INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION
RADIOCOMMUNICATION
ADVISORY GROUP
Document RAG2002-1/24-E
14 February 2002
Original: English
GENEVA, 25 FEBRUARY - 1 MARCH 2002
United Kingdom
ITU-R STUDY GROUP STRUCTURE
1
Introduction
The United Kingdom has been following the work of the correspondence group on the ITU-R study
group structure with some interest and believes that the proposal for their restructure, discussed at
RA-2000, raises a number of important issues. Clearly there is a need to ensure that the study group
structure efficiently and effectively meets the needs of the membership and, therefore, it follows
that there is a need for ITU-R to perform a regular review. The present review of the structure
seems to have arrived at a situation where a number of groups are promoting specific changes that
are not supported by the rest of the membership. Based on the current arguments, the United
Kingdom is also of the opinion that a case for the specified structural changes has not been made.
However, that is not to say that some structural change may not be beneficial.
A problem with the current review appears to be that it is focusing on the structure and assuming
that change will deliver a more efficient and effective process. Perhaps it would be better to look at
the process and determine what needs to be done to make it more efficient and effective, and then it
may become clearer where any structural change is required. This paper examines a number of
issues related to the work of ITU-R and proposes a shift in emphasis, away from direct
consideration of the physical structure, to identifying improvements in efficiency and effectiveness.
In addition, this paper proposes an alternative method of identifying options for change in the
ITU-R study group structure.
2
Study group structure
Much of the work of WRCs over the past ten years has been built on reports and recommendations
developed by the study groups in the 1980s and early 1990s; this source material providing the basis
for the sharing and frequency identification studies required by WRCs. The pressure on the study
groups to meet the WRC time-scales uses up the majority of their available resources, leaving little
time for the type of studies they have traditionally performed. Consequently, as changes in
radiocommunication technology make the work of the 1980s and early 1990s outdated, the reserves
of valid source material available to feed the work of future WRCs is disappearing. In addition, the
type of studies traditionally performed by the study groups takes time to complete and does not
necessarily fit the current WRC cycle. In the future, it is likely there will have to be some new
method of working in order to enable studies related to basic research and development to be
performed in shorter time-scales. There may also have to be a change in priorities within ITU-R, so
that the study groups can get access to the necessary resources to perform these basic studies.
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The simplest solutions would be to extend the time period between WRCs and/or for members to
provide more resources, but these are more likely to be longer-term solutions. A more immediate
solution would be to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. One option for
improving efficiency and effectiveness, in relation to inter-service sharing studies for WRCs, could
be to revise the study group structure. However, in the future, it is not immediately clear if studies
related to basic research and development would benefit from the same revised study group
structure, the existing structure or some alternative structure. Determining the changes to the study
group structure that would best suit both areas of work may take some time and, in the interim, it
would be beneficial for ITU-R if other improvements in the work could be identified and
implemented.
3
Objectives for improvements in working methods and structural change
In proposing the review of the ITU-R study group structure, RA identified a number of objectives:
1)
focus on business and institutional interests of ITU-R membership;
2)
allow more effective coverage of the work by ITU-R members;
3)
accelerate the approval of recommendations;
4)
reduce the costs of the process;
5)
achieve better coordination of the work;
6)
reduce the number of meetings.
Points 1 and 2 were originally paired in RA2000/PLEN/8 but have been separated, as they may be
achieved by dissimilar solutions.
Achieving all of these objectives will require a change to the current study group structure but, in
most cases, some progress could be made to achieving these objectives within the current structure.
4
Potential improvements in working methods
Potential improvements to the process in order to achieve the list of objectives in § 3 can be
grouped into two categories: management of work and improved electronic working facilities. This
categorization seems to be supported by contributions to the correspondence group.
Improvements in the management of work could include:
•
guidance to chairmen that they should make the best use of the approval by the
correspondence route and only send to the Radiocommunication Assembly those
recommendations where problems have occurred in the approval process, or are essential
for a WRC and have not been completed in time for approval by correspondence;
•
reminding chairmen and participants that, for WRC studies, the nominated lead group
(study group, task group or working party, etc.) has responsibility for the preparatory work
and that duplication of this work within other groups is to be avoided;
•
tightening the cut-off date for acceptance of contributions before meetings (e.g. two weeks),
so that chairmen can plan the organization of the work and conduct discussions on the
scheduling of activities before the meeting starts, the intention being that all chairmen
should present to the first session of the meeting a clear proposal for the organization of the
work and a timeplan - a copy of both documents should be available on the Web before the
meeting starts (e.g. one week);
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•
administrations opting not to receive paper copies of documentation - although in this case
for meetings that are not in a single language there is a need for improvements in the
directory structure of the Web and certain other criteria need to be clarified in relation to
reproduction.
Improved electronic working facilities embrace a myriad of ideas, ranging from the use of
electronic working methods in meetings to including in the electronic copy of the Final Acts of a
conference the revised provisions with full revision marking and ensuring that the revised Radio
Regulations are available within nine months of the end of the conference.
5
Routes to structural change
In determining where structural change within ITU-R may be possible, the experience of the task
groups may provide useful guidance. A task group has to ensure that its work is complete, coherent
and coordinated with all the contributing working parties and study groups. This requirement to
"coordinate" the work of a task group perhaps explains why some have elected to perform all of the
studies within the group, while others have adopted a more managerial role and organized and
coordinated the work through liaison statements. The distinction between the two methods of
working appears to be that if the work can be conducted within a single group, then it is a
sufficiently stand-alone topic that may not have much interaction with other work within the
contributing study groups. Hence, in future, work on this topic could be progressed within a single
merged group. Where a task group adopts a managerial role, then there appears to be a requirement
to closely coordinate the various aspects of work in the task group with work on other topics within
the contributing study groups. In this case, it seems highly unlikely that topics could be performed
within a single merged group.
6
Conclusion
Improvements need to be made in the efficiency and effectiveness of the study groups' work and
unless they can be achieved, in the future, it will be difficult to provide the source material for the
work of WRCs and thus maintain the current WRC cycle period. If the source material is not
replaced, it may be necessary to consider developing the source material for the sharing studies, and
the sharing studies themselves, all within the same task group. This approach will have an impact
on the work of the task group which is likely to take longer than the current WRC cycle. If
JTG 4-9-11 is an example of the type of difficulties ITU-R could face when trying to develop
regulatory proposals without the basic source material being available, then this approach will have
a significant impact on the future revision of the Radio Regulations.
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