Digitalizing Myanmar: Connectivity Developments in Political Transitions – Andrea Calderaro Developing Local Expertise The general lack of local competence involved in the domestic telecom policy process is a major obstacle for development of a debate open to multiple parties. The lack of local expertise has been an obstacle in the path of setting an independent regulator and has prevented citizens from following developments. Lack of knowledge also affects the government by forcing it to depend wholly on the intervention of external actors such as the World Bank. For these reasons, the development of local knowledge through the cooperation of civil society organizations, high-level experts, companies, and international institutions is imperative for enhancing public debate on telecom developments in Myanmar. 4. Conclusion This paper has explored the telecom developments in Myanmar along a three-step approach, paying particular attention to the mobile sector. Given the limited time since the start of the democratization process, one can conclude that the current national connectivity building plan is progressing at an unprecedented and effective rate. The initial stages of this process have been successful, shedding light on the Myanmar government’s largely positive approach to telecom development. This paper also explores, however, that connectivity building in Myanmar must be addressed from both an infrastructural and a policy perspective. In particular, domestic broadband capability should be implemented in the near future, and the government should withdraw from its controlling and monopolistic role in the broadband marketplace. The general election in 2015 may be a turning point for strengthening the democratic path down which Myanmar has already started. Approaching this critical event with an efficient telecom infrastructure and dramatically higher connectivity rate could facilitate the development of initiatives for voter mobilization and a fair and transparent election. When telecom reform is fully implemented, mobile operators will need to both adhere to standards of corporate social responsibility and any initiatives put in place to secure domestic internet 22