Mr. Abdurahman M. AL H5ASSAN, TSAG Chair,
Vice Chairs of TSAG,
Fellow Elected Officials,
Seizo Onoe, Director of the TSB,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the pleasure of addressing this TSAG meeting. The Director of TSB in turn has been addressing our TDAG meetings. These Advisory Group meetings provide us an opportunity to share developments in each of our sectors.
I am pleased to inform you that we are making steady progress in implementing the ITU-D priorities adopted by WTDC-22 namely: affordable connectivity, enabling environment, digital transformation, resource mobilization and international cooperation, and inclusive and secure telecommunications/ICTs for sustainable development.
I note with satisfaction that our two sectors have been exchanging liaison statements to ensure that we consult each other and share information to avoid duplication of effort.
On this note let me share examples of our current joint work between ITU-D and ITU-T and the impact we are making together.
- Following Guidelines developed by ITU-T on Conformity and Interoperability, ITU-D continues to support studies on Counterfeit and tampered telecommunication/ICT software and devices. BDT is collecting data from National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) through the ITU Regulatory Survey on “Counterfeit Framework and Mandates". It aims to identify the counterfeit framework and mandates in place across the globe, as well as to identify countries applying counterfeit policies in the ICT sector. Furthermore ITU-D supports member states in the establishment of Testing Laboratories and facilities for Conformity and Interoperability and type approvals in alignment with WTDC resolution 47.
- Based on the standards produced by Study Group 12 on Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE), we, at ITU-D can provide support on carrying out performance assessment of mobile operators' networks. We develop methodologies to assess IMT networks QoS including best practices in different regions. Such efforts serve as basis to achieve meaningful connectivity and assess quality of service.
- We collaborate with Study Group 17 on infrastructure and submarine resilience, 5G security through joint workshops.
- We also actively collaborate with Study Group 15 on ICT access networks.
- Inspired by the extensive portfolio of AI standards developed by ITU-T, ITU-D is working on providing capacity building and workshops to share best experiences on AI regulations and deployments.
- Working with Member States, in ITU-D we identify Fiber rollout use cases such as using fibre networks for 5G transport fuelled by ITU-T work defining future Passive Optical Networks (PON) standards for fibre which enables speeds up to 50Gbps. Various ITU-D Toolkits are built on such standards for instance, the Last mile toolkit and the Infrastructure business planning toolkit.
Before I conclude, I want to thank the TSB Director for the collaborative spirit. We just returned from an extraordinarily successful Global Symposium for Regulators hosted by the Government of Uganda. For the first time, we had a session on regulation in an era of Artificial Intelligence. We ran this session and a workshop jointly with the TSB. We are also equally committed to bridging the standardization gap and there is huge scope to cooperate.
As TSB is preparing for WTSA, I would like to encourage member states to pay particular attention to the need for streamlining resolutions so that our resolutions will not overlap. ITU-D has already started preparations for the World Telecommunication Development Conference in 2025 with a series of Regional Preparatory Meetings starting in February 2025 and ending in May.
In TDAG, we have established a number of Working Groups including Working Groups on streamlining resolutions and another on exploring future study questions. Our two Sectors should continue to exchange information in this regard.
I want to wish you great discussions as you continue to prepare for WTSA-24.
Thank you for your attention.
