Biography of ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré

Dr Hamadoun Touré was elected Secretary-General at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Antalya, Turkey, in November 2006 and took office on 1 January 2007. He served as Director BDT from 1998 until 2006. Born on 3 September 1953, Hamadoun Touré holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technical Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications of Leningrad (LEIS, USSR) and Doctor of Philosophy Degree (PhD) from the University of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics of Moscow (MTUCI, Russia). Dr Touré is committed to make ITU an innovative, forward looking organization adapted to meeting the challenges created by the new ICT environment and to spearhead the Union towards implementing the resolutions of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As Director BDT from 1999 until 2006, he played a significant role in the WSIS process by launching numerous projects based on partnership building with International Organizations, Governments, Civil Society and the Private Sector. He is married with four children and two granddaughters. Prior to his election as Director of BDT in 1998, Dr Hamadoun Touré was Africa's Regional General Manager for ICO Global Communications (1996–1998). He spearheaded the company's activities from its Africa Regional Office in South Africa, where he laid the foundation to ensure the successful introduction and operation of ICO's regional operations: marketing and network distribution, coordination with service partners, regulators and operators of fixed, mobile and special services. He joined the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT) in December 1985 where he occupied several important positions. From 1986 to 1990, he was Telecommunications Officer of INTELSAT Assistance and Development Programme (IADP). In this capacity he participated in several IADP projects including the design of earth stations, feasibility studies for domestic satellite communication systems and the implementation of technologies such as time division multiple access (TDMA) and demand assignment multiple access (DAMA) in several developing countries. From 1990 to 1994, he was INTELSAT's Director for the Africa Region and later served as the Group Director for Africa and the Middle East from 1994 to 1996. During this time, he took an active part in the continental initiative launched by the Regional African Satellite Communications Organization (RASCOM) to pool trans¬ponders on the INTELSAT system. He pioneered studies for regional interconnectivity and worked closely with all African and the Middle East countries to enhance the development of their telecommunication infrastructure. In these positions he managed annual revenue budgets of more than USD 115 million. He is well known for his steadfast commitment to projects such as AFROSAT, AFSAT, PANAFTEL (Pan-African Telecommunications Network), as well as for his contributions to numerous conferences and meetings of ITU, INTELSAT, RASCOM, PATU (Pan-African Telecommunications Union), PANAFTEL and CAPTAC (Conference of Post and Telecommunication Administrations of Central Africa). On the national scene, he was Manager of the Sulymanbougou II earth station in Bamako, Mali, where he coordinated activities between the country's national Office des postes et télécommunications (OPT) and TELEMALI in 1985. Later that year, he headed OPT's Satellite Communications Section. From 1981 to 1984, he was Engineer in charge of operation and maintenance of the International Satellite earth station in Bamako, Mali. He interfaced with the International Switching Centre in Bamako in 1980 and with the PANAFTEL microwave terminal from October 1979. His sound operation and maintenance of satellite communications earth stations earned him the reputation of a committed manager. Dr Touré's language and negotiating skills help him to efficiently broker agreements in several international arenas. He is proficient in three official languages of the Union: English, French and Russian. Decorations and honorary titles Knight of the National Order of Mali Officer of the National Order of Côte d’Ivoire Doctorate honoris causa from the Odessa National Academy of Telecommunications (Ukraine) Honorary Citizen of the city of Grecia (Costa Rica)