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Abstract
Keynote Speech - International Telecommunication Satellite Organization (ITSO)
Speaker: Mr. A. Toumi, Director General & CEO, ITSO
Abstract
Bridging the Digital Divide is currently the highest priority of the world’s telecommunications community.
Multiple telecommunications conferences have called for the development of a strategy and a concrete
Plan of Action to overcome this Digital Divide.
A way to eliminate the Digital Divide and to speed-up the provision of information and communication
technology services (ICT) on a worldwide basis could be possible through a unique and unprecedented
new concept – the creation of a global broadband satellite infrastructure system. The use of satellite
technology would allow this infrastructure to be universal, available within a reasonable time frame,
and with the required quality and affordability. Economical use of satellite technology for this
purpose would require the creation of a worldwide open market for broadband equipment and services
through a universal technical standard, an access to a dedicated spectrum and orbital positions and
a minimal oriented regulatory framework. The emergence of this system could be the result of a win-win
partnership between public and private sectors.
Biography
Ahmed Toumi is the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the International Telecommunications
Satellite Organization (ITSO), an intergovernmental organization of 148 countries that ensures the
provision of international satellite public services. Mr. Toumi, a citizen of Morocco, was elected
to his position by the member countries of ITSO in 2001. Prior to his position with ITSO, Mr. Toumi
has over 20 years of experience in international satellite communications, having served in various
senior managerial and engineering positions with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the
Office of the Prime Minister, Under Secretariat for Posts and Telecommunications and Information
Technologies in Morocco.
Career
From 1991 until 2001, Mr. Toumi served as the Director for Studies and Planning, by Royal
Appointment, for the Office of Prime Minister in Morocco. In this position, Mr. Toumi was
responsible for the privatization of the telecommunications sector in Morocco. As head of
the Studies and Planning Directorate, Mr. Toumi was the Moroccan negotiator for the World
Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Basic Telecommunications and Value-Added Telecommunications
Services (VAS). Mr. Toumi liaised with the European Commission to evaluate the impact of European
Directives for new information technologies on Morocco’s economic environment. He also was actively
involved in international telecommunications policy in several international telecommunications
organizations, including the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat), INTELSAT,
and EUTELSAT.
From 1985 to 1991, Mr. Toumi was the Deputy Director for Telecommunications in the Moroccan
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, where one of his primary responsibilities was to
ensure that telecommunications services in Morocco were phased-out from the government to the
private sector.
From 1982 to 1985, Mr. Toumi participated in the introduction of new technologies into the
Moroccan telecommunications network, including digital switching systems and SCPC technology.
He also was responsible for operations and strengthening of the space communications infrastructure.
Mr. Toumi has actively participated in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) activities
since 1983. In 1998, Mr. Toumi was elected to the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) by the ITU
Plenipotentiary Conference in Minneapolis. The RRB consists of 12 elected members, and is charged
with drafting procedural rules and arbitrating international disputes relating to utilization of
the radio frequency spectrum and orbital locations for geostationary satellites.
Education
Mr. Toumi received a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the Ecole Nationale Superieure
des Telecommunications, Paris, France in 1982. He specialized in telecommunications and aerospace
systems at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de l’Aeronautiques et de l”Espace, Toulouse, France
in 1982.
Mr. Toumi has published several articles on the liberalization and reform of the Posts and
Telecommunications sector and the selection of telecommunications technology to serve rural
areas. He continues to serve as Mayor, since 1997, of the Sidi Aissa Benslimane Commune at
El Kelaa des Sraghna in Morocco. He is a member of many national and international associations,
including the Paris Association of Telecom Engineers (AIST) (France), the Moroccan National Foreign
Trade Council, and the Moroccan Inter-Ministerial National Economic Planning Committee. |
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