Recognizing WSIS Impacts

PP RESOLUTION 122 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010)

The evolving role of the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly

The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (Guadalajara, 2010),

• considering
  • a) Article 13 of the ITU Convention, which specifies the roles and responsibilities of the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA), as well as Articles 14 and 14A, concerning the telecommunication standardization study groups and Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG);
  • b) the decisions of previous plenipotentiary conferences concerning the functioning and management of ITU standardization activities;
  • c) Resolutions 1, 7, 22, 33 and 45 (Rev. Johannesburg, 2008) of WTSA, pursuant to which:
    • – the membership is able to revise existing questions and create new questions between WTSAs;
    • – the membership is continuing to collaborate with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC);
    • – the membership, working through TSAG, is able to restructure and establish study groups between WTSAs;
    • – the membership, working through TSAG, is able to identify new and converging technologies and the need to develop appropriate standards, rapidly and reliably;
    • – the membership, working through TSAG, is able to create, terminate or maintain other groups between WTSAs, in order to enhance and improve the effectiveness of the work of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), for purposes including the coordination of ITU-T’s work and flexible response to high-priority issues that span several study groups;
    • – TSAG is instructed to take an active role in ensuring coordination between study groups, as appropriate, on high-priority standardization issues that are being studied in more than one study group, and to take into account, and implement as necessary, advice given to it by other groups on effective coordination on high-priority standardization topics;
  • d) the work of Member States and ITU-T Sector Members in the Sector study groups and TSAG in implementing these decisions and in adopting working procedures that have improved the timeliness and efficiency of standards activities while maintaining their quality;
  • e) Resolution 123 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010) of this conference, on bridging the standardization development gap between developed and developing countries;
  • f) § 64 of the Geneva Declaration of Principles of the World Summit on the Information Society, which recognizes that ITU’s core competences in the fields of information and communication technologies – assistance in bridging the digital divide, international and regional cooperation, radio spectrum management, standards development and the dissemination of information – are of crucial importance for building the information society,
• considering further
  • the analysis of ITU’s standardization activities by the Working Group on ITU Reform (WGR) and the emphasis placed by WGR on the need for continued improvement in the effectiveness of the standardization process and the need to achieve an effective partnership between Member States and Sector Members,
• recognizing
  • a) the positive results of the alternative approval process in ITU-T’s working methods, in particular the reduction of the time taken for the approval of relevant questions and recommendations, in accordance with the procedures adopted by the Sector;
  • b) the position of WTSA as a broad and inclusive forum where Member States and ITU-T Sector Members are able to discuss the future of ITU-T, review the progress of the ITU-T standardization work programme, consider the Sector’s overall structure and functioning and set goals for ITU-T;
  • c) that WTSA serves all the Member States and ITU-T Sector Members, as a decision-making forum to resolve issues within its competence that may be brought before it;
  • d) that a Global Standards Symposium (GSS) was held the day before WTSA-08,
• aware
  • a) of the continual challenges posed to the membership by the current financial state of the Union, of the number of ITU-T meetings and related events and of the important role of WTSA as the oversight body for ITU-T;
  • b) of the need for Member States and ITU-T Sector Members to work closely in ITU-T, in a proactive, cooperative and forward-looking way, taking into account their respective responsibilities and objectives, in order to promote the continued evolution of ITU-T;
  • c) that ITU-T aims to continue to provide a unique, worldwide venue for government and industry to work together to foster the development and use of interoperable and non-discriminatory standards based on openness, and which are both demand-driven and sensitive to the needs of users;
  • d) that the rapid pace of change in the telecommunication environment demands that, in order to maintain its role, ITU-T must have the flexibility to make timely decisions between WTSAs on matters such as work priorities, study group structure and meeting schedules,
• resolves
  • 1 to encourage WTSA to further develop its working methods and procedures for the purpose of improving the management of ITU-T’s standardization activities;
  • 2 that WTSA shall continue, in accordance with its responsibilities, and subject to available financial resources, to promote the continued evolution of the standardization sector by means such as, but not limited to, the strengthening of the role of TSAG;
  • 3 that WTSA shall continue to adequately address strategic issues in standardization and, through the Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, provide its proposals and comments to the ITU Council;
  • 4 that WTSA, in its conclusions, should continue to take into account the Union’s strategic plan and, consistent with No. 188 of the ITU Convention, take into consideration the financial status of the Sector;
  • 5 that WTSA encourage continuing close cooperation and coordination with international, regional and national organizations that formulate standards relevant to the work of ITU-T,
• instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau
  • 1 in preparing the Director’s report to WTSA, to include a report on the financial status of the Sector in order to assist WTSA in its functions;
  • 2 to continue, in consultation with relevant bodies, and the ITU membership, and in collaboration with the ITU Radiocommunication Sector and the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector, as appropriate, to organize GSS;
• invites the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly
  • to continue to take into consideration the conclusions of GSS,
• encourages
  • 1 Member States and ITU-T Sector Members to support the evolving role of WTSA;
  • 2 Member States, ITU-T Sector Members, and the chairmen and vice-chairmen of TSAG and the study groups to concentrate, inter alia, on the identification and analysis of strategic issues in standardization in their preparations for WTSA so as to facilitate the work of the assembly.