Decisions to shape the future of ITU… and the ICT industry at large

As we go to press with this issue of the Highlights, the Plenary is holding its first night session and has just confirmed the decisions taken at its meeting on 18 October. These decisions are reported here.

Conference approves Strategic Plan for ITU for the years 2012-2015

Doreen Bogdan Executive Secretary of PP-10

ITU, with its vision to connect the world in order to safeguard everyone’s fundamental right to communicate, needs a strong and effective strategic plan both to respond to the changing needs of its members and to prove its ongoing relevance in an all-IP world. Approving the plan, the conference expressed gratitude to Fabio Bigi of Italy for chairing  the Working Group of the Council that developed a robust plan for the Union.

What changes will impact our world?

Technologies are emerging that enable new services and applications, promoting the building of an information society. The Internet and other IP-based platforms and related services have continued to grow, although unevenly, across countries. International, regional and national IP-based backbone networks have been deployed.

Technological platforms for telecommunications, information delivery, broadcasting and computing have converged, and common integrated network infrastructures for multiple communication services and applications have been deployed. Wireless and mobile radiocommunications have continued to develop rapidly, converging with both fixed telephony and broadcasting services.

Building confidence and security in the use of ICT will require ITU to build upon existing cybersecurity work, joining together with partners internationally to do so.

ITU’s strategic orientation

As a pre-eminent intergovernmental organization where Member States, Sector Members and Associates work together, ITU enables and fosters the development of telecommunication networks and services, facilitating universal access, so that people everywhere can participate in, and benefit from, the emerging information society.
 
The strategic plan that has just been approved contains specific goals for each of the component parts of ITU, along with objectives to achieve the Union's overall mission. Here we only highlight the goals.

Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R)
ITU-R aims to:

• ensure interference-free operations of radiocommunication systems by means of implementing the Radio Regulations and Regional Agreements, as well as by updating these instruments through the processes of the world and regional radiocommunication conferences;
  
  
•  establish Recommendations intended to assure the necessary performance and quality in operating radiocommunication systems;
  
  
• seek ways and means to ensure the rational, equitable, efficient and economical use of the radio frequency spectrum and satellite orbit resources, and to promote flexibility for future expansion and new technological developments.

Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T)
ITU-T aims to:

• develop interoperable, non-discriminatory international standards (ITU-T Recommendations);
  
  
• assist in bridging the standardization gap between developed and developing countries;
  
  
• extend and facilitate international cooperation among international and regional standardization bodies.

Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D)
ITU-D aims to:

• foster an enabling environment for telecommunication/ICT infrastructure development and its use in a safe and secure manner;
  
  
• assist developing countries  to bridge the digital divide and achieve greater telecommunication/ICT-enabled socioeconomic development;
  
  
• expand the benefits of the information society and promote the use of telecommunications/ICT as drivers of development, innovation, well-being, growth and productivity globally.

General Secretariat (GS)
The General Secretariat aims for effectiveness and efficiency in the planning, management, coordination and delivery of services to support the Union and its membership. The General Secretariat ensures the implementation of the financial and strategic plans of the Union, and coordinates intersectoral activities, as identified in the ITU Basic Texts.

The resolution that goes with the plan…

The conference also approved revisions to Resolution 71 (Guadalajara, 2010) entitled “Strategic Plan for the Union for 2012-2015”. These updates underline that the goals and objectives, as well as the associated activities from the previous strategic plan for the years 2008-2011 could still be relevant for the period 2012-2015. In this regard, the conference agreed that the new plan should be complemented with the objectives and outputs of the previous plan for the years 2008-2011.

The updated resolution requires the Secretary-General  to present to the Council annual progress reports on the implementation of the new strategic plan, as well as on ITU’s performance towards the achievement of its objectives. He can make recommendations to adjust the plan in the light of changes in the telecommunication/ICT environment. He can also modify the plan, if necessary, to facilitate the accomplishment of ITU’s mission. In so doing, he would take account of proposals from the competent Sector Advisory Groups, decisions by conferences and by assemblies of the Sectors or changes in the Union’s activities or its financial situation.

As for the Council, it will “oversee further development and implementation of the strategic plan for 2012-2015” on the basis of the Secretary-General’s annual reports. The Council will also present an assessment of the results of the strategic plan for 2012-2015 to the next Plenipotentiary Conference in 2014, along with a proposed strategic plan for the period 2016-2019.  Meanwhile, Member States can contribute national and regional insights on policy, regulatory and operational matters to ITU’s strategic planning process. And Sector Members can communicate their views on the strategic plan through their relevant Sectors and the corresponding Advisory Groups.

