Houlin Zhao
Deputy Secretary-General
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Houlin
Zhao was elected Deputy Secretary-General at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference
in Antalya, Turkey, in November 2006 and took office on 1 January 2007.
Born on 7 March 1950 in Jiangsu (China), Houlin Zhao graduated from Nanjing
University of Posts and Telecommunications in 1975. Between 1979 and 1980, he
studied as a visiting scholar in Switzerland. He joined the University of Essex
(United Kingdom) in 1984, where he obtained a Master of Science degree in
Telematics in 1985.
From 1999 to 2006, Houlin Zhao served as Director of the Telecommunication
Standardization Bureau (TSB). In his two terms as Director of TSB, he introduced
effective and efficient measures to improve ITU's standards environment and
strengthened its promotion. He also enhanced the strategic partnership between
Member States and Sector Members, while initiating and maintaining good
relationships with industry members. Under his leadership, ITU-T facilitated
international cooperation with other standards development organizations and
forums and helped bridge the standardization gap between the developing and
developed countries.
From 1975 to 1986, Houlin Zhao worked as an engineer in the Designing Institute
of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of China. He took an active part
in his country's experts meetings on national telecommunication standards as
well as in various national projects. He received a prize in 1985 for his
science and technology achievements in the Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications. Between 1982 and 1983, he participated in CCITT Study Group
meetings as a Chinese delegate. He published a number of technical articles in
several Chinese magazines.
Houlin Zhao joined the CCITT Secretariat (now TSB) in 1986. He was Engineer/Counsellor
between 1986 and 1998. He was designated as CCITT Coordinator for the
cooperation with ISO, IEC and ISO/IEC JTC 1 in 1989.
Currently, he is a “visiting Professor” at a number of well-known universities
in China. |