The University of the West Indies (UWI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Hopeton S. Dunn to the post of Director, UWI Digicel Foundation Programme in Telecommunications Policy and Management (TPM), based at the Mona School of Business, UWI.
The establishment of a new Programme and Chair in Telecommunications Policy was announced in April this year by Harry Smith, Chairman of Digicel Foundation at a reception hosted by the University to honour partners of the Mona Campus.
In making the announcement, Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the Mona Campus, Professor Kenneth Hall said this appointment represents the start of implementation of the Digicel Foundation Chair in Telecommunications Policy and Management at UWI, Mona. He said the University extends deep appreciation to Digicel Foundation for its generous support of this new Programme, which is the first of its kind at the Mona Campus.
Under Dr Dunn’s guidance, the pioneering TPM Programme at Mona will offer both teaching and research at the Masters and PhD levels, as well as contribute courses and modules to related UWI graduate and undergraduate programmes already in operation. It will also provide the framework for industry and academic seminars, sponsored research and active policy engagement with the wider communication industry within the Caribbean.
Dr Dunn is a widely respected Caribbean scholar with an outstanding career in research, writing and public policy formulation in telecommunications and broadcasting development regionally. Even while on secondment from the UWI, he has been serving in the part-time capacity as Deputy Coordinator and a Course Director of the UWI Masters Degree Programme in Telecommunications Regulation and Policy (MRP) offered out of the University’s St Augustine Campus, via the Internet. This Programme is being taken by over 80 graduate students drawn from some 20 countries worldwide and is the first of its kind at UWI.
Dr Dunn also served as Chairman of Jamaica's Telecommunications Advisory Council during the transitional stages of the industry from dominance by a monopoly provider to a policy of open competition in mobile services. As part of his extensive experience in regulation, he was also Chairman of the Policy and Legislative Committee of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica and a Broadcasting Commissioner for over six years.
Dr Dunn gained his Bachelors Degree at the UWI, graduating with first class honours in Communication with Social Sciences. He later undertook postgraduate studies at The City University, London, where he earned his Masters and Doctoral Degrees in Telecommunication Policy and Management. His post-doctoral studies in Telecommunications Regulation were done at Florida International University (FIU), USA, on a fellowship offered by the Organization of American States (OAS). He has published extensively and is a leading regional consultant in telecommunications, media and broadcasting policy issues.
Dr Dunn will shortly demit office as Chief Executive Officer of the Creative Production and Training Centre Limited, (CPTC), following his two-year secondment from the UWI to that institution. He is however expected to remain in the non-executive role of CPTC Chairman while taking up his new assignment at the UWI.