ITU INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIC PLAN 2004-2006

A vision without action is but a daydream.
Action without a vision is a nightmare.

I. Executive summary
II. ICT strategy in the context of business drivers and objectives
III. ICT vision
IV. ICT strategic goals

ICT strategic activities
ICT strategic organizational and managerial matters

V. ICT programs in pursuit of strategic goals: e-ITU initiative

ICT strategic activities
ICT strategic organizational and managerial matters

VI. Areas of benefit

More effective work in the Union and field offices
Making ITU information resources an extension of the members' own resources
Improved ITU public presence
More effective participatory activities

VII. What is needed for the strategy to deliver the anticipated benefits?

Implementation of several of the External Auditor's most important recommendations for improvement
Manage ICT assets through formal portfolios and architectures
Effective governance (including policies, compliance, organizational change)
Organizational readiness
Information management skills and adequate end user skills

VIII. Potential obstacles and risks

Technical risks
Organizational risks
Resistance to re-engineering and process change

IX. Conclusion

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This document defines the strategic ICT direction of the ITU over the next 3 years and takes into account the report on information systems of the External Auditor of 2002, the Decision 7 taken by the PP-02 and the near term Recommendation 6 of the Group of Specialists. This document will be reviewed annually to ensure it meets the requirements of all stakeholders and that it reflects the changing priorities that internal or external events may require the ITU to adopt.

The IS Department will deliver the ICT tools and systems to support the changes needed to make ITU's business processes more efficient. This re-engineering, based on a systematic review and, where appropriate, redesign of all processes will exploit the processing and communication capabilities of networked systems to dramatically reduce or eliminate cumbersome manual and paper-intensive forms.

Re-engineering also aims to integrate processes and information to avoid duplication of effort. In the words of the COG report to Council (Doc C03-ADD/5), this plan "should challenge the user community with new ideas and new ways of doing their work." However, only the senior management can drive the organizational, social and political aspects of implementing significant change in the way the ITU works.

The implementation of the twelve strategic goals of the vision of how ICT could be deployed to achieve these goals, will lead the transformation of the ITU into an e-ITU, better able to serve its Members and dramatically improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its internal business processes. Each goal has a set of specific projects and/or proposed actions.

The first eight goals presented here define goals for ICT strategic activities for 2004-2006 while goals 9 to 11 focus on establishing an effective and rational ICT organization to make the use and implementation of ICT in ITU cost-effective. The last goal (goal 12) is that to use performance indicators and mechanisms for reviewing and monitoring the effectiveness of the strategic plan.

Goal 1 proposes the completion of the reorganization of the IS Department, a vital component of the present strategic plan. This will introduce a service orientation accompanied by clear accountabilities and appropriate performance indicators. This will also enable the realization of short-term priority projects that are crucial to bring the ICT infrastructure to the technical level required for the implementation of the strategic plan.

Goal 2 sets the strategic orientation for this ICT infrastructure to make it reliable, secure, available wherever needed and able to deliver new applications as required. It must also facilitate user connectivity locally, remotely and worldwide and continue to support high-performance conference, exhibition and forum activities.

The other principal elements of the ICT vision presented in this strategic plan are:

Goals 3 and 4 address how ICT can be used as an enabler of process re-engineering and to provide better management information as well as the integration and easier access to information,

Goal 5 aims to increase the productivity of staff,

Goals 6 and 7 focus on the needs of participants in ITU activities and foresee improved access to ITU documents,

Goal 8 addresses the opportunity to be better able to exploit the knowledge and information built up over the years,

Goals 9 and 10 focus on achieving cost reductions in ICT implementation and operations,

Goal 11 is targeted at improving service quality in the delivery of ICT systems, facilities, operations and support, and

Finally, Goal 12 underpins all the above 11 goals by introducing appropriate performance indicators and ensuring that the strategic plan will be maintained up-to-date to reflect the changing needs of the Union.

The benefits of this ICT strategic plan include more effective work processes in the Union and field offices through the streamlining of business processes, greater transparency, making ITU information resources an extension of the members' own resources, an improved ITU public presence and more effective participatory activities.

