Tutorial for leadership teams of ITU-T study groups,
TSAG, tariff groups and focus groups
Interplay between
Study Groups and TSAG
John Visser
TSAG Chairman
Tel: +1 613 763 7028
Mob: +1 613 276 6096
Email: jvisser@nortel.com
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
TSAG Aim
TSAG’s aim is to help make ITU-T the most
attractive place to come to do standards work
TSAG is an advisory body to the SGs, the
membership, the TSB Director and staff
TSAG is covered in the Constitution and Convention:
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CS/Article 17 108A; Article 19 116
CV/Article 14A 197A-197I; Article 15 205A
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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Outline
Where TSAG Fits into ITU
TSAG Overview
Resolutions 1 and 22
TSAG as Ambassador for T Sector
TSAG and SG Chairmen
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SG Chairmen input to TSAG meetings
TSAG and SG Chairmen Teleconferences and Face-to-face
meetings
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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Where TSAG
Fits into ITU
RAG
TSAG
TDAG
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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Duties of TSAG - Resolution 1
Resolution 1 §4.3
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TSAG will identify changing requirements and provide
advice on appropriate changes to be made to the priority of
work in ITU-T study groups, planning, and allocation of
work between study groups (and the coordination of that
work with other Sectors), giving due regard to the cost and
availability of resources within TSB and the study groups.
TSAG shall monitor the activities of any joint coordination
activities and may also recommend the establishment of
such activities, if appropriate.
TSAG may also advise on further improvements to ITU-T
working methods.
continued ...
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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Duties of TSAG - Resolution 1
Resolution 1 §4.3
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... continued
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TSAG shall monitor the activities of the lead study groups
and advise on progress reports as presented to TSAG
TSAG shall endeavour to ensure that the programmes of
work across the study groups are successfully completed.
Act on items identified by WTSA (see WTSA-08 Res.22)
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Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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WTSA-2008 Resolution 22
Resolution 22 assigns to TSAG many of the powers
of a WTSA and enables it to act on matters that
would otherwise have to await the next WTSA
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An essential element of ITU-T responsiveness to the rapidly
changing and evolving ICT environment
Per Resolution 22 - TSAG is to:
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Maintain up-to-date, efficient and flexible working
guidelines
Assume responsibility, including development and
submission for approval under appropriate procedures, for
the ITU-T A series Recommendations (Organization of the
work of ITU-T)
continued ...
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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WTSA-2008 Resolution 22
Highlights from Resolution 22 - TSAG is to:
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... continued (2/4)
Restructure and establish ITU-T study groups and assign
chairmen and vice chairmen to act until the next WTSA in
response to changes in the telecommunication marketplace
Issue advice on study group schedules to meet
standardization priorities
Create, terminate or maintain other groups, including focus
groups, appoint their chairmen and vice-chairmen, and
establish their terms of reference with a defined duration,
Enhance and improve the effectiveness of ITU-T's work as well
as promoting flexibility in responding rapidly to high-priority
issues
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continued ...
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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WTSA-2008 Resolution 22
Highlights from Resolution 22 - TSAG is to:
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... continued (3/4)
Review reports of and consider appropriate proposals made
by coordination groups and other groups, and implement
those that are agreed
Establish the appropriate mechanism and encourage the
utilization, for example, of coordination groups or other
groups, to address key topics of work which span several
study groups, with a view to ensuring effective coordination
of standardization topics in order to achieve suitable global
solutions
Advise the Director of TSB on financial and other matters
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continued ...
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Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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WTSA-2008 Resolution 22
Highlights from Resolution 22 - TSAG is to:
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... continued (4/4)
Approve the programme of work arising from the review of
existing and new Questions and determine the priority,
urgency, estimated financial implications and time-scale for
the completion of their study
Group, as far as practicable, Questions of interest to
developing countries, in order to facilitate their participation
in these studies
Other specific matters within the competence of WTSA,
subject to the approval of Member States, using the
approval procedure contained in WTSA Resolution 1 §9
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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Joint Coordination Activities
We have eight JCAs:
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JCA on Accessibility and Human factors (JCA-AHF)
JCA on Conformance and Interoperability Testing (JCA-CIT)
JCA on Home Networking (JCA-HN)
JCA on IdM
JCA on IPTV
JCA on Management
JCA on network aspects of Identification Systems (including
RFID) (JCA-NID)
JCA on NGN
All of these need to be reviewed by TSAG Apr 2009
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ToRs may need to be adjusted
JCAs may be terminated or new JCAs may be needed
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
11
TSAG as Ambassador for T-Sector
Just as TSAG is the Advisory Group for the T-Sector,
there are Advisory Groups for the R- and D-Sectors
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RAG chaired by Kouakou Jean-Baptiste Yao, Côte d'Ivoire
TDAG chaired by Vladimir Minkin, Russian Federation
RAG and TDAG meet annually
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TDAG: 28-30 Jan 2009
RAG: 4-6 Feb 2009
TSAG meets on same cycle as SGs (~8 months)
TSAG, RAG, TDAG Chairmen attend Council in order
to be well-informed on policy and related decisions
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Council is like a “Board of Directors” between Plenipots
Advisory Group Chairmen were invited to a meeting with
the 2008 Council Chairman to review issues, etc.
