Commonwealth Fellowships Admission now Open

Applications now open!

The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk/) has opened a call for applications for Commonwealth Professional Fellowships starting between 19 September 2016 and 31 December 2016. The scheme supports mid-career professionals from developing Commonwealth countries to spend around three months with a UK host organisation on a programme of professional development. The CTO intends to apply to the CSC to host Fellows on six work programmes detailed below and seek applications from members. The application process has two stages; first the applicants are invited to submit an application, detailed as below, to the CTO; applications should be submitted to membership@cto.int. The six best candidates will be put forward to the CSC by the CTO for final selection. More information here. The deadline for applications to the CTO is 6 May 2016. Applicants should be mid-career professionals with at least five years’ relevant work experience in the field to which the selected work programme belongs. They should also be citizens of a Full Member Country of the CTO. The Fellowship will cover living expenses in UK, a return airfare to the UK and the cost of selected short training courses. Interested applicants should submit a CV and a 500-word statement as to why s/he believes her/himself to be the best candidate for the particular work programme. Work Programmes for 2016 Cybersecurity Strategies - Cybersecurity is one of the focus areas of the CTO under its strategic plan and has so far developed national cybersecurity strategies for Botswana, Cameroon, Fiji and Uganda, based on a unique approach it has developed, with three more projects planned for 2016. The Fellow will evaluate the implementation of the cybersecurity strategies CTO has already developed and contribute to the development of the planned strategies; Cybercrime - CTO has delivered a project in Nigeria to develop the capacity of the telecom sector to tackle cybercrime and to assist the law enforcement sector to draw on the strengths of the telecommunications sector. This project will be replicated in two other Commonwealth countries by August 2016. The Fellow will develop a best practice guide on leveraging the strengths of the telecom sector to tackle Cybercrime based on the outcomes of the CTO projects. In addition the Fellow will adopt this model to their country or region and come up with an implementation plan; Over-The-Top services - The reach of over-the-top (OTT) applications and services, such as Skype, Viber and WhatsApp, that are accessible over the internet using operators’ networks, both in terms of availability and usage, has steadily increased. While OTTs provide a range of benefits to consumers, primarily low/no-cost communications, operators and regulators have expressed concerns in the way OTTs use networks. The Fellow will assist the CTO’s planned study on OTTs which is aimed at developing an operational model that recognises the interests of all stakeholders while continuing to provide benefits to consumers; Broadband - Broadband has a proven effect on economic development. The CTO has assisted a number of countries develop their national broadband strategies, some of which are now operational. The Fellow will develop a compendium of implementation challenges based on the outcomes of CTO projects; ICTs for Disaster Management - ICTs could play a significant role in minimising the effect of natural disasters. This is of particular importance to the Commonwealth as a large proportion of its member countries are island states. The CTO has delivered a series of capacity building workshops on the subject. The Fellow will carry out a study of good practices in the use of ICTs for disaster management and develop a guide; Spectrum - The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) 2015 resulted in a number of decisions on the management and utilisation of spectrum and which have far-reaching effect. The Fellow will study the outcomes of WRC-15, identify the impact on Commonwealth countries and assist in the organising of Commonwealth Spectrum Management Forum due to be held in the last quarter of 2016; For more information, write to membership@cto.int or call +44 20 8600 3814. About the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) is the oldest and largest Commonwealth intergovernmental organisation in the field of information and communication technologies. Although our history can be traced back to 1901 with the establishment of the Pacific Cable Board, the organisation has only existed in its present form as an intergovernmental treaty organisation since 1967. With a diverse membership spanning developed and least developed countries, small island developing states, and more recently also the private sector and civil society, the CTO aims to become a trusted partner for sustainable development for all through ICTs. More information about us here