New resolutions

Admission of academia, universities and their associated research establishments to participate in ITU’s work

The academic community is working on state-of-the-art developments in technology that are within ITU’s field of competence. Sharing the academic vision of the future would help ITU address modern technologies and applications in a timely fashion.

Recognizing that the participation of academia, universities and their associated research establishments in the three Sectors of the Union will benefit the work of those Sectors, the conference has adopted a new resolution on “admission of academia, universities and their associated research establishments to participate in the work of the three Sectors of the Union”.

Hailed as a major step forward, this new resolution claims that the scientific contribution of these bodies will far exceed the financial incentives proposed to encourage their participation. The level of the financial contribution for academic institutes will be a proportion of the value of the contributory unit of a Sector Member for defraying the expenses of the Union. It has been set as follows: academic institutions from developing countries will pay 1/16 (one-sixteenth) of the value of a contributory unit for a Sector Member; and academic institutions from least developed countries, small island developing States, land-locked developing countries, and countries with economies in transition will pay 1/32 (one-thirty-second) of the value of the contributory unit for a Sector Member.

The conference has decided to start with a trial period. The new resolution will allow academic institutes concerned with the development of telecommunications/information and communication technology (ICT) to participate in the work of the three Sectors until the next Plenipotentiary Conference in 2014, under certain conditions. Academic participants will not have a role in decision-making, and they will have no role in the adoption of resolutions or recommendations.

To participate in ITU activities, academic institutes must be supported by the Member States of the Union to which they belong, and must not replace bodies currently listed with the Union as Sector Members or Associates. The application and approval process will be similar to that for Associates.

The resolution empowers the Council to add conditions or detailed procedures to the resolution, as necessary. The Sector Advisory Groups will also see whether any changes need to be made to accommodate academic institutes. A report will be submitted to the next Plenipotentiary Conference, to enable a final decision to be taken on academic participation in the work of the Union.

Allocation of seats of Council Member States

The ITU Council is composed of Member States elected by the Plenipotentiary Conference. A new resolution of the Guadalajara Conference proposes a methodology to allocate seats of Council Member States among the five administrative regions. It notes that the number of Council Member States shall not exceed 25 per cent of the total number of Member States of the Union in accordance with No. 50A of the ITU Convention. It recognizes the need to clarify the manner in which equitable distribution of Council Member States is applied pursuant to No. 61 of the ITU Constitution. It says that for each administrative region of the Council, the percentage of 25 per cent shall be applied to the number of Member States in that region to determine the number of seats to be allocated to the region. The figure obtained after this calculation shall be rounded to the nearest integer. And it is  this rounded integer that will constitute the number of seats allocated to the region. The Secretary-General will inform the Member States on changes in the number of Member States of the Union and their impact on the distribution of seats of Member States of the Council.

As reported earlier, the Guadalajara Conference decided to increase the number of seats of Council Member States from 46 to 48. On the proposal of the Russian Federation, the method for calculating the number of seats per region will continue to be refined in particular in order to identify a solution in the event of a tie between regions.

Updated resolutions

Gender equality… a focus on women and girls in ICT

A UN General Assembly Resolution adopted on 21 July 2010 established the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In Guadalajara, the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference has been working along the same lines, adopting a revised version of Resolution 70  (Rev. Guadalajara 2010) on “gender mainstreaming in ITU and promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women through information and communication technologies”.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment can be advanced in several ways through information and communication technologies (ICT). Encouraging girls to choose a career in the field of ICT, and fostering the use of ICT for the social and economic empowerment of women and girls, are obvious examples. The growing number of women in the ICT field with decision-making could push the work of ITU in this direction.
 
The revised resolution encourages Member States and Sector Members to facilitate the employment of women and men equally in the ICT/telecommunication field, including at senior levels of responsibility, and to increase opportunities for women and girls in ICT careers during elementary, secondary and higher education. One way to do this would be by establishing an international “Girls in ICT” day, to be celebrated annually on every fourth Thursday of April. This would provide an occasion for ICT companies, other companies with ICT departments, ICT training institutions, universities, research centres, and all ICT-related institutions to organize an open day for girls. Another way would be to support the work of the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) and of a “Global Network of women ICT decision-makers”. In this regard, the ITU Secretary-General is instructed to encourage the launch of such a network.