The successful implementation of this strategic plan will require putting in place effective governance procedures to insure the optimum use of the Union's overall ICT resources and ensuring that the ITU is able and ready to adapt to significant organizational change.

The re-definition of business process models, first step in the integrated project proposed by the Chairman of the GoS and endorsed by the COG, will be incorporated into this strategic plan as a priority step in realizing the e-ITU initiative and its associated implementation plan.

The strategic plan also discusses the technical and organizational risks associated with it, all of which are manageable. Technical risks are assessed and managed by the IS Department. Mitigating and managing organizational risks are outside the sphere of influence of the IS Department and require the support and involvement of senior management.

Sections II - IV of this document give an overview of the ICT strategy in terms of ITU's needs. Sections V - IX complete the picture with specific examples of how the goals are to be achieved and the benefits, requirements, potential obstacles and risks of the plan.

II. ICT strategy in the context of business drivers and objectives

ITU's membership demands significant change: Decision 7 of PP-02, establishing the Group of Specialists (GoS), declares "in the … financial crisis facing ITU, there is an urgent need to seek innovative ways to rationalize internal costs, optimize resources and improve efficiency."

The achievement of the objectives in Decision 7 of PP-02, via the recommendations of the GoS, will rely on the proven role of ICT as an enabler of change and bring with it new requirements for ICT capabilities and functionality to reflect the way in which the working processes of the Union are reengineered.

The re-engineering of ITU's business processes so that they are streamlined and supported by web-based electronic workflows is a major component of the creation of an e-ITU. The e-ITU will be better able to fulfill its missions with greater transparency within the reduced resources made available for 2004-2007.

This document recognizes and develops the findings and recommendations made by the External Auditor (Doc C03/21) regarding the IS Department's resource management and practices as well as the requirements of the Group of Specialists Recommendation 6. Both these documents will be used as drivers for the way in which ICT is organized in ITU.

This ICT strategy presented here is completed by three further documents: A status of ICT use in the ITU (to reflect lessons learned from the past), a list of short-term priority ICT projects (needed to allow the ICT infrastructure to enable the integration and reliable implementation of future projects) and a tentative list of strategic projects for the longer term. A framework for an ICT Implementation Plan covering a period of three years (2004-06) with priorities established will be prepared for the next Council 2004.

All these documents will be reviewed annually to reflect lessons learned in implementing the strategy and the inevitable further changes in both requirements, priorities and technologies.

III. ICT vision

The External Auditor's report states that:

Defining a strategic ICT plan which satisfies ITU's business requirements means striking an optimum balance between ICT opportunities and ICT business requirements, as well as ensuring its further accomplishment. Such a strategic planning process undertaken at regular intervals should be periodically translated into an operational plan setting with clear and concrete short-term goals.

In an environment where resources are not only limited but are in fact significantly reduced from previous levels, as is the case in the overall funding for ICT investment and maintenance at ITU, which, in 2004-05 will be 27% lower than in the 2002-03 Biennium, this definition is particularly appropriate.

The main business drivers and objectives in this strategy document include:

Reorganization of the IS Department, realization of short-term priority projects and maintenance of a pervasive, advanced, reliable and secure ICT infrastructure;
Exploit ICT as an enabler of process re-engineering;
Increased productivity of staff;
Improved access to ITU documents for participants in ITU activities;
Greater ability to exploit the knowledge and information built up over the years;
Cost reductions in ICT implementation and operations;
Improved service quality in the delivery of ICT systems, facilities, operations and support.

IV. ICT strategic goals

Each goal is designed to take us towards the realization of our vision. However, a prerequisite to the realization of these strategic goals is the immediate goal which consists of complete reorganization of the IS Department and the realization of short-term priority projects. The next section examines each goal and lists specific programs related to each goal.

ICT strategic activities

Reorganization of the IS Department, realization of short-term priority projects and maintenance of a pervasive, advanced, reliable and secure ICT infrastructure

Goal 1: To complete the reorganization of the IS Department. This will enable the tight integration of the service management processes and the realization of short-term priority projects which will bring the ICT infrastructure to the technical level enabling implementation of strategic program activities.

Goal 2: To provide and develop a pervasive, advanced, reliable and secure ICT infrastructure within the Union, able to deliver new applications as required, to facilitate user connectivity, locally, remotely and worldwide and to continue to maintain high-performance conference, exhibition and forum supports.

