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14/15 September, Stockholm, Sweden, SIS headquarters CEN – the European Committee for Standardization and CENELEC – the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization held their joint CEN/CENELEC PR Round Table 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden under the auspices of SIS, the CEN Swedish Member Body. This year's theme highlighted the importance of having an effective and powerful public relations and communication plan to build bridges and to bring the various standardization actors closer together. Bridges not only between existing members, not only between young members and old ones but also with potential new members and affiliates, and with the media, by rendering the field of standardization attractive and accessible. The contribution and presentations of some new and old members, not only exemplified the theme but also stressed the many common challenges that all PR and Communication Managers face in their effort to bring general understanding of the relevance of the work of Standards Bodies and its impact on society. On this occasion, CEN and CENELEC gave for the 2nd time its PR awards to a National Standards Body for its excellent performance in 6 identified categories. The jury 2006, composed of CEN Communication Manager, CENELEC Communication Manager, CENELEC Communication Officer and SIS Director Corporate Communications, received no less than 50 entries. Competition was extremely tight in some categories as members produced high quality communication supports with a very creative and diverse approach. After a day-long deliberation, the following National Standards Bodies were awarded the prize for:
Interview with Mr. Houlin Zhao, Director, Telecommunication Standardization Sector of the International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is an international organization operating within the United Nations. Its origins reach back to 1865. The organization gathers representatives of governments and representatives of the private sector who coordinate global telecom networks and services. You mentioned that the origins of the International Telecommunication Union reach as far back as 1865, which means that the Union has a history of more than 140 years. Could you describe how it all started and developed up to the present? As already said, it all started in 1865 because of problems in sending telegraphs from one country to another. As a matter of fact it was even before 1865, when different countries used different telegraph systems. Then, in 1865, after some years of different bilateral agreements, 20 European countries finally decided to solve the problem and make the system uniform. On 17th May 1865 the representatives of these twenty countries met in Paris to adopt the first International Telegraph Convention and establish the International Telegraph Union, the forerunner of today's International Telecommunication Union. The date of this meeting, 17th May, is considered the official date of the establishment of the Union and it is celebrated as the World Telecommunication Day. It is interesting that right from its beginnings, the Union has gathered both government representatives and manufacturer representatives, and the main objective of both these groups has always been to solve the problems in the field of international telecommunication. Today, the International Telecommunication Union has 190 member states, 650 sector members and more than 110 associate members. The organization is divided into three sectors: Telecommunication Standardization Sector or shortly ITU-T, Radiocommunication Sector or ITU-R and Telecommunication Development Bureau or ITU-D. At the moment I am the director of the oldest sector, i.e. Telecommunication Standardization Sector, which developed from the former International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee or CCITT. The latter was established in 1865 and was renamed into Telecommunication Standardization Sector on 1st March 1993. Its mission is to develop standards or recommendations, as we call them at ITU, for the area of telecommunications. The Radiocommunication Sector is only a little younger; it was established more than one hundred years ago. Its main tasks comprise coordination of the use of radiofrequency spectrum, television broadcasting frequencies, satellite communications and other similar things. The youngest sector, Telecommunication Development Bureau, was established in 1992. Its mission is to promote the advantages and benefits of ICT use at international level and to offer support to developing countries. You mentioned the oldest sector of ITU, the Telecommunication Standardization Sector, which develops standards or recommendations in the field of telecommunications. I am sure our readers will be most interested in this sector. Can you present its mission, structure, documents more in detail? The mission of ITU-T is to develop global telecommunication standards on basis of questions concerning technical and operational matters and tariffs. The result of work of ITU-T experts is the publication of ITU-T recommendations. In the language of ISO, IEC and other standardization organizations, these documents would be called standards, we call them recommendations. Standardization work within ITU-T is carried out by 13 telecommunication standardization study groups (SGs). In ISO or IEC these groups are called technical committees. In our study groups, which represent the core of ITU-T, experts prepare recommendations for different fields of international telecommunication. Beside study groups there are also other groups. For examples, our telecommunication standardization advisory groups (TSAG). Their tasks comprise reviewing the priorities, programmes and strategies of the sector, providing guidelines for the work of the study groups, etc. The highest body of the sector is the assembly (World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly or WTSA), which is held every four years and approves the work programme of ITU-T, approves or rejects draft ITU-T recommendations and decides on the structure of study groups. The first assembly was held in 1956, the last in 2004. And finally there is the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau or TSB, which takes care of the organization and coordination of work within ITU-T. As already mentioned, recommendations are the main product of ITU-T. At the moment we have about 3145 Recommendations totalling 82000 pages. As indicated by the name of the document, ITU-T recommendations are not binding, but nevertheless they are widely accepted because they grant their users or products interconnectivity in the global network. Beside our recommendations, I would also like to point out our adoption procedure, of which we are very proud. With the new procedure, recommendations are normally adopted in nine months, but they can also be adopted as quickly as in two months. For example, experts in our study groups prepare the text of a recommendation, approve it and put it on the web for adoption. If there are no comments in the period of four weeks, the text is considered approved and the document is adopted. We are proud to say that about 1200 recommendations have been adopted according to this procedure.
