Recognizing WSIS Impacts

WTSA RESOLUTION 54 (Florianópolis, 2004; Johannesburg, 2008; Dubai, 2012)

Creation of and assistance to regional groups

The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (Dubai, 2012),

• considering
  • a) that Resolution 123 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010) of the Plenipotentiary Conference instructs the Secretary-General and the Directors of the three Bureaux to work closely with each other in pursuing initiatives that assist in bridging the standardization gap between developing 1 and developed countries;
    • 1 These include the least developed countries, small island developing states landlocked developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
  • b) that the work of certain study groups, particularly in relation to, among other things, tariff and accounting principles, next-generation networks (NGN) and Future Networks (FN), security, quality, mobility and multimedia, are of considerable strategic significance for developing countries during the next study cycle,
• recognizing
  • a) the relatively high level of participation and involvement of developing countries, in the meetings of Study Groups 2, 3, 5 and 12, and is growing in other Study Groups;
  • b) that regional groups have been established within Study Groups 2, 3, 5 and 12;
  • c) the satisfactory results obtained by the regional approach within the framework of the activities of Study Groups 2, 3, 5 and 12;
  • d) that the activities of most of these groups have become increasingly important;
  • e) the successful establishment of regional groups under Study Group 3 which lead studies relating to tariff and accounting matters (including costing methodologies) for international telecommunication services and study of related telecommunication economic, accounting and policy issues;
  • f) the sustainability of the regional groups of SG 3, and the encouraging start of regional groups 2 established in accordance with this resolution,
    • 2 Regional groups are open, without exclusion, to the participation of all members belonging to the specific region where the regional group is created.
• noting
  • a) the need to increase the participation of developing countries in the work of study groups, with a view to ensuring that their specific needs and concerns are better taken into account;
  • b) the need to improve and strengthen the organization and working methods of the study groups of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) in the interests of enhancing the participation of developing countries;
  • c) the importance of having appropriate consultative frameworks for the formulation and study of Questions, preparation of contributions and capacity building;
  • d) the need for developing countries to be more present and more active within ITU-T’s standardization forums;
  • e) the need to encourage more inclusive participation in the work of ITU-T, e.g., by academia and experts working in the field of standardization of telecommunication/information and communication technologies, particularly from developing countries;
  • f) the budgetary limitations, especially in developing country institutions, for attendance at ITU-T events of specific interest to them,
• bearing in mind
  • that the application of the organizational set-up and working methods of Study Groups 2, 3, 5 and 12 in some of the other study groups could serve to expand and improve the level of developing country participation in standardization activities and contribute to achieving the objectives of Resolution 123 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010),
• taking into consideration
  • a) the experiences and lessons learned by the regional groups of Study Group 3, and its successors, the regional groups of Study Groups 2, 5 and 12, regarding the operational as well as organizational set-up and working methods;
  • b) the specific process for approving Recommendations given to the regional groups of Study Group 3 as indicated in clause 9.2.1 of WTSA Resolution 1 (Rev. Dubai, 2012),
• recognizing further
  • a) that a common and coordinated approach in regard to standardization could serve to foster the promotion of standardization activities in developing countries;
  • b) that joint meetings of regional groups of different ITU-T study groups, and in particular if concatenated with a regional workshop and/or a meetings of a regional standardization body, could encourage participation of developing countries in these meetings and increase the effectiveness of such joint meetings;
  • c) that in developing countries, usually few standardization experts are responsible to handle numerous standardization areas within their administrations,
• resolves
  • 1 to support on a case-by-case basis, the coordinated creation of regional groups of ITU-T study groups, and to encourage cooperation and collaboration of these groups with regional standardization entities;
  • 2 to invite the Council to consider providing support for the regional groups as appropriate,
• invites the regions and its Member States
  • 1 to pursue the creation of regional groups of parent ITU-T study groups in their respective regions in accordance to resolves 1 of this Resolution, and to support its meetings and activities as appropriate in coordination with the TSB;
  • 2 to develop draft terms of reference and working methods for these regional groups, which are to be approved by the parent study group;
  • 3 to create regional standardization bodies, as appropriate, and encourage its joint and coordinated meetings with the regional groups of ITU-T study groups in their respective regions, to the effect that these standardization bodies act as an umbrella for such regional groups meetings,
• invites the regional groups thus created
  • 1 to disseminate information about telecommunication standardization, and encouraging involvement of developing countries in standardization activities in their regions, and to submit written contributions to the parent study group reflecting the priorities of the relevant region;
  • 2 to cooperate closely with the relevant respective regional organizations,
• instructs study groups and the Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group
  • to coordinate joint meetings of the regional groups of ITU-T study groups,
• instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, in collaboration with the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau, within the available allocated or contributed resources
  • 1 to provide all necessary support for creating and ensuring the smooth functioning of the regional groups;
  • 2 to consider holding, whenever possible, workshops concurrently with the ITU-T regional groups meetings;
  • 3 to take all necessary measures to facilitate the organization of meetings and workshops of those groups,
• calls upon the Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau to cooperate with the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau in order to
  • 1. continue to provide specific assistance to the current Study Group 3 as well as other regional groups,
  • 2. encourage the continuing development of computerized application tools related to their cost methodology by the members of the regional groups of Study Group 3;
  • 3. take appropriate steps to facilitate meetings of the current and future regional groups of Study Group 3 and promote the necessary synergies between the two Sectors.
• further invites the regional groups thus created
  • to cooperate closely with the relevant respective regional organizations, and to report on their work in their regions.