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Robert W. JONES
Director, Radiocommunication Bureau
International Telecommunication Union

CURRICULUM VITAE

Mr. Jones was elected by the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in September, 1994 to the post of Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau. Previous to taking up his duties at the ITU in January, 1995, he was Director General of the Radiocommunications and Broadcasting Regulatory Branch of Industry Canada in the Government of Canada. As Director General, he headed many Canadian delegations to various ITU conferences and meetings. He has many years of spectrum management, policy, international telecommunications, and management experience. He has worked in the private and public radiocommunication sectors in Canada as well as previously at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Mr. Jones' interpersonal and oral and written skills are excellent. He is sensitive to multilateral issues and seeks to accommodate the views and needs of those with whom he deals in an open and honest way.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS DIRECTOR

Since taking up office in January, 1995, Mr. Jones has placed great emphasis on sound management in his Bureau and in the ITU secretariat as a whole. Transparency is a key aspect of his management style. Under Mr. Jones’ direction, for the first time, operational plans based on the ITU’s strategic plan are developed each year for the Radiocommunication Bureau and presented to the Radiocommunication Advisory Group for comment and guidance. Within the Bureau, each Department reports on a quarterly basis on progress made with respect to this annual operational plan. Also, the Sector’s financial management has been made much more transparent and accountable. A major costing study of the products and services of the Radiocommunication Sector was carried out under Mr. Jones’ leadership as the first response in the ITU to Resolution 39 of the Kyoto Plenipotentiary Conference (Strengthening the Financial Base of the ITU). For the first time, budgets have been delegated to Study Group chairmen resulting not only in greater accountability but also in giving the study groups more flexibility in choosing among various activities based on an increased awareness of the costs. Within the Bureau, Mr. Jones has made progressive incremental changes in organizational structure and working methods in order to better integrate the previous two secretariats (IFRB and CCIR) and to yield improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. This has been, and continues to be, of critical importance given the tremendous increase in the workload in the Bureau, especially the resource constraints. Inter-sector cooperation is important and Mr. Jones has taken concrete steps to improve this cooperation with other components of the ITU and, in particular, with the Development Sector. Believing that assistance to developing countries is the responsibility of all sectors of the ITU, with the Development Sector having the paramount role and responsibility, Mr. Jones has taken concrete steps to assist all Member States, including especially the developing countries, in not only reaping the benefits of the new radiocommunication technologies but also assisting them in their participation in the activities of the Radiocommunication Sector and in the important area of spectrum management. To this end, the Radiocommunication Bureau has organized a number of successful seminars in various regions of the world as well as in Geneva. Building upon the experience gained during the successful 1995 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-95), Mr. Jones instituted further improvements to ensure the best possible preparations for WRC-97 with its long and complex agenda. For example, Bureau staff assisted in meetings of the regional telecommunications organizations dealing with WRC-97 preparations. For the first time too, delegates to the 1996 Conference Preparatory Meeting were able to leave Geneva with a final copy of the voluminous report to WRC-97 from the Meeting, a meeting which completed its task on time and within the approved budget in spite of the complexity and volume of the material to be considered. Due in large measure to the excellent preparations undertaken in the Bureau for WRC-97, this conference was a tremendous success with a record number of participants. Other reforms in the Radiocommunication Sector and ITU secretariat are in process and under Mr. Jones’ guidance, these further improvements will successfully take the ITU into the next century.

