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Opening remarks: ITU Forum “Bridging the ICT standardization and development gap between developed and developing countries” |
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Kigali, Rwanda |
2-4 October 2007 |
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Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
It is a great honour for me to join you at this seminar on bridging the
standardization gap. My sincere thanks must go to the Rwandan Ministry of
Infrastructure who have worked very hard to make this event happen.
I am proud of the links that have already been established between ITU and
Africa, thanks to our regional offices, and the efforts of our staff and
people on the ground in various organisations and administrations. In recent
years we have held workshops in Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Ghana and
Uganda.
I very much hope that this event will serve to forge even stronger links
between Africa countries and ITU. As you will be aware, at the end of this
month, ITU, together with the World Bank, GAID, the African Union and other
partners are organising the “Connect Africa” Summit, also in Kigali, and
this workshop will provide input to that Summit.
One of the major issues that we, as a standards development organization,
have to deal with is extending the benefits of our work and the
opportunities for participation to a wider audience. This is part of
bridging the so-called standardization gap. I can assure you that it is
something that I take very seriously. Indeed, I am mandated to do so by our
members, as outlined in Resolution 123
from the 2006 Plenipotentiary conference. Over the next few years, we will
be putting a great deal of effort into researching new tools which will
allow remote participation. We will also be holding more regional workshops
– like this one –to push the message that the standardization process is
open to all and it is important for developing countries to take part.
Much has already been done to facilitate easier access to ITU-T’s work.
In the past, I have put a lot of effort into encouraging regional
preparations for ITU conferences and this has become very successful.
Countries can now participate in the development of regional proposals even
if they do not have the resources to attend meetings themselves. Focus
groups provide another way for both members and non-members to participate;
currently we have a number of active Focus Groups on hot topics including
IPTV and identity management (IdM). Events, especially workshops, are
increasingly webcast live and something that is not so commonly known is
that chairmen of any ITU-T meeting can invite a non-member to attend as an
individual expert. (Ref: Resolution 1, 2.3.1).
However, we acknowledge that more can and must be done.
The standardization gap might be defined as the disparity in the ability of
representatives of developing countries, relative to developing ones, to
access, implement, contribute to and influence international ICT standards,
specifically ITU Recommendations.
The significance of the standardization gap is that it contributes to the
persistence of the wider digital divide in ICTs. That is because one of the
underlying causes of the digital divide is unequal access to technology and
the ability to use that technology. As an example, as many as 33 African
countries did not have broadband at the start of 2007 and the average price
of service, where it was available, was around ten times higher than in high
income economies. The dominant form of broadband available in other African
countries is based on the digital subscriber line (DSL) standards published
by ITU (e.g., ITU-T Recommendations G.991, 992, 993). Thus, for broadband to
be implemented throughout Africa there needs to be a process of technology
transfer and adoption. That can happen much faster where African engineers
have access to the relevant standards and can implement them, and perhaps
more importantly when they can participate in standards development,
particularly at the requirements gathering stage
The number of Study Group chairs and vice-chairs from developing countries
has increased from just 10 in 1996 to 26 in 2000 and 36 in 2004. From Africa
we currently have Study Group officials from Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and
Uganda. It may be possible to increase the percentage of chairs and
vice-chairs at the next World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA)
which is the regular event that defines the next period of study for ITU-T
One of the most significant changes made in recent years by ITU to assist
participation from developing countries in the standardization process is
the freeing up of ITU-T’s biggest resource – its vast library of standards –
ITU-T Recommendations. In the first eight months of 2007 some 16.1 per cent
of downloads from the ITU-T website were from organizations or individuals
located in developing countries This corresponds to almost 300’000 downloads
by developing countries, compared with just 500 ITU-T Recommendations that
were sold during the whole of 2006 when they were priced. The historic
decision taken by the 2007 Council to make permanent the free access to
Recommendations will be a major step forward in bridging the standardization
gap.
The new management team is keenly focused on addressing the digital divide
and the corresponding standardization gap. In ITU-T’s secretariat – the
Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) - a Task Force has been
established to oversee implementation of all PP-06 and WTSA Resolutions, and
assistance is offered in establishing regional groups. ITU-D and ITU-T will
also work more closely together in organizing future regional events, in
collaboration with the regional offices. It is our intention to hold more
ITU-T meetings in developing countries and to seek sponsorship so that
fellowships can be made available. Work on bridging the standardization gap
will also continue, both through a Correspondence Group and through a series
of regional workshops including one recently in Mendoza, Argentina followed
by this one in Kigali and one in Minsk, Belarus (4-6 December 2007).
The topic will be further discussed at WTSA-08, notably in the Global
Standardization Symposium planned for 20 October 2008. A morning session
will deal mainly with bridging the standardization gap while the afternoon
session will be devoted to global standards collaboration and future
challenges. The day will end with a roundtable involving standards
development organizations and regional/national standards bodies. The city
of Durban in South Africa has kindly offered to host the event, and ITU is
currently negotiating the arrangements for WTSA-08, which is due to take
place from 21-30 October 2008.
ITU has a noble ambition: to Connect the World. The Connect the World
initiative was launched, as a WSIS multistakeholder partnership, in June
2005. On 29-30 October 2007, the Connect Africa Summit will be held in
Kigali, with the presence of many Heads of State and Ministers from around
the region. It is planned that this will be the first in a series of such
events in different regions around the world, focussing attention on
infrastructure requirements. It is important, therefore, that this meeting
send a clear message to the Summit on the need to bridge the standardization
gap. I would encourage you to try to formulate recommendations to ITU on
measures to bridge the standardization gap that can be reported to the
Summit.
The modern world is undergoing a fundamental transformation, as the 20th
century’s industrial society becomes the information society of the 21st
century. Politics, democracy, health, education, entertainment, literacy,
financial markets and poverty are all being changed irrevocably by the ICT
revolution. ICTs have become too important to the world’s future development
to leave purely to market forces. Standards, competition and innovation need
nurturing and fostering. The work of the ITU-T should go a long way to
helping the smoother, more economical introduction of new standards,
topologies, protocols and interfaces. And Africa has an important role to
play.
I cannot conclude my remarks without a brief reference to the International
Telecommunication Regulations, a treaty maintained by the ITU whose purpose
is to promote the development of telecommunication services and their most
efficient operation while harmonizing the development of facilities for
world-wide telecommunications. Some countries have called for a revision of
the ITRs, which were adopted in 1998, other countries believe that no
revisions are required, while still others believe that the ITRs should be
abrogated. Debates have taken place for the past eight years and have been
delicate and difficult. At the Plenipotentiary conference last year,
unanimous agreement was reached for ITU-T to lead a review of the current
ITRs, and I have created an expert group to conduct that review. It has been
agreed that Cleveland Thomas of Trinidad and Tobago should chair that group,
and that each region should name a vice-Chairman. From Africa I can confirm
that Mr Hisham ABOUL-YAZED will act as this region’s vice-Chair.
Lastly I would like to thank the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA)
for sponsorhip of the social events yesterday and tomorrow and Cisco for its
sponsorship of the event this evening.
I wish you all a productive and informative meeting.
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