S.1 Management of the Union
The Coordination Committee and the Management Coordination Group continued to meet regularly to discuss strategic issues and to manage ITU’s administrative and financial affairs to ensure the most effective use of ITU’s resources in the implementation of PP decisions. Further efforts were made to review and develop new policies and methodologies to modernize ITU management practices and to enhance and streamline ITU’s business processes and implement results-based budgeting (RBB) and RBM. The Strategic Planning and Membership Department (SPM) continued to take key responsibility for cross-sectoral matters in 2015 and provided overall planning and support services to the Coordination Committee, the Management Coordination Group, and the Inter-sectoral task force.
S.2 Organization of conferences, assemblies, seminars and workshops (including translation and interpretation)
The C&P secretariat provided support for all ITU events. From 1 June 2015 to 15 January 2016, support was provided in Geneva for 10,452 participants for a total of 76 events and 300 meeting days. Of this total, 36 events were interpreted, resulting in as many as 2,353 interpreter-days. Some 25,803 pages of documentation were translated and processed in the six official languages of the Union. Paperless meetings, e-participation, and accessibility issues have been pursued, allowing considerable reductions in reproduction costs, as well as enhancing operations, and delivery methods and times.
S.3 Publication services
ITU continued to publish flagship and various other regular publications in both print and digital/electronic versions. Over the years more publications have been added to the free online access offer to disseminate information and reach out to a wider general public. These include major publications such as the Radio Regulations, Recommendations, ITU’s Basic Texts, WCIT Final Acts, Council Resolutions and Decisions, and ITU Handbooks.
Many new sales and marketing initiatives were undertaken in 2015 to build publication sales:
- A new Strategic Marketing Plan aimed at building awareness of ITU publications was finalized
- Six new Resellers were added to the distribution network
- Partnership discussions were initiated with OECD, Harper Collins, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble through United Nations, New York, to develop additional distribution platforms
- A new E-Bookshop was launched, aimed at facilitating the online ordering process
- Presence was increased on new media (twitter, Google Plus) for a wider outreach
Sales income for 2015 reached CHF 16.73 million – close to the budgeted 2015 income of CHF 17.0 million – while bi-annual 2014-15 actual sales of CHF 36.55 million exceeded the budgeted sales income of CHF 34.0 million by over CHF 2.5 million.
S.4 ICT services
Information services were successfully provided for major events including Council-15, WSIS Forum 2015, GSR-15, ITU World Telecom 2015, RA-15, WRC-15 and WTIS-15, as well as for the corporate governance, strategy, and communication activities of the Union. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) service was successfully implemented for Membership Management and Resource Mobilization, as well as for Event Management (Preparation, Communication, Registration & Reporting), and Publications.
The complete collection of Official Administrative Communications to ITU Staff (Service Orders, Office Memoranda) was developed and maintained.
S.5 Safety and security services
Safety and security policies, procedures and guidelines at headquarters, regional and area offices, and for ITU events as required, were developed, reviewed, and implemented. The efficiency and effectiveness of safety and security functions for the Union were reviewed and monitored, and advice was provided on all safety and security related matters for the entire Union. Management of the implementation of the security enhancement and modernization project at ITU’s HQ premises was initiated, including the convergence of identity management for both physical and logical access to ITU’s buildings and systems.
S.6 Human resources management
Human resources management comprises both Human Resources and Maintenance and Upgrading of ITU Buildings.
S.6.1 Human Resources (HR) management
During 2015, the Human Resources Management Department (HRMD) actively contributed to the implementation of the decisions taken by PP-14 having HR implications, including the new ITU strategic plan adopted in Resolution 17; the new features introduced in Resolution 48 on Human Resources Management and Development, in particular Annexes 1 and 2; and the elements of PP-14 Decision 5 which relate to the implementation of a cost efficient management of the workforce taking into consideration any related issues. Consultations started on these new orientations to be included in the revised HR Strategic plan with the Secretary-General and the other elected officials.
A review of policies currently in force has been launched with a view to adapting them to the needs of the organization in the new environment created by the ITU Strategic Plan. Appropriate consultations also started with the Staff Council and the various statutory committees concerned, within the framework of the Council decision on the strengthening of the constructive dialogue between the administration and staff representation.
HRMD continued its work within the framework of the modernization of HR functions in view of improving the delivery of services in recruitment, organization structure management, and job classification, training, HR policies, and legal matters. The Human Resources training function collaborated with managers and staff to develop staff capabilities in relation to organizational needs. A particular focus was placed on training activities on gender and diversity awareness at the workplace. Efforts were made to enhance the administration of staff, through more client-focused delivery and open dialogue on administrative matters.
