International Telecommunication Union Preparation for WTSA-08 Malcolm Johnson Director, TSB International Telecommunication Union ASTAP March 2007 Bangkok, Thailand

International Telecommunication Union Outline What is WTSA? WTSA-04, Florianópolis, Brazil Interests of developing countries Plenipotentiary Conference 2006 Instructions from PP ‘06 Standardization roundtable and coordination meeting WTSA-08, venue TBA Some considerations for 2008 Hot topics for 2008 Getting involved

International Telecommunication Union World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly WTSA sets direction and structure for ITU-T Meets every four years Defines the general policy for the Sector Establishes the study groups Approves their expected work programme Appoints their chairmen and vice-chairmen WTSA Resolutions are available at: itu.int/ITU-T/wtsa/resolutions

International Telecommunication Union Major outcomes of WTSA-04 Interests of developing countries Telecom’n standardization in relation to interests of DCs was enhanced (Res.17) Assistance to regional tariff groups (Res.26) Regional preparations for WTSA (Res.43) Action Plan for PP Res.123 on bridging the standardization gap (Res.44) Creation of regional groups (Res.54) Action Plan for TDR and Early Warning

International Telecommunication Union Res Telecom’n standardization in relation to the interests of DCs … instructs the Director of the TSB to provide BDT with all the necessary support with a view to: encouraging and increasing the participation of DCs in telecommunication standardization activities; assisting and advising in the organization and holding of information meetings concerning the work of the ITU-T study groups; assisting DCs with studies in respect of priority questions, such as VoIP, mobile technology, multimedia, etc.

International Telecommunication Union Resolution 43 Regional preparations for WTSAs … organize… one regional preparatory meeting per region … closest in time possible to the next WTSA … followed by an informal meeting of the chairmen and vice-chairmen of the regional preparatory meetings … not earlier than six months prior to WTSA…

International Telecommunication Union Annex to Resolution 44 Objective To improve the standard-making capabilities of DCs Activities Developing guidelines to assist developing countries in their involvement in ITU-T activities. Developing webcasting systems that enable developing- country experts to follow study group meetings from their office workstations. Conducting a certain number of consultancy projects designed to support DCs in the development of standardization plans, strategies, policies, etc. …outputs should be further transformed into best practices.

International Telecommunication Union Resolution 54 – Creation of regional groups Instructs the Director of the TSB, in collaboration with the Director of the BDT to provide all necessary support for creating and ensuring the smooth functioning of the regional groups; to take all necessary measures to facilitate the organization of the meetings and workshops of those groups, Invites the regional groups thus created to cooperate closely with the relevant regional organizations.

International Telecommunication Union ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 6-24 November 2006, Antalya, Turkey Top policy-making body of ITU Sets the Union's general policies Adopts four-year strategic and financial plans Elects the senior management team of the organization, the members of Council and the members of the Radio Regulations Board

International Telecommunication Union PP ’06 instructs ITU to…(1) Strengthen regional presence Maximise the benefits of regional presence for the whole of the Union’s benefit Bridge the standardization gap between developing and developed countries Maintain close coordination among the three sectors of ITU at the regional level Build confidence and security in the use of ICTs Take part in all international discussions relating to internationalized Internet domain names

International Telecommunication Union PP ’06 instructs ITU to…(2) Continue studies to meet the needs of public protection and disaster relief Assist members in deploying NGN effectively Assist in finding appropriate solutions for affordable NGN deployment Highlight the contribution of ICTs to development Conduct a review of the International Telecommunication Regulations

International Telecommunication Union PP ’06 instructs ITU to…(3) Continue activities on IP-based networks Provide a summary of activities relating to IP-based networks Organize a Worldwide Standardization Roundtable and Coordination Meeting

International Telecommunication Union Worldwide Standardization Roundtable and Coordination Meeting A first for WTSA Builds on the success of the Informal Forum Summits Brings together all standards makers, forums, consortia etc Correspondence group created Plan is for 1 day before WTSA Two or three thematics will be defined, for major ongoing and future standardization topics

International Telecommunication Union Consequences… or why does WTSA matter ? Make ITU-T THE most attractive place to do international standards Make best use of experts’ time and resources Avoid duplication and overlap of work Lower costs to membership and to ITU A bad structure will slow down or stop work A good structure can speed up work

International Telecommunication Union What are the objectives for restructuring the study groups Efficiency, relevance, clear mandates Visibility to outside world Many different views and objectives have been introduced by the membership A correspondence group on restructuring has been set up Two approaches Change for change sake vs. if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it Balance between: massive consolidation into a few large Study Groups vs. Study Groups based on specific topics and expertise

International Telecommunication Union Some considerations for 2008 Implementation of PP Resolution 123 – Bridging the standardization gap Remote participation TSB support for DC participation Regional presence Some consolidation of work will help Avoid divergent solutions Share time of experts among study items Reduce need for liaisons Too much consolidation of work will hurt Less time per study item during meeting Parallel meetings cannot be covered by experts External liaison relationships become less clear

International Telecommunication Union ITU-T should have a strong presence in certain areas Critical areas for future work must include: Bridging the standardization gap Next Generation Network (NGN) IPTV Home networking Cybersecurity Mobility Ubiquitous networks Network infrastructure: optical transport, network management, signalling, performance and QoS, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), architecture, interoperability, etc.

International Telecommunication Union Get involved Regional preparatory meetings are a proven platform for the development of successful proposals by APT The next two TSAGs will start the review process Correspondence group on SG structure Convenor: Haruo Okamura Correspondence group for the Standardization Roundtable Convenor: Jean-Yves Monfort