Exploit ICT as an enabler of process re-engineering:

Goal 3: To provide management information required for decision-making at all levels. Areas to be covered include human resources, staff activity tracking and reporting, management accounting and budget reporting, key performance indicators and other operational measures.

Goal 4: To provide better integrated computer systems, simpler interfaces and the ready availability of needed information through the Union's Intranet as a single point of access to information and applications.

Increased productivity of staff

Goal 5: To provide system support for the re-engineering of administrative and support activities. This includes electronic workflow, electronic signatures and web-based interfaces that will result in a dramatic reduction in the amount of time and paper consumed to support this work.

Improved access to ITU documents for participants in ITU activities

Goal 6: To provide participants in ITU activities expanded and improved access to ITU documents as well as tools that facilitate the research and retrieval of these documents in all official languages.

Goal 7: To continue to pursue the opportunity to exploit computer-assisted translation.

Greater ability to exploit the knowledge and information built up over the years:

Goal 8: The introduction of a culture of information sharing and online collaboration is an essential component of the evolution of the Union. This evolution is critical to the future success of the organization.

ICT strategic organizational and managerial matters

Cost reductions in ICT implementation and operations:

Goal 9: To follow the reorganization of the IS Department in Goal 1 by a fundamental review of how human resources are allocated within Bureaus and Departments in the context of the overall needs and priorities of the Union. This will allow the elimination of duplication and inefficiencies.

Goal 10: To redeploy and intensively train staff. In order to reduce cost of hiring external consultants, implementation of the ICT strategy will have to rely on qualified, motivated and knowledgeable ICT staff and managers, staff whose skills will be constantly updated and upgraded through an aggressive training policy.

Improved service quality in the delivery of ICT systems, facilities, operations and support:

Goal 11: To adopt the guidelines and best practices that have been widely adopted and proven elsewhere, for example CobiT.

Monitor the effectiveness of the strategic plan

Goal 12: To use performance indicators to monitor the effectiveness of the strategic plan and the mechanisms for reviewing and maintaining these strategic plans.

V. ICT programs in pursuit of the strategic goals: e-ITU initiative

This section lists the specific projects or actions which the IS department or senior management plan to implement in order to achieve each goal. The implementation of the programs listed in the following strategic goals during the period 2004-06 will lead the transformation of ITU into the e-ITU.

ICT strategic activities

Goal 1: To complete the reorganization of the IS Department as this will enable the tight integration of the service management processes and the realization of short-term priority projects which will bring the ICT infrastructure to the technical level enabling implementation of strategic program activities.

Completion of the service-oriented reorganization of the IS Department
Introduction of service level management and service performance indicators
Initiation of the network data backup and recovery project
Improvements to ITU's regional presence connectivity
Upgrading the current SAP version 4.6 to the Web-enabled SAP
Upgrading the ITU messaging system (email) to be more resilient, reliable, secure and fully workflow-enabled
Migration of the ITU authentication infrastructure to a central directory (for secure access to data and systems)
Introduction of helpdesk and asset management software

All these above programs will be completed within a year and will be financed by the IS department budget and the ITU ICT capital Fund without the need for additional financing.

Provision of

a high speed and highly resilient core network (wired and wireless) to all areas of the Union
upgraded remote access facility providing access to a greater range of services for staff in regional offices;
an improved security infrastructure to ensure the integrity of the Union's ICT systems;
integration of client environment support (desktops, laptops, mobile devices) and client security access to ITU resources);
improved central facilities that support the Union's website;
enhancements to the infrastructure for e-mail and other services that facilitate collaborative work throughout the Union;
secure network backup, archiving and recovery facilities;
enhanced central facilities that support the Union's ERPs: SAP, HR/ACCESS, DOCUMENTUM;
enhanced central facilities that support the Union's database management systems
continuing to provide high-performance conference, exhibition and forum support, and develop service level definitions for them;
telephone services, to be closely integrated with data networks when opportunities arise;
monitoring and maintenance of all the above for reliability and performance.

In addition:

The IS Department will take the lead to maintain and test appropriate plans for disaster recovery.