HRMD actively participated in the work of the UN common system, including, in particular, the work of the HR network and the ICSC on the review of the compensation package for P staff which was presented to the General Assembly in December 2015 (UNGA Resolution 70/244 on the United Nations Common system), as well as on the mandatory age of separation at 65. HRMD also intensively contributed to the A412 JIU review of management and administration in ITU.
In the area of social benefits, efforts are being made to maintain the cost of the medical plan and other insurance schemes at a sustainable level. Focus was dedicated on the management of the medical insurance scheme (CMIP) administered by Cigna, and on the functioning of the newly established Management Committee of the CMIP. The Management Committee, in close collaboration with HRMD, started an overall review of the scheme, including its premium structure, deductible scheme and benefits description, taking into account the demography and needs of the insured population. The Management Committee will make recommendations aimed at ensuring its financial viability. Communications with plan members were maintained though periodic information notes on a variety of topics.
Regarding the pension plan, the year was challenging with the implementation of IPAS, the new pension administration system of the UN Pension Fund and its interfaces. A delegation of HRMD, representatives of the Staff Pension Committee attended the Pension Board.
As part of its occupational health activities, the Medical Service, within its limited resources, organized information sessions on wellbeing issues and provided medico-administrative services to HRMD and to provide travel medicine services to staff. Efforts were made to complete the programme of health assessment of staff and to monitor chronic cases and absenteeism. The Service collaborated with HRMD on long term medical cases to encourage and facilitate the return to work when feasible.
S.6.2 Maintenance and upgrading of ITU buildings
During 2015, the Facilities Management Division (FMD) has engaged in the following major projects: completion and commissioning of the connection to the Geneva-Lake-Nations (GLN) lake water cooling network and replacement and upgrading of building maintenance system automated controllers for the three headquarters buildings; replacement of cooling systems for the Tower server room; re-jointing of the water-bearing cold ceilings in the Varembé building; resealing of the roof in the Montbrillant building; and replacement of the cooling systems in Room E. FMD also collaborated on the buildings aspects of the ITU Access Control project. Other smaller prudent maintenance works continued as normal. Through FMD, ITU acted as the lead agency in standardizing procurement of office supplies across the Geneva agencies.
Concerning the issue of a long-term solution for ITU headquarters premises, as requested by Council at its 2014 and 2015 sessions, FMD continued its technical study work to support CWG-HQP. ITU continued discussions with the Host Country, Switzerland, on diminishing risks and providing further detail on the possibilities for a new building or of extensive renovation works to the Tower and Varembé. This work included collaboration with other Geneva-based organizations to find best practices.
The annual environmental performance inventory submitted for 2014 data showed an environmental footprint of 3.24t CO2e per staff member, which is 61% better than the UN’s overall average. ITU remains an exemplary agency in its operational environmental performance, coordinated by FMD. As of 1 January 2015, ITU has declared itself as climate neutral, following UN SG’s initiative. ITU has so far purchased and cancelled Certificates of Emission Reduction (CER) such as to offset its predicted emissions until approximately 2025 (assuming the current rate of progress in emission reduction continues): these are handled for ITU under the standard UN process managed by UNFCCC, and include ITU’s participation in the UNFCCC Adaptation Fund.
S.7 Financial resources management
In follow-up to ITU Council Decision 550 to implement International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), ITU started applying IPSAS on 1 January 2010 and produced the first IPSAS-compliant Financial Operating Report on 31 December 2010. For the first time, the closure of ITU’s annual accounts, relating to 2010, was conducted in 2011 in compliance with IPSAS. IPSAS compliance was certified for 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 while the closure of the 2015 accounts in 2016 will follow the same IPSAS requirements. ITU is among the first agencies of the UN family to have successfully implemented IPSAS.
The implementation of IPSAS has resulted in a more detailed Financial Operating Report which makes operating costs more transparent and better enables budgetary management. The implementation of IPSAS had a significant effect on ITU net assets after the recognition of an obligation related to the After Service Health Insurance (ASHI), which resulted in negative net assets. Despite this item, the IPSAS-compliant Financial Operating Reports produced in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 received an unqualified audit opinion. The ASHI obligation is being closely monitored and mitigating solutions are being developed (document
C15/46).
Council 2015 adopted, by its Resolution 1375, the biennial Budget of the ITU for 2016-2017. It was presented to the Council under the results-based budget format for each Goal and Objective of the ITU Strategic Plan Resolution 71 (Rev. Busan, 2014).
