Africa Regional Preparatory Meeting for WTSA-12
Bridging the standardization gap in Africa
Durban, South Africa
21 May 2012
Vijay Mauree
Programme Coordinator - TSB
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 One of the three strategic goals of ITU-T
 Defined as the disparities in the ability of developing countries, relative to developed ones, to access, implement, contribute to and influence international ICT standards, specifically ITU
‐
T Recommendations.
 The standardization development gap is itself both a cause and a manifestation of the wider digital divide
 Bridging the standardization gap: PP Res 123, WTSA Res
44 and WTDC Res 47
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Bridging The Standardization Gap
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 Enhance Standardization Capability
 Develop Human Resources
 Set up Regional Groups
 Establish BSG Fund
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Enhance Standardization Capability
Mentoring programme for newcomers to Study Groups
Mentor role in study group
Research on measuring and reducing the standardization capability gap
Free access to ITU-T Standards
Increase remote participation and collaboration
Reduced fees (CHF 3,975) for developing countries including academia
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Enhance Standardization Capability
Increase number of officials (Chairs / Rapporteurs) from developing countries in ITU-T Study Groups
Increase SG meetings and workshops in developing countries
Standards Q&A Online Forum
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 http://groups.itu.int/itu-t/StandardsQA.aspx
 Open to everyone
 Moderated Forum
 Objectives
 Enable developing countries to seek advice directly from
ITU-T study group experts
 Ensure developing countries have a better understanding of ITU-T Recommendations
 Enhance the application of ITU-T Recommendations in developing countries
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 26 Topics : some examples
 Naming, numbering
 IPv6
 ICT and Climate Change
 Optical Transport Networks
 IPTV
 Cloud Computing
 Cybersecurity
 Future networks and NGN
 Home Networking
 Multimedia coding
 Accessibility
 Conformity and Interoperability
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In Depth
Technical
Manuals/
Tutorial
E-
Learning
Capacity
Building
Workshop
Crash
Courses/
Webinar
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Develop Human Resources
Manuals and handbooks
 Handbook on Testing (2011)
 Convergent Networks (2010) ,
 ITU-T Manual on Optical Transport Networks from TDM to
Packet (2010)
 DSL Story (2010) ,
 Deployment of packet based networks (2009)
 Handbook on Fibre Optic Cables and Systems (2009) ,
 Security in Telecommunications and IT (2009)
E-learning course on ITU-T Meeting Procedures NEW!
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 SG2 Groups for Arab and East Africa Regions
 SG3 Groups for Asia and Oceania, Africa, Europe and
Mediterranean, Latin America and Caribbean (Tariff and accounting principles)
 SG5 Groups for Arab, Africa, Latin America and Caribbean
(ICT and Climate Change)
 SG12 Group for Africa (Performance, QoS)
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 BSG Fund : CHF 289,000
 Objective
 Facilitate the participation of developing countries in the standards development process
 Allow developing countries to profit from access to new technology development
 Ensure that the requirements of developing countries are taken into account in the development of standards
 Korea Communications Commission, Nokia Siemens
Networks, Microsoft, Cisco
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 Understand the primary gaps that must be bridged to improve the standards development, implementation, and usage capacities of developing countries.
 Identify variables necessary for developing countries to effectively develop, access, and deploy standards.
 Develop a national profile of standards readiness and recommend best practices for national standards participation
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 Tool for Assessing Standards Capability
 a questionnaire designed to elicit a self-assessment of standards capacity for effectively developing, accessing, and deploying ICT standards
 Distributed to LDCs/Developing Countries
 Scope limited to ICT standards
 Preliminary Report published in December 2009
 Case Studies : China, Czech Rep., Lebanon, Mali,
Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Thailand, Zambia
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 Standards Development Capability
 Government Standards Policy
 Standardization Human Resources
 National Standards Use and Adoption
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 How to interface with ITU-T?
 Public-private partnership for ICT standardization activities at national level
 identify new ICT standards requirements
 define strategy for participation in regional and international standards-setting organizations.
 Capacity building programme on ICT standardization for officials of the national standards body and ICT regulatory authority
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 Offer government-sponsored ICT standards training in collaboration with private industry and international standards-setting organizations
 Provide incentives towards hosting international
ICT standards conferences and workshops in the country.
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Conclusions
 Bridging the Standardization Gap
 Enhanced co-ordination on ICT standardization at national level
 Increase the use of ITU-T Recommendations
 Capacity building on standardization and ITU-T
Recommendations
 Increase participation in Study Groups, Workshops,
Meetings and number of contributions
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vijay.mauree@itu.int
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