and a BSc in Organic Chemistry from Leeds University, UK. He speaks English, and some French and Spanish.

Tira Greene is an attorney at law with very considerable experience in design of legal and regulatory frameworks and reviewing and drafting telecommunications, technology and trade laws, and preparing related policies, regulations, licences and contractual documents. She has provided legal advice and legislative drafting on WTO implementation and communications laws and/or regulations for over twenty countries.

Ms. Greene is a trained and highly experienced legal and legislative drafter who has advised on and drafted hundreds of laws, regulations, guidelines, leases, licences and other commercial documents in international projects. She has advised on communications, e-Government and trade policy and legal and regulatory frameworks and drafted enabling and implementing laws. She is particularly experienced in telecommunications liberalisation, e-Government and WTO implementation issues in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). She has an Advanced Diploma in International Law (Masters Degree programme), and a Masters in Telecommunications Policy and Regulation from the University of the West Indies.

Ms. Greene has exceptional interpersonal skills and develops excellent working relationships with persons from all cultures and backgrounds, evidenced by her track record of repeat consultancies from the same Governments/Countries. She has worked in many regions of the world and collaborated closely with colleagues in and from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and the United States. She is a very engaging speaker, with considerable experience in the conduct of consensus building and training workshops.

Mike Chinoko is an international development law expert and law consultant. He received his Bachelor of Laws with honours from Chancellor College of the University of Malawi; a Master of Laws in International Trade and Investment Law from University of Pretoria in the Republic of South Africa; and another Master of Laws in International Business and Economic Law from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting from the International Law Institute in Kampala, Uganda. He has over 16 years extensive knowledge and experience in legal practice, public service, legal research, law reform, legislative drafting and with stints working in multicultural international organizations. Mike has drafted over twenty piece of legislation in Malawi.

In addition to being in active legal practice for over 5 years, Mike has also worked as a law reform expert in Malawi and has drafted a number of pieces of legislation in Malawi, worked as team member of the African Union Special Working Group on the Extractive Industry; and also on attachment in Washington D.C. at the International Finance Corporation, a private sector development arm of the World Bank. During his study at Georgetown Law, he also distinguished himself as the best student in the study of Global Communication Policy and Regulation under Professor Jenifer Manner (a Global Communication Expert) and was a recipient of CALI Excellence for the Future Award for the study of Global Communication Policy and Regulation

Derek Gill, an Associate, is Founder, President, and CEO of FiberSat Telecommunications Corp., a provider of fiber optic and satellite telecommunications services to enterprise and governmental customers. Dr. Gill has over 20 years of experience designing, costing, and pricing global fiber optic and satellite telecommunications networks to link the developed and developing worlds to facilitate information exchange, economic cooperation, foreign investment, and international trade and development. He consults with telecommunications entities in the areas of network design, pricing strategy, organizational structures, and project management.

Dr. Gill is responsible for the economic, financial, pricing, and strategic decisions of FiberSat. He is experienced in conducting research and analysis to understand the drivers of demand and supply for global telecommunications capacity and in performing cost/benefit analyses of alternative sales, marketing, product, and pricing strategies in the global telecommunications market. He is adept at performing competitive analyses, analyzing cost structures, and establishing pricing strategies to achieve the defined profit objective. He is experienced in analyzing regulatory policy, filing tariffs, and preparing proposals for Federal Government and commercial contracts.

Dr. Gill has more than 20 years business experience in telecommunications first with COMSAT Corporation in Bethesda, MD where he was responsible for rate and tariff development for the whole spectrum of satellite-based services offered to Signatories by INTELSAT and INMARSAT. He then moved to Nynex/Bell Atlantic where he was Executive Director of Pricing and Sales Strategy. In this capacity, Dr. Gill was responsible for advising the Board of Directors of FLAG (a cable system linking the UK and Japan via the Middle East) of developments in the world telecom market and recommending when to rebalance prices on FLAG in a rigorously competitive market environment. Success in this environment required strong relationships with international carriers to understand their needs to enhance sales.

Next he worked for FLAG Telecom Ltd., a London-based firm, where he served as Senior Advisor, Strategy and Marketing and served as an integral member of the core management team responsible for the development of the FLAG ATLANTIC-1 (FA-1) cable project.

His most recent assignment before founding FiberSat was as Vice President, Product Development and Strategy for 360networks in Herndon, VA where his responsibilities encompassed product and services development, pricing strategy, and business development. In this position, Dr. Gill prepared proposals for the sale of myriad telecommunications services to top-tier international carriers in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

Dr. Gill is a native of Georgetown, Guyana and holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in engineering from Queen's University in Kingston Ontario, Canada, and a Ph.D. in economics from the Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. PETER KNIGHT PhD. is an economist, training strategist, and e-government specialist with broad international experience in distance education, e-government, telecommunications reform, electronic media, training strategy/evaluation, international banking, foundation work, teaching, and research. He has extensive high-level contacts in Africa (especially South Africa), Latin America (especially Brazil and Peru), and Eastern Europe and Asia (especially Russia).

Peter is the sole, principal, or contributing author of e-gov.br- a proxima revolucao brasileira, the most comprehensive study of e-government at the national, state, and municipal levels for any country (Sao Paulo: Financial Times Prentice Hall, January 2004). He also has 11 published World Bank studies (two published in book form in Portuguese in Brazil); the author of books on new forms of economic organization in Peru (1975) and Brazilian agricultural technology and trade (1971), and over 60 published articles and book chapters, as well as numerous unpublished reports and papers. Dr. Knight also writes regularly in Portuguese for the Brazilian financial sector magazine Banco Hoje, mainly on topics linking information and communications technology with economic and social development. He has consulted on e-government and distance education for the state governments of Rio de Janeiro and Parana and conducted lectures on these topics at academic, research, and business institutions in Sao Paulo.

His World Bank experience includes developing training programs in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, China, Vietnam, Eastern Europe and States of the former Soviet Union, as well as leading work on macroeconomic analysis, financial sector development, and poverty and basic needs in Brazil. He also managed two of the first eight projects of the World Bank's new Infodev program (telematics for learning in South Africa and telematics policy reform in Russia). He speaks French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian as well as his native English.

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