Biennial budgets, efficiency gains, and cost-saving measures have been implemented with a view to ensuring the most effective and economical use of ITU’s resources (document
C15/45).
Council Resolution 1375 also instructs the Secretary-General to withdraw CHF 1 million from the Reserve Account on 1 January 2016 to set up the ASHI fund in order to take step towards addressing the unfunded long-term liabilities of the Union.
The adoption of Resolution 152 had a positive impact on the payment of contributions, as reflected in a better collection rate and a consequent reduction in the debt (particularly the current debt) of Sector Members and Associates.
Concerning travel, ITU is offering a lump sum to experts/speakers. Travel costs continue to be optimized through the use of non-flexible air tickets, no business class tickets for journeys under 11 hours, receiving submission of travel requests 30 days before departure, and suppressing overnight daily subsistence for travel by air for staff and Elected Officials.
Concerning procurement, ITU introduced an electronic tendering system in 2015, further aligning with the Union’s paperless office objective. All major tenders were published on the United Nations Global Marketplace, the UN procurement web portal, ensuring transparent, open and international competition.
S.8 Legal services
The Legal Affairs Unit (JUR) has provided general legal support and advice to WRC-15, Council, and Council Working Groups, and participated in the resolution of sensitive political issues. During WRC-15, JUR acted as the secretariat of Committee 2 (Credentials Committee). JUR also continued to act as the secretariat of the TSB Director’s Ad hoc Group on Intellectual Property Rights and to supervise the IMAC secretariat.
S.9 Internal audit
Internal Audit continued to perform the follow-up of recommendations of previous years and reported further progress on this to IMAC. Several assurance engagement audits were conducted in 2015. The objectives of the assurance engagements were to assess whether ITU internal controls, governance, and risk management processes are functioning. The priority of the recommendations resulting from the audit work is classified according to the impact and likelihood of the deficiency (critical, high, medium, low). The Secretary-General also transmits to the Council for its consideration an annual report on internal audit activities. This report may be found in Council document
C16/10.
S.10 Engagement with the membership and external stakeholders (including UN)
The year 2015 provided a special opportunity to engage ITU members, as the Union celebrated its 150th anniversary (see section I.1-1 for further information on ITU 150 activities). Membership showed a high level of interest, with over 140 Member States organizing events and activities, as outlined in Council document
C16/13. ITU also took this opportunity to give special recognition to ITU’s long-standing industry members.
The total number of ITU Sector Members, Associates and Academia grew by about 3% over the previous year, reaching a total of 827. This can be attributed mainly to a 25% increase in Academia membership, and to a lesser degree, modest net increases in Sector Members and Associates. Sector Member totals were strengthened by a 4% increase in ITU-R largely due to the high level of interest and participation in the World Radio Conference. It is important to highlight the widening participation among new industry stakeholders in the work of the Union, as major industry players from outside ITU’s traditional base (including Facebook, Google, Netflix, Disney and MasterCard) joined as Sector Members in 2015. Revenues from Sector Members, Associates, and Academia remained stable at about CHF 17 million.
UN-related activities are described in detail in section
I.4-1.
S.11 Communication services (audio/visual services, Press release services, Social media, management of the web, branding, speechwriting, ICT Discovery)
ITU continues to adapt its communications activities to the fast-paced digital media environment and is increasingly integrating and mainstreaming digital and social media tools into its overall communications mix, with particular attention paid to the merging content and engagement fields of social, video, audio and graphic design.
One of the main focuses for the Strategic Planning and Membership Department in 2015 was providing support to the organization of the 150th anniversary of ITU, including: contributions to the ITU 150 web site; creating a historical timeline; creating a commemorative publication; research on the historical participation of the Industry in ITU’s work; support to the Secretariat of the Intersectoral Group on the preparation of the 150th anniversary of ITU; support to the Secretariat of the Council Committee for the preparation of the 150th anniversary of ITU; and participating in the core ITU team organizing the ITU 150 celebrations. SPM also contributed towards the maintenance of the History of ITU Portal, giving access to key historical ITU documents. The
#ITU150 social media campaign extended to 22.1 million people via more than 9,200 tweets for a potential exposure of 129.8 million deliveries (total times
#ITU150 messages appeared in Twitter feeds).
SPM also worked on activating communications strategies and promoting ITU events, including:
GSR-15, the Broadband Commission’s September meeting in New York;
ITU Telecom World 2015;
WRC-15; the 2015 edition of the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS); the
WSIS+10 High Level Event in New York; and the 2015 GEM-Tech Awards; as well as many others.
