1. ITU CoE/ARB Initiative and Activities
5/18/2018
Abdelfattah ABUQAYYAS
Coordinator
Arab Centre of Excellence
ITU BDT
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

2. Background Changing environment
Main interactive forces underlying change in the Telecom Industry sector : restructuring (liberalization/competition), globalization, technology,convergence of telecom with IT & multimedia, growing customer demands.
The presence of highly qualified staff at key levels in telecom organizations becomes a critical factor for a smooth transition to the current telecom environment.
The regional Center of Excellence initiative:
A mechanism aimed at offering a greater and better range of training products for high-level staff in all telecom-related organizations.
Also, to serve as a regional focal point for training, professional development, research and information.
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

3. Role and Objectives Target population
Policy makers, regulators and managers, in charge of the development of national policies and regulations for the telecommunication sector.
Senior corporate executives and managers, responsible for aspects related to management of telecommunication networks and services.
Purpose of the Center of Excellence:
To establish a regional mechanism aimed at strengthening the capacity, within the region, to develop high-level know-how and expertise in telecommunication policy, regulatory matters, corporate management and advanced telecommunication technology.
The ultimate objective is to better meet some of the priority training and human resource development needs of the telecommunication sector in the concerned region.
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

4. Organization and Financing
Training activities (face-to-face/distance-learning) are conducted from the institutions that constitute the CoE network.
A coordination office to plan, organize and follow-up the activities to be carried out in the region.
A Steering Committee, which is responsible for setting policies, strategies and approving the CoE’s action plan and budget.
Financing
Achieve self-financing through cost recovery mechanisms.
Seed fund granted by the ITU through the Telecom Surplus program.
Programs supported by different players.
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

5. Structure and Partnerships
A network of existing telecommunication training, educational and/or research centers in the Region, together with public and private sector players.
Foster greater synergy by pooling available resources and expertise, develop new areas of expertise, facilitate interaction and exchange of information/experiences.
Potential Partners
Partnerships Objectives
To establish collaborative and exchange relationships with other Centres and other bodies, within the Region and abroad, which are engaged in similar or related endeavors.
The purpose is to increase the capabilities of the CoEs and to keep them up-to-date with modern technology and best practices.
The relationship with Partners providing in-kind or in-cash contributions will be governed by appropriate Memoranda of Understanding and relevant project documents.
The partners can include: Existing telecommunication training centers; educational and/or research centers; universities; governments and regulatory organs; operators and service providers; regional organizations and industry players.
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

6. A ‘win A ‘win-win proposal’
Governments, regulators, operators and all other stakeholders in the telecom sector who would gain access to a range of training and professional development products which have so far not existed or have been limited and expensive.
Content providers who would reach the widest possible audience at regional level and worldwide, providing valid training alternatives to meet the increasingly demanding needs of the telecom sector.
Industry sponsors who would be supporting telecom development in the region and stimulating the emergence of an even more attractive regional telecommunication market.
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

7. The ITU CoE Network
Center of Excellence for Western and Central Africa
Major Node: Dakar
Center of Excellence for Eastern and Southern Africa
Major Node: Nairobi
Center of Excellence for Asia Pacific
Major Node: Bangkok
Center of Excellence for the Americas
Major Node: Cordoba
Center of Excellence for the Arab Region
Major Nodes: Damascus, Cairo , Amman, Tunis, Khartoum, Manama
Center of Excellence for EUR and CIS Countries
Major Node: Moscow
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

8. CoE/ARB Project Strategy
The introduction to new technologies, the move towards corporatisation and competition and the separation of regulation from operations of telecommunications cannot be easily achieved without the necessary technological, managerial, policy and regulatory expertise
All countries need highly trained human resources to facilitate the transition to the new telecommunications environment.
ITU Arab Centre of Excellence project aims to facilitate the sharing of expertise and provide assistance with the planning, organization and implementation of high quality training and development programs to improve human capacity building in telecommunications, especially for senior government officials, and executive managers from the private and public sectors and regulatory organs.
This high-level human capacity building project aims to implement innovative and relevant training programs (face – to – face and distance learning) developed in close collaboration with the users, their organizations and other key stakeholders.
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