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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RAG
Per ITU CS (84A) and CV (160A-160H), RAG :
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reviews the priorities and strategies adopted in the Sector
monitors progress of the work of the Study Groups
provides guidance for the work of the Study Groups
recommends measures to foster cooperation and
coordination with other organizations and with the other
ITU Sectors
RAG provides advice on above to the Director BR
Radiocommunication Assemblies may refer specific
matters to RAG: Resolution ITU-R 52
Further details are available here.
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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TDAG
TDAG meets between WTDCs to advise the Director
of the BDT on the implementation of the WTDC
Action Plan, including issues relating to the budget
and the operational plan of the ITU-D
TDAG has Working Groups on:
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Private Sector issues (WGPS)
Key Performance Indicators (WGKPI)
Human Resources Development (WGHRD)
Further details are available here.
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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TSAG and SG Management Teams
TSAG is “under (mostly) new management”
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Expect to see some changes, but also expect to see some
things continue
With a significant proportion of new leadership across the
SGs, anticipate some issues will arise despite everyone’s
best efforts: supporting each other is part of being a team
TSAG needs to know the issues the SG Management
Teams are facing in order to effectively address
them:
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TSAG Management Team has been discussing how to
structure and manage TSAG to optimize support to the SGs
along with handling TSAG’s other tasks
Your inputs on what is needed (and what is not needed!)
from TSAG are essential
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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SG Chairmen Input to TSAG
TSAG needs to know what is going on within SGs
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Intent is to use max. 1 TSAG session (90 minutes) early in
a TSAG meeting to set stage for TSAG discussions
SG Chairmen are requested to provide a summary
presentation of current activities, milestones, progress,
issues as input to each TSAG meeting (max. 9 min/SG!)
Aim is to assist TSAG in allocating time to topics that will be
of maximum benefit to progressing work in SGs
Focus on high profile activities, how they are progressing,
when they are expected to complete, how relationships with
other SGs and external to ITU-T are working, etc.
Avoid excess detail (work plan, other tools can provide)
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Be sure to include issues where TSAG help is needed
Not all bad news - want to know what is working well, too!
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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TSAG and SG Chairmen
TSAG and SG Chairmen came together regularly via
teleconference and face-to-face 2005-2008
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Teleconference approx. every 2 months, TSB participates
Face-to-face just prior to each TSAG meeting, TSB Director
chairs
SG Chairmen expected to nominate a representative from their
management teams if they cannot participate in person
TSAG Vice-Chairmen also participated part-time
Useful to identify and address topics, help ensure
consistency in handling issues, etc.
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Rotating chairmanship
Chairman responsible for agenda (ask for input a week
before) and minutes (TSB may assist; available quickly)
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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TSAG and SG Chairmen
Propose these be continued
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Suggested dates (mid-week to avoid plenaries):
Teleconference 21 Jan 2009 at 1300 UTC
Teleconference 18 Mar 2009 at 1300 UTC (watch out for DST!)
Face-to-face 23-24 Apr 2009
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Convert time at http://timeanddate.com/ esp. for DST!
TSAG Chairman offers to handle first teleconference
Then can be in numerical order of SGs 2, 3, 5, 9, 11, 12,
13, 15, 16, 17 (or any other algorithm that balances the
load!)
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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Some Topics to Think About
KPIs
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Which indicators would be useful to your SG to help identify
problem areas as well as highlight successes?
Which indicators might be useful across the SGs?
Seminars and workshops
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There are many workshops and seminars every year
Increasingly, these involve other sectors, especially ITU-D
How can we both best manage our own and leverage them
to best help the other sectors?
Cross-sector issues
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E.g., ITU-T SG 5 and ITU-R both work on EM and RF
exposure: how can we optimize the synergies?
Other topics?
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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Summary
TSAG has many tasks assigned to it
TSAG’s role includes advice to and support of the
work of the SGs
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It’s a two way street: TSAG needs to know where help is
needed so SG Management Teams must raise issues and
concerns
TSAG and SG Leadership teleconferences and face-to-face
meetings provide a means for regular interaction
The TSAG Chairman may be contacted on any issues that
arise - will either provide or get the answers you need
Teamwork!
Tutorial for SG & TSAG leadership teams
Geneva, 15-16 December 2008
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