Support for GSR-15, which was held in Gabon, included onsite bilingual media outreach and simultaneous distribution of all press materials in both French and English, to take into account the needs of local journalists covering the event.
SPM supported events in New York in September as the Broadband Commission entered a new phase focusing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and launched a specially tailored video, social media campaign, and
website focused on underscoring the importance of ICT’s in enabling progress towards achieving the SDGs. For the September launch of the Broadband Commission’s annual State of Broadband report a new approach to video interviews was taken, with questions and responses cut into individual videos, viewable next to the question in the press release. This enabled journalists to click through to view responses just to the questions they were interested in, rather than watching a lengthy interview. This significantly increased the view-rate for these promotional videos and will be further developed in 2016 to ensure our video and social media channels are fully integrated.
ITU Telecom was provided with support by SPM for the ITU Telecom World 2015 event in Hungary, highlighting the launching of the
Emerge Partnership and the
Budapest Call for Action as well as Young Innovators. Regarding social media, the live coverage of #ITUWORLD Telecom reached 8 million people on Twitter and seventy videos were shot for that occasion.
Ahead of WRC-15, SPM promoted the BR workshop on “The Future of Audio in Broadcasting” in July. WRC itself was supported with a wide range of communications activities including for the first time a comprehensive social media outreach and engagement strategy, reaching 14.5 million people around the world through Twitter alone. Regarding the web, the
WRC-15 newsroom was set up and provides a comprehensive reference and round-up of key WRC-15 issues and outcomes. ITU video production focused on the outcomes of WRC-15 as well as on key issues, bringing in over 2,000 viewers. Over 27,000 logged into the Flickr photo library. Top-tier coverage was achieved around the world, with over 1,200 WRC-related topics covered globally.
SPM supported the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS) in Hiroshima, Japan (December), an event that was also covered with a special edition of ITU News. The launch of the annual
MIS Report was launched globally to significant media attention and supported for the first time with a new
data visualization tool for the IDI. It involved preparation and distribution of launch materials to the ITU Regional Offices in all 6 languages ahead of the launch event. In addition to launches in each RO and the Host Country, ITU also organized a launch for Geneva-based media at the Palais des Nations.
ITU was able to make a major contribution to the event media kit at the
WSIS+10 event in New York in December by providing social media, messaging, graphics and contributing a
short animated video on the importance of the WSIS process in all six languages. The second edition of the GEM-Techs Awards was hosted by the New York City Mayor’s office, with awards presented to three winners, as well as three outstanding Global Achievers, including H.E. Anusha Rehman Khan, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunications, Pakistan, Geneva-based Ambassador H.E. Pamela Hamamoto, and Dr Nancy Hafkin, Senior Associate, Women in Global Science and Technology.
SPM also provided support to ITU’s Digital Financial Services workshops in Kuala Lumpur (September) and Geneva (December), and the Global Forum on Emergency Telecommunications (
GET-2016) in Kuwait (January). SPM also promoted the collaboration between Singapore and ITU on
smart sustainable cities; the first ITU standard on Big Data; the new technical guide and companion online tool for enabling affordable tariffs for international mobile-roaming voice services; the ITU-T Focus Group on IMT-2020; and the agreement with Georgia Tech to collaborate on developing standards for the Internet of Things (
IoT).
Video messages were produced from the ITU Secretary-General to mark the 50th anniversaries of Singapore and UNIDO, the 20th anniversary of the Communications Regulatory Commission of Mongolia, and the 70th anniversary of Indonesia’s Post and Telecommunications Service Day; as well as for the Ultra-broadband Forum 2015 hosted by Huawei.
In terms of audio-visual coverage, a total of 191 videos were uploaded to the
ITU YouTube Channel with almost 150,000 total combined views. There were 1,227 plays on the new
ITU Podcast channel. A total of 6,150
photos were uploaded to
Flickr during the reporting period, with close to 2.5 million views.
The commitment of the ITU Secretary-General to the
Geneva Gender Champions initiative generated many positive mentions, particularly at UN and diplomatic community events. It has been actively promoted over
social media, and continues to help bolster ITU’s work in the field of gender and ICTs.
The ITU blog continued to grow and published some 235 blog posts gaining some 52,000 views. SPM also created and promoted the
ICT4SDGs website and
Tumblr platform. The web translation pilot project in collaboration with ITU Members (China and Egypt) was also launched. The
ITU google+ account was viewed more than a million times as of October 2015.