Web-based Human Resources Management (HRM) functionality
A system for staff time tracking and reporting
Provision of access to staff and managers to HR information with the ability to initiate personnel transactions electronically
A management accounting system enabling costs of individual projects and activities to be identifiable and auditable
Facilities for budget control and reporting
Computerized travel management (including simplification of travel processes thru electronic workflow and signatures)
Integration of the on-line bookshop and paid-event registration (e-commerce) with ITU's financial systems
Implementation of additional ERP reports such as Key Performance Indicator monitoring
Integration of all Management Information System (MIS) applications

A new Management Information System will be derived from the implementation of this goal; it is required to contribute to improve efficiency and administrative transparency and essential for the quarterly project reports that are required by Council in GoS Recommendation #13. Several of the elements identified above are included in the integrated project proposed by the Chairman of the GoS and endorsed by the COG.

Goal 4: To enhance the Union's Intranet to reduce the time needed by staff to respond to queries. This will be achieved by enhancing the integration of computer systems, developing simpler interfaces and by making the Intranet a single point of access to information and applications.

Creation of an online compendium of information covering ITU documents, publications, reports on meetings and trips, memos and correspondence with an effective search mechanism to facilitate queries. The compendium will be protected by appropriate rules for access to sensitive information and by ITU's authentication infrastructure.
Web-based access to information and consolidation of information management. For example, a master list of staff should replace separate lists currently maintained in the HRM, email addresses, and telephone directory systems.

Target processes for simplification and automation will be identified by a task force established by senior management to analyze business processes throughout the organization
Electronic workflow systems will be implemented for processes which involve multiple transactions among services in several departments - such as procurement.
Many current processes involve numerous forms that need to be filled out although the information is already available in various systems. Re-engineering these processes will maintain an audit trail and remove the need to validate such forms while continuing to place responsibility on individuals for the correctness of data, for example for staff benefit declarations.
Simplification of the processes for document processing, production and publication will result in significant savings in staff time. These can be achieved with modest enhancements to the ITU Document Management System (DMS)
Workflow systems could also be introduced to manage alternative approval process (AAP), which is currently done manually.

Enhancements to internal and external ITU websites including the development of an improved and better organized, ITU intranet
Enhanced access by making information easier to find and view through better presentation, search capabilities and metadata
Enhancement of document preparation, production and management.
Improved organization of the management of documents and publications (enterprise content management) including collecting and categorizing information
New printed products (product portfolio and production processes);

Goal 7: To continue to pursue the opportunity to exploit computer-assisted translation.

Although the promise of machine translation has not yet materialized, this has profound implications for all document-handling, on-line services and publications and translations aids with the objective of making available publications in six official languages

Goal 8: To introduce a culture of information sharing and online collaboration is an essential component of the evolution of the Union. This evolution is critical to the future success of the organization.

Developing knowledge sharing and knowledge management.
Further development of tools to support the work of ITU participatory activities: study groups, exhibitions and forums, and conference.
Pursuing the Web/on-line and electronic distribution of ITU information (free and revenue generating);
Developing facilities for electronic access, distribution, and notifications/ updating of databases such as International Frequency List (IFL), Global Directory
Extending use of the enterprise-wide Document Management System to include correspondence and internal reports.

The first of these projects, developing knowledge sharing and knowledge management will be fully supported by the IS Department but its success requires the commitment and support of senior management as it implies a change in ITU's organizational culture which is beyond the influence of the IS Department.

ICT strategic organizational and managerial matters

Elimination of duplication and inefficiency in ICT activities throughout the Union
Conduct a feasibility study to regroup all ICT development activities to gain synergy from existing development groups and the promotion of a common development platform.

While this is crucial to address resource shortages and cost reduction, it implies organizational change beyond the boundaries of the IS Department and will require senior management to take and implement the necessary decisions and actions.

Goal 10: To redeploy and intensively train ICT staff

Other UN system organizations (UNICEF, UNHCR, WFP, ILO) are devoting substantial financial resources to implementations of business and administrative applications on ERP platforms. Such undertakings require resources that ITU doesn't have. ITU's approach will be based on the redeployment of existing staff and intensive training to allow them to carry out these activities in-house with minimal support from external consulting.

