Selected academics and practitioners have gathered in Florence on June 24th 2016 to discuss the latest developments in the regulation of different network industries, namely transport, energy, communications and media and water distribution. The fifth edition of the Conference on the Regulation of Infrastructures had a special focus on digitalization and the use of data, which is a topic that cuts across all network industries and is highly debated.
As usual, the key element of the Conference has been the exchange between young researchers and experienced professors specialised in different fields. Building on the experience gained from the past editions, our ambition this year was to stimulate interdisciplinary as well as cross-sectorial discussions on the regulatory challenges for digitalization in the network industries. As the four sectors are not in the same stage of transformation and different countries are not in the same development phase, a big variety of different questions and different policy options have been discussed. However, the Conference also promoted cross-sectoral discussions and exchanges on the general issues pertaining to all sectors such as the complex interplay between sector specific and competition regulation.
The Conference allowed researches to get high quality feedback from fellow colleagues and to learn from the experience of other network industries. 10 papers have been presented in seven round table sessions each dedicated to one of the discussed industries. All abstracts and powerpoint presentations, as well as the interview with Dr Christa Sys who was awarded for the best paper of the Conference, are now available on the Conference webpage.