For information on ITU News see section
I.3-1.
S.12 Protocol services
In 2015, the ITU Protocol Service received Ministers and CEOs at the ITU World Telecom event in Budapest, Hungary, and the World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva, and also organized the inauguration of H.E. Mr Luis Guillermo Solís, President of Costa Rica as the ITU Patron for Youth and ICT. Two Ambassadors’ meetings were organized in the year to ensure that the diplomatic community in Geneva remains fully apprised of ITU’s future activities. Within the context of the 150th anniversary celebrations the Protocol Service worked closely with the Ministry of External Affairs in Paris to organize the French celebration which took place on 27 April in the Salon d’Horloge, where the first ITU Constitution and Convention were signed. The Protocol Service also played a major part in the organization of the 150th Anniversary event held in Geneva on 17 May at the event itself and in working closely with the Swiss Government in the organization of the celebratory dinner. The Protocol Service was the focal point for the organization of the 150th Anniversary Dinner held at the UN in New York where nine Heads of State/Heads of Government received the ICT Award for Sustainable Development. The Protocol Service was also heavily involved in the organization of two Broadband Commission meetings, with one taking place in UNESCO, Paris, in February and the second at the Yale Club, New York in September.
S.13 Facilitation of the work of Governing bodies (PP, Council, Council working groups)
The Governing Bodies Secretariat (GBS) led, managed, and supervised the substantive preparation and organization of the Council, as well as the Council Working groups meetings in October 2015 and February 2016. It directed, coordinated and oversaw the preparation of the reports to the Council and continued to monitor the implementation of all PP and Council decisions. It also provided expert advice to the Council Chairman.
GBS is actively making efforts to improve the services provided to the membership and the guidance given to new delegates. GBS is also focusing on enhancing efficiency of ITU Governing Bodies decision-making processes.
Further details on the 2015 session of ITU Council can be found
here.
S.14 Badging production and distribution
The badging system is currently being integrated with CRM and the Identity Management system. CRM is the platform that contains all the contact and account information of people, companies and organizations interacting with ITU. The same CRM platform is intended to be used to invite and register people to ITU meetings and conferences. This set up has been used for ITU World Telecom in 2014 and 2015, and for ITU-T Study Groups 11 and 13, and is scheduled to be rolled out to all other ITU events including PP, Council Working Groups, etc.
S.15 Resource-mobilization services
A major priority for 2015 was the mobilization of members and resources for the celebration of ITU’s 150th anniversary. Sufficient funding was secured from 13 members, allowing the organization of global ITU activities throughout the year.
In addition, a cross-ITU team in the Secretariat has been developing new tools to support improved reporting and coordination of membership outreach and resource mobilization activities, leveraging existing investments in the ITU’s Customer Relationship Management system. This is a multi-year implementation, requiring significant change management, and efforts are ongoing. This work should be largely completed in 2016. ITU-wide guidelines for sponsorship/resource mobilization are also under development, and should also be finalized in 2016.
S.16 Corporate strategic management and planning
A feasibility study for the implementation of a corporate monitoring and evaluation mechanism was conducted in 2015. As a result of that work, a prototype for a practical monitoring tool has been developed to allow management to further assess monitoring requirements and consider options to track progress on the implementation of the ITU-results framework. The tool was used to support the introduction of the new format for the report on the implementation of the Strategic Plan (this document – Council Document C16/35), which includes graphical representation of progress towards the achievement of the Goals and Objectives of the Union.
As the Operational Plans for 2016-2019 were developed in a coherent and more concise format, following the Results-based management principles, they included a set of Outcome indicators, as well as indicators for the Enablers. The process to regularly monitor those indicators for all sector and inter-sectoral objectives has been initiated during the elaboration of the 2017-2020 Operational Plans and the results are presented in the 2016 Session of Council.
Progress towards a systematic risk management approach has also been achieved, as per the recommendations of IMAC. The secretariat, in consultations with IMAC, is working towards adopting a process which aims to:
- Establish and maintain a list of key operational risks per Sector and General Secretariat (a risk register, consolidating information from Sectors and General Secretariat)
- Identify the risk owners and all those who are responsible for the implementation of mitigation measures
- Ensure that senior management regularly reviews risks and follows-up on the actions required
ITU also continued to actively participate in the work of the UN Strategic Planning Network (UNSPN), participating in the meetings held in New York (June 2015) and Vienna (October 2015), primarily focusing on the process of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and the strategic implications for the planning processes of the UN agencies.