A gender perspective will be incorporated in the implementation of the ITU strategic plan and financial plan for 2012-2015, as well as in the operational plans of the Union’s three Bureaux and the General Secretariat. According to the resolution, the Council has the responsibility of expanding on the ITU initiatives of the past four years, to accelerate the gender mainstreaming process in ITU as a whole, within existing budgetary resources, so as to ensure capacity building and promotion of women at senior-level positions. In the resolution, the Council is instructed to consider selecting the theme “Women and Girls in ICT” to mark World Telecommunication and Information Society Day in 2012.

To implement the resolution, the Secretary-General is instructed to announce a year-long Call to Action with a focus on the theme “Women and Girls in ICT”, while the Director of BDT is to bring to the attention of other UN agencies the need to increase the interest and opportunities for girls and young women in ICT careers. The resolution invites Member States and Sector Members to establish and observe annually and internationally “Girls in ICT” day.
 

Assistance and support to Serbia for rebuilding its destroyed public broadcasting system

Reliable public broadcasting and telecommunication systems are indispensable for promoting the socio-economic development of countries - notably those having suffered from natural disasters, domestic conflicts or war. Serbia is one such country. The conference has updated Resolution 126 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010) on “assistance and support to the Republic of Serbia for rebuilding its destroyed public broadcasting system”. ITU’s  key role in rebuilding that country's telecommunication sector has been widely recognized.

The resolution underlines that the newly established public broadcasting facility in Serbia, public entity “Broadcast Multiplex and Network Operator” (ETV) – formerly a part of the Radio Television of Serbia –  has been severely damaged. The damage to public broadcasting in Serbia, as the conference recognized, should be a matter of  concern to the whole international community, in particular ITU. As public broadcaster, ETV is a public entity, which should start broadcasting digital television programmes on 4 April 2012. However, under the present conditions and in the foreseeable future, Serbia will not be able to bring its public broadcasting system and the digital switch-over process up to an acceptable level without help from the international community, provided bilaterally or through international organizations. The resolution, as updated, calls upon Member States to offer all possible assistance. It instructs the Council to allocate the necessary funds, within available resources. It instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau to use the necessary funds (also, within available resources), in order to continue appropriate action. The Secretary-General will coordinate the activities carried out by the ITU Sectors to ensure that the Union’s action in favour of Serbia is as effective as possible. He will report on the matter to the Council.

Information and communication technology index and community connectivity indicators

The outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) represent an opportunity for a global strategy to narrow the digital divide. Resolution 131 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010) on “information and communication technology index and community connectivity indicators”, has been updated to reflect  ITU’s recent efforts towards such a strategy, including the decisions  of the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-10) in Hyderabad, India.  
 

Revised Resolution 131 now lists the tasks which ITU’s Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) is called upon to undertake through Programme 3 of the Hyderabad Action Plan. It says that ITU-D is to:

• collect and disseminate in a timely fashion data and statistics, including sex-disaggregated data where applicable;
  
  
• analyse telecommunication/ICT trends and produce regional and global research reports;
  
  
• benchmark ICT developments and clarify the magnitude of the digital divide (using tools such as the ICT Development Index and the ICT Price Basket);
  
  
• develop international standards and methodologies on ICT statistics;
  
  
• contribute to the monitoring of internationally agreed goals and targets (such as the Millennium Development Goals and the WSIS targets);
  
  
• maintain a leading role in the global Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development;
  
  
• provide capacity building and technical assistance to Member States in the area of ICT measurement.

The resolution also cites the global , partnership that has been created to identify a set of basic indicators for measuring ICT for development, as called for in the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society. Another new element  is the recognition that “the single ICT development index (IDI) was developed by ITU-D and has been published annually since 2009”. The Director of BDT is called upon to continue, if justified, to promote the adoption of ITU statistics and to publish them regularly. In addition, the Director will promote the activities required to define and adopt new indicators for measuring the real impact of ICT on countries' development. Further, the Director is instructed to continue convening a seminar for Member States and experts to develop existing indicators  and systematically review their methodologies in order to give full effect to Resolution 8 (Rev. Hyderabad, 2010) and to formulate any other connectivity indicators that may be required.

