Recognizing WSIS Impacts

WTSA RESOLUTION 53 (Rev. Johannesburg, 2008)

Establishment of a workshop and seminar coordination group

The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (Johannesburg, 2008),

• considering
  • a) that it is a priority for countries, particularly developing countries1, to participate in, and to have access to detailed information on, workshops and seminars organized by the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU‑T);
  • b) that such events are crucially important for the effective dissemination of all information designed to provide detailed and up‑to‑date knowledge of developments in the field of technical standardization;
  • c) that mechanisms should be identified to encourage developing countries to participate more actively in the definition and organization of these events;
  • d) that ITU-T should maintain its pre-eminence by attracting new and forward-looking studies in telecommunications and information technology;
  • e) the approval of Recommendation ITU-T A.31 by this assembly,
• noting
  • a) the difficulties that countries, particularly developing countries, encounter in terms of being aware of the latest standardization trends and in terms of their effective and efficient participation in such activities;
  • b) the need to prioritize the themes and issues of interest to the ITU membership in order to optimize the use of allocated resources for the implementation of workshop and seminar activities,
• recognizing
  • a) that there is a need to identify an appropriate mechanism for improving the process for the holding of workshops and seminars, which play a significant role in disseminating information about ITU-T’s activities for the benefit of the ITU-T membership;
  • b) that ITU‑T’s current structure does not include a standing group specifically responsible for supervising the organization of workshops and seminars and for disseminating the related outcomes and documentation;
  • c) the need to continuously monitor user needs and advances and trends in telecommunications and information technology,
• bearing in mind
  • a) that, in accordance with Nos. 197E and 197F of the ITU Convention, the Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) shall provide guidelines for the work of study groups and recommend measures to foster cooperation and coordination with other standardization bodies;
  • b) that Nos. 191A and 191B of the Convention empower the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) to create “other groups” and to appoint their chairmen and vice-chairmen;
  • c) that, in accordance with Resolution 22 of this assembly, TSAG shall issue advice on study group schedules to meet standardization priorities;
  • d) that, in Resolution 123 (Rev. Antalya, 2006), the Plenipotentiary Conference resolved to instruct 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 and developed countries,
• resolves
  • to establish a workshop and seminar coordination group (WSG), under the supervision of TSAG, to be specifically responsible for agile monitoring of technological evolution, transparent oversight of the organization of workshops and seminars, and continued dissemination of outcomes and related documentation,
• instructs the Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group
  • to implement this resolution, to continue to refine WSG’s working methods and to appoint the WSG management team, composed of a chairman, and six vice-chairmen from the Americas, Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Africa, Asia-Pacific and the League of Arab States, to provide regional balance,
• instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau
  • to work closely with the Directors of the other Bureaux and provide all necessary support and advice to WSG in its task of encouraging and strengthening the participation of countries in the workshop and seminar activities of ITU-T within the existing budgetary allocation.