For this to be successful, the implementation of the ICT strategic plan will need qualified, motivated and knowledgeable ICT staff and managers, whose skills will be constantly updated and upgraded through a coherent and highly focused training policy.

Goal 11: To adopt the guidelines and best practices that have been widely adopted and proven elsewhere

These will be of value in developing a stronger focus on cost effectiveness for all ICT activities in ITU. Such guidelines and best practices will include the implementation of mechanisms for consultation, research, standardization and implementation of policy objectives. Particular attention will be given to the standardization of platforms (desktops, servers, databases, etc.) and to removing the duplication of ICT staff resources throughout ITU.
Implementation of methodologies for systems development to exploit standards and common tools

Strengthening project management through the adoption of best practices
Introduction of formal service level management to monitor the performance levels of a portfolio of ICT services. This will be complemented by regular user satisfaction surveys.

Goal 12: To use performance indicators to monitor the effectiveness of the strategic plan and the mechanisms for reviewing and maintaining these strategic plans.

Performance indicators to monitor the effectiveness of the strategic plan: The control mechanisms proposed could include the creation of an audit committee or the assumption of this role by the Information Communication Technology Committee (ICTC), together with the use of independent audits and benchmarks that define how performance of the IS Department will be measured. These techniques may also be used to validate whether the level of resources made available are consistent with the organization's expectations;
Mechanisms for reviewing and maintaining the strategy and its associated documents: In the rapidly changing world of ICT and having to deal with the complexities of the many aspects of global telecommunications from the ITU perspective, it is prudent to review and maintain the ICT strategy to ensure that it meets the requirements of all stakeholders and that it is adjusted to reflect the changing priorities that external events may require the ITU to adopt.

A period of one year is considered appropriate and relevant documents could be shared with the Council.

VI. Areas of benefit

The benefits of ICT systems and facilities are not accrued by the IS Department, but by the organization as a whole and its external stakeholders.

Increasing the effectiveness of work processes in the Union and field offices
Making ITU information resources an extension of the members' own resources
Improved ITU public presence
More effective participatory activities

Increasing the effectiveness of work processes in the Union and field offices:

The re-engineering program for the processes of the Union will deliver substantial benefits. While ICT will be a major enabler of this re-engineering, there will also be benefits directly associated with changes the way in which ICT work is conducted.

The first and most significant benefit of re-engineering will be the simplification of internal procedures of the Union and the elimination of duplications and inefficiencies.

The second, somewhat harder to quantify benefit will be availability of better management information.

Re-engineering also presents a unique opportunity to review the extent of decentralization of ICT activities to optimize the utilization of human resources and eliminate duplication of effort and inefficiencies. With effective governance and oversight, it will be possible to focus the use of resources on priority projects.

Another opportunity to increase the effectiveness of the use of ICT in the Union is based on the introduction of charges for ICT services: these charges, based on cost recovery will bring greater transparency to the cost of service provision and by reflecting the costs to support programmatic areas in the budgets of the sectors or departments concerned, will enable greater accountability for ICT expenditures.

A major benefit of a charging system based on cost recovery will be the possibility of conducting independent benchmarks comparing the cost of in-house service provision against alternative sources.

Making ITU information resources an extension of the members' own resources:

Participants in ITU activities require expanded and improved access to ITU documents as well as tools to facilitate the search and retrieval of materials in all official languages.

The use of electronic notifications can also reduce duplication of effort by enabling the secure active cooperation between the information systems of Members and of ITU (e.g., for frequency management, UIFN)

Improved ITU public presence:

An essential part of its role as an information sharing organization, the strategic plan envisages enhancing the organization of document and publication management (content management), making information easy to find and view and expanding the role of its on-line, web-based distribution of ITU information, both free and revenue generating.

The role of machine-assisted translation will continue to be examined with a view of improving ITU's capabilities to increase the amount of materials that can be made available in six languages at an acceptable cost.

More effective participatory activities:

While the ITU has had great success in providing tools for participatory activities such as Study Groups, Exhibitions and Forums and Conferences, there is a worldwide trend towards increased online collaboration and remote participation in meetings. These tools will continue to be enhanced in line with best practices and appropriate solutions developed by the ICT industry.