It was in January 2001. Nowadays the world of telecommunications develops very rapidly and a time-consuming adoption procedure is not only unsuitable but also very inefficient. In our work, we no longer rely only on the work of our study groups but recognize other forms of activity such as workshops and focus groups, for example. This allows us to get information about problems and questions that currently exist on the market. At the same time, this form also helps us spread the information about our work and activities among the players on the market and hear their needs directly from them. Focus groups are particularly helpful in this sense. They help us address things very quickly. One of such groups is the NGN Focus Group or the next generation network focus group. From the middle of 2004 to the end of 2005, this group held its meetings every two months. It attracted a number of experts and operators and made a significant contribution to the development of the field of NGN. During my short visit to Slovenia I noticed that Slovenian experts have extensive knowledge about the latest technologies and follow the development at regional level very closely. I know they also want to be involved globally and develop international services. That is why I am sure that after this visit, Slovenian experts will join the work of ITU and become more active also at international level. At least I hope that Slovenia will become one of the many active members of the Union. If Telekom Polska made it, I do not see any reason why Slovenia could not. Up to now Slovenia has been active in ETSI. Does ITU cooperate with regional telecommunication standardization organizations such as ETSI, for example? Of course. ETSI is a very important organization for telecommunications in Europe and Slovenia should continue to be active at regional level. However I also think that this is not enough. If you want to be really successful, or at least internationally recognized, the participation and active cooperation with ITU is very important, since there are also other regional organizations that are very successful in their work. ITU is aware of the importance of regional standardization organizations and cooperates with them. In the field of NGN, ETSI TISPAN is very active. Just recently we had a meeting at which we discussed the possibilities of cooperation and looked for ways that would lead to a more rapid development of global standards for the industry. The International Telecommunication Union recognizes the work of regional organizations and tries to attract them to cooperation. Lately ETSI has done a marvellous job and the results of their work in some areas are notable not only in Europe but also on the global market. For this reason, ITU will try to enhance even more the cooperation with ETSI in the future. What is your vision of international standardization in the field of telecommunications and the role of ITU in the future? Certainly ITU, as well as ISO, IEC and other organizations will have to consider the possibilities of closer cooperation and look for new opportunities. We have to recognize the increasing importance of regional standardization organizations such as ETSI. We work on the same ground and that is why we have to step together and work together. As regards the International Telecommunications Union, it is important that our organization preserves its so-called pre-eminent position. In fact, ITU has a unique position; it gathers governments and representatives of industry from all over the world, which is of inestimable value. This position can be maintained with strong support and interest of all our members. The development of technology is moving rapidly and we have to follow it closely and adapt ourselves to the new situation. It is no longer enough to sit at our headquarters and wait for the people to come to us. We need to go to the people, to the market. There are several reasons for that. ITU has its process, its recommendations, its members, its website and several other things, and yet this is not enough. As a matter of fact, during this visit I noticed that even Slovenian people who work in the field of telecommunications do not know the International Telecommunication Union well enough. Some of them were surprised, for example, to hear that ITU also works on IP TV studies and they wanted to join the work immediately. This means that we need to change things in ITU. We need to step out of our offices, go to the people and introduce ourselves to them, tell them about ITU. We need to do so also to allow all persons interested to present their ideas to the global market. We need to communicate with the market and offer help and support to as many internationally-oriented companies as possible. It is easy to get lost in a sea of information today. For this reason, it is very important that ITU as provider of services steps towards the users and presents itself, its work, its services. We need to inform our potential members about our work and the benefits of their working or cooperating with us. We need to tell them that the working conditions in ITU are very good and that the expenditures for membership in ITU are not any higher than the expenditures in other organizations. ITU is mainly financed through contributions from our member states, which also means that our work is recognized by the governments of these190 states, and for the manufacturers this means better chances for selling their products and technologies on these markets.
Yes, I never managed to visit your country before. And I had so many meetings in such a short period of time that I did not have the chance to visit many places. I came to Slovenia at midnight before yesterday, and yesterday I visited the Ministry of the Economy, Iskratel, Telekom, the testing centre in Bled and I met with the representatives of the university. I found it interesting, when travelling from one place to another, that the landscape here is quite similar to that in Switzerland. Even your cottages reminded me of Swiss cottages. And everything is so green, nice and peaceful. And also as regards the companies and their representatives, I must say I was impressed to see so much interest and eagerness among them. They do not want Slovenia to be just a country following or copying other countries; they want to show that Slovenia has extensive knowledge and can succeed in the field of telecommunications just like any other country. And there is one more thing that surprised me. When I was travelling through Ljubljana, I noticed more girls and fewer boys on the street. I asked Mr. Jagodiè, who kindly accompanied me during this visit, about the balance of the genders in Slovenia. And he told me that the girls outnumbered the boys and that this trend would most probably continue also in the future. Then I remembered my visit at the faculty where, as they informed me, there are as many as 2000 students registered at the study of information and telecommunication technologies. But there are only 3 per cent of female students. This is far less than one would expect... Maybe that is because the girls find this field a bit unfamiliar... Yes, and dull and complicated. But medicine is very complicated as well and yet you seem to have many girls in this study. Well, perhaps I should take this opportunity to invite Slovenian girls to take more interest in the field of telecommunications and perhaps decide to study and work in this area in the future. I will be glad to pass your message to our female readers and their friends, sisters, daughters. I would like to thank you for your time and your willingness to give this interview despite your busy schedule. I wish you a lot of new members in ITU and successful work also in the future.
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Despite
the fact that almost every person in Slovenia uses a mobile phone, watches
his or her favourite TV show or communicates with the world through the
internet, the world of standardization, which makes all this possible,
remains relatively unknown to the general public. Could you shortly present
the International Telecommunication Union to our readers? 
When
did you decide to introduce the new procedure?
To
conclude, I would like to ask you if this is your first visit to Slovenia
and what are your impressions of this country?