APC carries out a lot of research. Why? Because we link research to capacity building, to changed practice, to networking and advocacy. When we undertake research it is usually because we have an underlying advocacy goal. For example, we have worked with local researcher-activists to conduct research on telecomms policy in the Andean region because our long term goal is to bring down the price of broadband there.

The research is then used in broader capacity development: training, building knowledge of the issues, making information available in the public domain. Simultaneously we facilitate participation in policy processes, giving people an opportunity to use and test the research in real policy processes. The other element of this method, which is what we see makes it produce sustainable results, is that we tend to link researchers and other people seeking policy change, supporting the emergence of networks that then often continue on their own.