Call for papers: 6th Conference on the Regulation of Infrastructures (abstracts submission by 15 February 2017)

The call for papers for the “6th Conference on the Regulation of Infrastructures: Regulatory Challenges for Smart Cities” is open until February 16th, 2017! Registration for participants will open in March

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The de- and re-regulation of the different network industries is an ongoing process at national and global level. As this process unfolds, ever new phenomena emerge, which call for a constant reassessment of the content and objectives of regulation.

The question becomes even more challenging when looking at recent infrastructure development at the local level. Phenomena including (and not limited to) the demographic changes, the rapidly evolving consequences of climate change and the evolution of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have significantly challenged the traditionally stable landscape of urban infrastructure services provision. Providing traditional and new services in an innovative way is a growing trend among public authorities, traditional providers as well as new private prosumers and platforms for sharing economy. Both small and large agglomerations are seeking to become the so-called “smart cities”. However, together with great opportunities, disruptive innovations also give rise to new regulatory challenges especially on infrastructure financing and management of the future “smart cities”.

This 6^th Florence Conference on the Regulation of Infrastructures aims at taking stock of the major challenges infrastructure regulation is currently facing at the local level.

Papers will be presented in different parallel sessions dedicated to the following infrastructure sectors:

• Communications and media
• Energy and Climate
• Transport
• Water distribution
• Wastewater and waste management

We encourage contributions that link technology and institutions in more than one infrastructure sector. Contributions utilizing multidisciplinary as well as interdisciplinary approaches to regulation are welcome. Papers linking academia and practice, as well as policy research papers are particularly encouraged.

The conference is intended for academics such as PhD students, PostDocs and Assistant/associate/full Professors as well as academically minded practitioners.

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