Mr Sami Al-Basheer of Saudi Arabia and Mr
Malcolm Johnson of the United Kingdom were elected today as Directors of the
Telecommunication Development Bureau and Telecommunication Standardization Bureau
respectively in a third round of voting. Mr Valery Timofeev of Russia was
re-elected for a second term yesterday.
Mr Timofeev, who received almost unanimous support from the Plenipotentiary,
expressed great pleasure in reporting that the Radiocommunication Bureau had
fully carried out all the programmes set four years ago, including allocation of
satellite frequencies and organizing major radio conferences such as RRC this
year. He said, "In the next term I expect once again to fulfil your expectations
owing to the high level of expertise available in BR."
Mr Timofeev has extensive professional experience in the fields of radio-wave
propagation, frequency spectrum planning, development of national EMC standards
and the design of satellite communication and television and radio broadcasting
systems. For many years, he was responsible for the international coordination
of satellite communication systems and headed national delegations at frequency
assignment coordination meetings. As Deputy Minister for Communications and
Informatization of the Russian Federation, Mr Timofeev was directly responsible
for matters pertaining to effective radio frequency spectrum management, the
development of television and radio broadcasting and the deployment and
operation of the national satellite communication and broadcasting system. On
the initiative and with the direct involvement of Mr Timofeev, Acts and
Government Decrees of the Russian Federation were drawn up and adopted for the
purpose of establishing favourable legal conditions for the use of radio
facilities within the territory of Russia and for the harmonization of national
and international frequency allocations. He was first elected Director of the
Radiocommunication Bureau at Marrakesh in 2002.
His biography is available
here.
"To win an election is an emotional moment, a life-changing event," said Mr
Johnson upon the announcement of his election. "I feel very humbled by the
Plenipotentiary’s confidence in me and I shall be determined to meet the
expectations."
Mr Johnson is well known to many of the key players in ITU with over 20 years
of experience in the Union’s activities. After obtaining a Master of Science
Degree, he joined the UK government which he represented in many other
international organizations, including the International Maritime Organization,
Inmarsat and the European Space Agency. After five years at the
Telecommunication Regulations Division of the European Commission, he became
Director in 1992 in UK’s Radiocommunications Agency with lead responsibility for
the UK in ITU and the CEPT. In 2003, he joined the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom)
where he was the International Coordinator with lead responsibility for the UK
in ITU and CEPT. He is credited as having initiated many reforms in the
Telecommunication Standardization Sector to speed-up the work and increase the
role of the private sector. He chaired the Reform Group on standardization prior
to the 2002 Plenipotentiary Conference.
For a complete biography, click
here.
On being elected Director of BDT, Mr Al Basheer pledged to work as a team to
achieve the goals and objectives of ITU. He said, "The challenge is great, the
task is heavy but I am confident in our ability to serve the Union and all
mankind."
After earning a Master's degree in Economics and Political Science from San
Jose State University, California, Mr Al-Basheer joined the Ministry of Post and
Telecommunications (MoPTT) of Saudi Arabia as Director of International
Relations where he was responsible for cooperation and coordination with various
regional and global telecommunication organizations. He was also top executive
and head of the department responsible for telecommunication policy and
investment matters at the national, regional and international level. In this
position he was also responsible for liberalization, reform and privatization of
the telecommunications sector as well as for telecommunication trade and tariff
issues in GATS/WTO negotiations. He has extensive experience in
telecommunications management and development as well as in negotiating and
formulating international agreements on commercial, operational, maintenance and
investment issues.
Mr Al-Basheer’s biography is available
here.
Speaking after the
election of the Directors of the Bureaux, the Secretary-General elect, Mr Hamadoun
Touré invited them to join his team which would work with congeniality. "We will
strengthen team spirit and mutual trust between the staff and management," he
said. Mr Touré expressed his gratitude to the outgoing team of Mr Utsumi and Mr
Blois and thanked them for their assistance and support.
For details on the elections, click
here.
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