Among other things, the Director of BDT will convene a conference on ICT indicators at least once every two years; continue to work to promote a single ICT index ; and adapt the data collection and the single ICT index in order to reflect the changing access to, and use of, ICT. Member States are called upon to submit their national community connectivity statistics to ITU-D.

Telecommunications/ICT to bridge the digital divide and build an inclusive information society

The “mindful” part of the resolution now draws attention to the Hyderabad Declaration and its emphasis on the important role that “governments, policy-makers and regulators should play to promote widespread affordable access to telecommunications/ICT through fair, transparent, stable, predictable and non-discriminatory enabling legal and regulatory environments that promote competition, foster continued technological and service innovation and encourage investment incentives.”

Another change explains that “the goals in the Strategic Plan for the Union for 2012-2015 are aimed at enabling and fostering the growth and sustained development of telecommunication networks and services, at facilitating universal access so that people everywhere can participate in, and benefit from, the emerging information society, and at providing assistance to developing countries in order to bridge the digital divide by achieving broader telecommunication/ICT-enabled socio-economic development”. It calls for the   implementation of Resolution 37 (Rev. Hyderabad, 2010) to be followed up without delay. Also, ITU should continue to act as a clearing house for the exchange of information and expertise in this regard.

Next-generation network deployment in developing countries

Next-generation networks (NGN) are important - indeed essential - for all countries, especially the developing ones, as proposals to the Guadalajara Conference underlined. Resolution 137 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010) on “next-generation network deployment in developing countries” has been revised to reflect the outcomes of the World Telecommunication Development Conference, held in Hyderabad, India, in May-June 2010 (WTDC-10); the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly, held in Johannesburg , South Africa, in 2008 (WTSA-08); and the work of ITU-T Study Group 13 Focus Group on future networks. The revisions also include reference to WSIS Action Lines 2 (information and infrastructure) and 6 (an enabling environment).
 

Developing countries are still facing major challenges, exacerbated by shortages of resources, experience and capacity building in planning and deploying networks, especially next-generation networks. The conference also noted the delay in implementing and adopting these networks in developed countries. It recognized  that the existing digital divide could get worse  with the emergence of new technologies, including post-NGNs, if developing countries are not able to introduce these networks in a universal and timely manner.
 
The revisions make reference to Resolution 143 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010), which calls for the provisions in all ITU documents relating to developing countries to be extended to apply adequately to the least developed countries, small island developing States, landlocked developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

C. Njoroge, Chairman of the Working Group of the Plenary

The Council is instructed to consider the reports and proposals made by the Secretary-General and the three Bureaux on implementing this resolution, making the appropriate linkage with the operative part of WTSA Resolution 44 (Rev. Johannesburg, 2008). It should also take appropriate action to ensure that the Union continues to pay attention to addressing the needs of developing countries.

Member States and Sector Members are called upon to strengthen cooperation between developed and developing countries, and among developing countries themselves, in improving national, regional and international capabilities to implement NGNs in a way that will enable them to handle future networks, especially in rural areas.

Extending the provisions in ITU documents relating to developing countries to apply to countries with economies in transition

International assistance to countries with economies in transition needs to be continued in order to ensure that they are fully integrated into the world economy. One way is to  enhance the capacity of these countries so that they can effectively reap the benefits of globalization, including those in information and communication technologies. With this in mind, the conference revised Resolution 143 (Guadalajara, 2010) on “extending the provisions in ITU documents relating to developing countries to apply to countries with economies in transition”. The changes include references to the  World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (Johannesburg, 2008) and the World Telecommunication Development Conference (Hyderabad, 2010). At these events, it was agreed that  provisions in documents of ITU’s three Sectors:  Telecommunication Standardization; Telecommunication Development; and Radiocommunication relating to developing countries should be extended to apply to countries with economies in transition. Developing countries, as defined in this resolution includes: least developed countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries.

Use of the six official languages of the Union on an equal footing

The conference noted with satisfaction and appreciation the steps taken so far to implement Resolution 154 (Antalya, 2006) on the “use of the six official languages of the Union on an equal footing”.

The resolution has been updated to allow the Council to continue monitoring the work carried out by the ITU secretariat on:

• merging all existing databases for definitions and terminology into a centralized system, with proper measures for its maintenance, expansion and updating;
  
  
• creating the necessary centralized editing functions for each language, on an equal footing between languages;
  
  
• harmonizing and unifying working procedures in the six language services, and providing them with the necessary qualified staff and tools to meet their requirements.