RADIOCOMMUNICATION EXPERIENCE

Radiocommunications has been a vital part of Mr. Jones' life for many years. His early interest in radiocommunications led to electrical engineering studies at the University of Toronto where he received the Bachelor of Applied Science degree. He went on to obtain the Master of Applied Science degree in the field of antennas and electromagnetic theory. Between 1965 and 1975, he worked for two companies which design antennas and transmission lines. He was involved in the design of, among other things, the earth station antennas for Canada's domestic, geostationary satellite system, the first such system in the world. In 1975, he joined the Canadian Department of Communications. He held progressively more responsible positions there in the areas of spectrum policy, telecommunications industry structure and spectrum management culminating in the position of Director General of the Radiocommunications and Broadcasting Regulatory Branch. His duties in that position, among many others, included the responsibility for all of Canada's frequency notifications to the ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau. Mr. Jones has headed several Canadian delegations to bilateral and multilateral frequency coordination meetings.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Mr. Jones began his involvement with the ITU in 1975 when he participated in Canada's preparations for the 1977 World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) on Satellite Broadcasting at 12 GHz.. He attended that WARC and served as Canada's spokesman in the important planning committee. He continued his WARC involvement by preparing for and participating in WARC-79. As Director of Spectrum Policy at that time, Mr. Jones was the person on the Canadian delegation to WARC-79 responsible for all spectrum allocation matters. In 1981, Mr. Jones was selected by the ITU for a D-1 position reporting directly to the Secretary General and to the Members of the International Frequency Registration Board (IFRB) as the first Director of a major automation project to modernize the ITU's frequency publication, notification and registration process. Mr. Jones continued his ITU involvement after returning to Canada in 1983 by chairing the ITU's Voluntary Group of Experts overseeing the above mentioned automation project on behalf of the ITU's Administrative Council. Mr. Jones was the Canadian member on the Panel of Experts on the Long Term Future of the IFRB which, in 1987-88, reviewed the IFRB in the light of the changing environment. In addition to participating as an ITU official in the 1982 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Nairobi, Mr. Jones was Deputy Head of the Canadian delegation to the 1989 Plenipotentiary Conference in Nice. In 1992, he headed the Canadian delegation to WARC-92 in Malaga-Torremolinas, Spain. He also headed the Canadian delegation to the Additional Plenipotentiary Conference held in Geneva in December 1992. Mr. Jones participated in every meeting of the High Level Committee which reviewed the structure and functioning of the ITU and whose recommendations were, by and large, adopted by the 1992 Additional Plenipotentiary Conference. Mr. Jones was the Canadian member of the Voluntary Group of Experts which reviewed the allocation and improved use of the radio frequency spectrum and simplification of the Radio Regulations. Mr. Jones also headed the Canadian delegations to the 1993 Radiocommunication Assembly and to the 1993 World Radiocommunication Conference as well as to the 1994 World Telecommunication Development Conference in Buenos Aires. Mr. Jones has participated in the work of the Council for more than fifteen years. At the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Kyoto in 1994, Mr. Jones was elected to the position of Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau, a position in which he currently serves the membership of the Union.

MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE

As Director, Mr. Jones is responsible for the management of the Radiocommunication Bureau which organizes and coordinates the work of the Radiocommunication Sector whose aim is to ensure the rational, equitable, efficient and economical use of the radio-frequency spectrum and the geostationary satellite orbit. The Radiocommunication Bureau has a staff of approximately 150 and the budget of the Radiocommunication Sector for 1998-99 amounts to more than 60 million Swiss francs. In his previous position as Director General of the Radio Regulatory Branch, Mr. Jones was responsible for managing a branch of over 100 people and a biennial budget of over $ 16 million . Mr. Jones also provided functional direction to over 500 spectrum management staff located across Canada. Previous to this, he managed a multinational team of regulatory and computer professionals at the ITU as the first Director of a project to automate the work of the IFRB. While working in the private sector, Mr. Jones furthered his formal management training by obtaining a Master of Business Administration degree.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) University of Toronto 1965
Master of Applied Science (M.A.Sc.) University of Toronto 1967
Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) York University 1975

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Mr. Jones possesses excellent oral and written communication skills in the English language combined with proficiency in the French language.

Mr. Jones is a registered Professional Engineer (P.Eng.)

Mr. Jones was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada on November 22, 1943.

Mr. Jones is married and has a married son and a married daughter.

 

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