VII. What is needed for the strategy to deliver the anticipated benefits?

The role of the IS Department is to serve the organization by providing ICT solutions that are reliable, secure and appropriate to meet the needs of the many functions of the organization and its external stakeholders.

As such, the IS Department is accountable for the prudent management of its departmental budget, which is only part of the total ICT resources of the organization, for the development and maintenance of an ICT Strategic plan and its associated Business Plan and Operational Plan.

As the benefits are accrued outside the IS Department, the actions needed to ensure that these benefits are actually captured require the active participation and commitment of entities over which the IS Department has no control or authority. This strategic plan identifies five areas of activity for which executive management support is an essential requirement. These are:

Implementation of several of the External Auditor's most important recommendations for improvement
Manage ICT assets through formal portfolios and architectures
Effective governance (including policies, compliance, organizational change)
Organizational readiness
Information management skills and adequate end user skills

NB: the External Auditor states in his 2002 report: "I recommend that ITU reflect the importance and the role that information and communication technology should play in the future."

Implementation of the external auditor's recommendations for improvement:

The survey undertaken by the External Auditor in 2002 identified several weaknesses in the way ICT was managed and delivered in the Union. The report called for improvements in the management of resources, projects and expenditures. It also recommended a reorganization of the IS department to improve existing services.

The management of the IS Department is addressing those issues that are within its control. It should be noted that the budget for 2004-05 was prepared before the definition of an ICT strategic plan.

The approval of the strategic plan and the identification of new projects to deliver its planned benefits will require a review of resources and possibly a realignment of priorities to achieve new projects within existing resources. This will require senior managers to take appropriate action in the context of ICT governance.

These issues will be brought to the attention of Council in 2004.

Manage ICT assets through formal portfolios and architectures: Accounting practices deal well with tangible assets, such as the ICT infrastructure implemented in an organization. At the same time, these accounting practices are at present unable to treat information systems and the data they contain as assets.

Portfolio management provides a well-proven methodology to prioritize, resource and review the information assets of an organization. Complemented by formal project management methodologies, it has proven to be a highly effective approach to cost containment and clarity of purpose for ICT organizations.

Architectures are used to develop a strategic view of preferred technical platforms and development methodologies. Such architectures reduce diversity and complexity, thus reducing the cost and risk of ICT and help reduce incompatibilities between data structures and data exchanges between systems.

Effective governance: Governance can be defined as the process through which those who define policy in an organization guide those who follow policy. The main responsibilities of a governance body include:

The definition, at the level of the organization's leadership, of a coherent business vision to enable the ICT planning process and the systematic assessment of the risks associated with both the business vision and the ICT planning process. For this strategic plan, this includes the commitment to the re-engineering of the Union's business processes and the resulting management of change.

The formulation and deployment of policies concerning how the ICT function is organized across the organization - what is centralized, what is decentralized and how resources should be deployed to achieve this;

Setting priorities for projects and other activities ensuring that resources are made available to ensure that all vital projects and activities can be delivered. This implies that some lower priority items will need to be deferred or abandoned due to resource limitations;

The level of resources and funding within which the ICT function must deliver its services together with clear definitions of how these funds will be used and clear accountabilities;

Organizational readiness:

There is an implicit assumption that the introduction of new ICT systems and facilities brings with it significant change to the way the processes of an organization are carried out. The COG and the GoS recommendations for changing the business and activity process models to take advantage of best-practice ICT tools are explicit goals: the ICT strategy and its related Implementation Plan will be adapted to implement the new models as and when these are finalized.

Automation and workflow systems - the focus of much ICT investment over the last decades has, where successfully implemented led to massive increases in productivity and process quality. Over the period for which this strategy is envisaged - 2004 to 2006, the opportunities for further automation of processes and workflows are significant, especially for internal processes.

Electronic document handling for ITU Conference and Study Group activities has vastly speeded up the transactions for document submission and distribution with ITU's external constituencies.

Opportunities for ITU to introduce further systems of this kind abound, particularly in the areas of procurement, travel, leave management and other HR activities should now be implemented. In doing so, applications must be integrated to simplify interfaces and reduce duplication of work.

