tipi - about us

The Telecommunications and Information Policy Institute (TIPI) was established in May 1996 by the University of Texas at Austin, in response to the unprecedented opportunities in Texas associated with telecommunications. Originally established as a statewide resource, TIPI has grown to play a key role in advising both the public and private sectors in setting priorities and allocating resources at the state, national and international levels. As an interdisciplinary institute, TIPI engages faculty scholars from diverse colleges and departments from the University of Texas and various institutions of higher learning worldwide. These TIPI faculty associates assist in the design and implementation of the policy analysis and research initiatives of the Institute. They also are encouraged to seek grants and contracts in the relevant and important areas of telecommunications policy.

Research overview :::

Digital Media Collaboratory: A new initiative at the University of Texas at Austin to facilitate coordinated, inter-departmental research and development in digital and interactive media.

RUPRI: Projects and publications of the Rural Policy Research Institute Telecommunications Panel are now located in their own section on this site. Included is a comprehensive Rural Telecommunications Policy Bibliography in both HTML and PDF format.

Press Release: A study prepared for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) by University of Texas at Austin Professors Michael Oden (Community and Regional Planning) and Sharon Strover (Radio-TV-Film and director of the Telecommunications and Information Policy Institute) concluded that the 200,000-square-mile region, that follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi, substantially lacks adequate access to a robust telecommunications infrastructure and the local capacity to use technology effectively for economic development. The report also underscores the potential contribution information technology can make to the region's economy and highlights steps that can help narrow the gaps that separate Appalachia from the rest of the nation.

Telecommunications and 211: A Primer: This report summarizes topics important to communities thinking about or involved in launching 211 services and is available as a PDF in the Reports section.

Information and Telecommunications Technology and Economic Development: The research strategy used here provides a comprehensive map of current telecom infrastructure patterns and focuses on tracing outcomes associated with federal and state universal service programs as well as additional state and local telecommunications-related initiatives. This work is part of a larger project that used field research and telephone interviews, archival and secondary documents, and web-based investigations in order to gather data. The full Executive Summary (PDF) is available in our Research and Reports sections.

RTF393N/PA 882A Evaluating Community Networks in Texas: The goal of this Policy Research Project was to evaluate the performance of the community networking projects that have received TIF funding so far. The evaluation's goal was to identify strengths and weaknesses in each community's project, as well as to generate a "best practices" guideline or prototype for other community networking endeavors. This PRP was co-taught by Professor and TIPI Director Sharon Strover of the Department of Radio-TV-Film and by Gary Chapman, director of The 21st Century Project at the LBJ School.