On the other hand, knowledge work - the processes through which information and data from multiple sources are collected, analyzed, integrated and studied to develop a deeper understanding and knowledge of specific topics, is in its early stages.

An organization like ITU needs to evolve into an e-ITU, to capitalize on its substantial knowledge work, knowledge sharing and collaboration with multiple parties all over the world. There are significant opportunities to exploit this to strengthen ITU's role as a centre of expertise in global telecommunications issues, as is already the case in ITU's relation with its external constituencies.

However, the best thought out strategies and implementation plans will succeed only when they are matched by an organization's readiness to accept and adopt the changes, often dramatic, that result from re-engineering and other changes to the way an organization works.

This ability to adapt to change has only one component of a technical nature, discussed in the section on skills. All the other components of organizational readiness are outside the ability of the IS Department to manage.

These include such factors as the degree to which the organization is willing to take risks, its ability to fund projects, its ability to institute organizational and structural changes and the acceptance of such changes by the staff, the management and the governing bodies. These define the organizational culture of the Union and its adaptability.

These require executive involvement and the organization's commitment to deal with the consequences of change in order to reap its benefits. The ITU has learned this the hard way: the Integrated Financial Management (IFM) system, introduced on the basis of recommendations made by the High Level Commission (HLC) in 1991 had a very limited impact because of organizational resistance.

If these abilities are limited, high impact projects will be unsuccessful.

Information management skills and adequate end user skills:

A knowledge worker is, by definition, a person who knows what to do with information. This requires a range of skills that need to be developed in order to gain the benefits of extensive informatization of the organization's activities.

Information users need to have good skills not only for finding information but also for assessing the suitability of such information for its intended use. This will present a challenge to the ITU, as it will require some kind of training not only of its own staff but also the provision of guidance and guidelines to constituents all over the world.

VIII. Potential obstacles and risks

No strategic plan is free of risk and risks can be categorized into technical risks and organizational risks.

Technical risks, associated with vendors include:

Having a vendor become the target of mergers and acquisitions which result in products being discontinued and no longer supported;
Software vendors releasing new versions of their products at rather short intervals and discontinuing support for previous versions, thus forcing their users into a potentially expensive upgrade earlier than they would have chosen to do so;
Immature technologies, which prove to be unreliable, or that fail to deliver to what was expected.

The Central IS Department systematically evaluates such risks for all major purchases in order to protect the interests of the Union.

Other technical risks are defined by ITU's internal operations, in particular the risks of poor project management resulting in projects not completed on time or on budget or, if completed, not with the functionality originally intended.

Good project management, including strict change control, is the only effective way to mitigate these risks. This strategy envisages that such skills will be continually strengthened through training and oversight by the ICT governance group.

Organizational risks

These risks can be significant and are directly related to the discussion of organizational readiness. Many ICT investments fail to deliver the benefits anticipated, simply because the organization where they are being implemented has not successfully addressed the social issues of the impact of such investments on the organization.

Typical organizational risks include:

Weak governance of the ICT function: In this case, ICT resources may be devoted to solutions that are not aligned with the business priorities of the organization. This also leads to duplication of effort and building incompatible and overly complex solutions.

This invariably increases the total cost of provision of ICT and leads to autonomous islands of information, which are detrimental to the organization as a whole.

Resistance to re-engineering and process change: People prefer stability to change. Major changes in work practices and organizational structure, as is the case in re-engineering business processes result in a profound dislocation of many individuals' jobs and may change the balance of power in the organization.

Such changes will be strongly resisted by the workforce and by managers whose status and responsibilities are adversely affected and require the committed leadership of the organization to see them through successfully.

IX. Conclusion

This strategic plan addresses the decisions of PP-02, the recommendations of the External Auditor, the near term recommendation 6 of the Group of Specialists and the steps that will enable ITU to evolve into an e-ITU, better able to serve its Members and dramatically improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its internal processes.

In order to gain the benefits of this ICT strategic plan, ITU's senior management will take the necessary steps to resolve the organizational issues presented herein.

Appendix

Status of ICT use in the ITU
List of short-term priority ICT projects
Tentative list of ICT strategic projects

Date: 22.10.2003

Contents

Appendix