9. CoE/ARB Main functions
To assess priority training and HRD needs for policy makers, regulators and operators
To establish cooperation agreements between governments, regulators, operators, service providers, financing and development bodies and regional and international organizations aimed at mobilizing resources
To promote the use of IT and telecommunications for distance learning and tele-working
To plan, organize and implement the activities to be carried out in the region
To maintain an inventory of existing facilities and expertise in the participating institutions
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

10. ARB CoE Programs
Telecom Policies Program, In Cooperation with the National Telecommunications Institute (NTI)
Regulatory Issues Program, In Cooperation with Jordan Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC)
Business Management Program, In Cooperation with Bahrain Telecommunications Company (BATELCO)
New Technologies Program, In Cooperation with the National Telecommunications Institute (NTI)
IP Awareness Program, In Cooperation with the Centre d”Etudes et de Recherches des Télécommuunications (CERT).
Rural Connectivity Program, In Cooperation with the Sudan Telecom (SUDATEL).
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

11. Why to develop Arab CoE Networking Process ?
To maximize the synergy between the concerned Training Providers and neighboring Subject Matter Experts of the Administrations/Operators for the design and implementation of the selected programs.
To match diversified training needs of the Sector Members, while developing new training materials and optimizing the use of existing training resources: Let’s be prepared for Replication and Adaptation
To develop the use of electronic resources in the implementation of the Capacity Building Process
To promote Train-the-Trainers actions in virtual mode as well as in face-to-face mode when using Partnerships Opportunities
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

12. Achievements in 2001
The steering committee conducted two meetings in 2001 in Tunis and Damascus for launching the CoE/ARB project and approving the its action plan for 2002.
The CoE started its functionality in the 4th Quarter 2001in Damascus.
During the 2001 the ARB CoE organized two regional activities:
Regional Workshop on “Marketing & Revenue Forecasts for Telecom Operators in a Competitive environment”, held in Manama.
Regional Seminar on “Telecommunication Policies", held in Cairo.
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

13. Training Activities 2002 Program Name Activity Place and date
Regulatory Issues
Workshop on Regulatory issues
Amman 11 – 14 February
Workshop on Interconnection Principles and practices
Rabat 2 – 5 September
Telecom Policies
Forum on Telecom Policies & International Standards: Impacts and Implications
Cairo May
New Technologies
and Services
Workshop on New Trends in Telecommunications
Damascus 15 – 17 July
Internet and Information Technologies
Workshop on IP Technologies and Applications
Tunis !7 – 19 June
Business Management
Virtual Forum on Business Drivers and Data Collection
4 Weeks, starting 24 June
Rural Connectivity
Rural Connectivity and Universal Access
Khartoum 10 – 12 December
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

14. Output
Place
Workshop
Participants
Lecturers
Countries
Organizations
Bahrain 01
Revenue Forecasting 43 4 14 2
Cairo 01
Telecom. Policies 82 11 5
Amman
Regulatory Issues
124 21 16 12
Cairo
Standardization
105 13
Tunisia
IP Technologies
111 24 8 6
Damascus
Telecom. Trends
123 20 9
Morocco
Interconnection
Khartoum
Universal Service 50 10
Cairo 03
DSL Applications 88
TOTAL/AVG
769
125
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

15. CoEs Comparison
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

16. Participation per Country
Algeria 14
Mauritania 4
Bahrain 17
Oman 13
Comoros 2
Palestine 7
Djibouti 3
Qatar 1
Egypt
176
Saudi Arabia 25
Iraq
Somalia 5
Jordan
104
Sudan 46
Kuwait
Syria 99
Lebanon
Tunisia 93
Libya
UAE
Morocco
Yemen 11
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

17. Training Program
Training Activity
Place and Date
Regulatory
Issues
TRC
Licensing
2-4/9 Amman
Spectrum Management
30/8 – 1/9 Amman
Interconnection
1-3/12 Tunis
Spectrum Management Virtual Forum
Quarter 4
Telecommunication
Policies
NTI
Sector Reform Liberalization
21-23/10 Rabat
Competition Policies
16-18/12
New
Technologies
DSL Tech. and Services
4-6/3 Cairo
NGN
18-21/8 Damascus
Migration towards 3rd Gen. Mobile
To be Defined
Business
Management
BATELCO
VSAT Business Applications
11-13/11 Manama
COSITU
Business Management Virtual Forum
IP Technologies
CERT
Internet Applications. And Digital Divide
17-19/6 Tunisia
Networks Security
21-23/7 Amman
Rural Connectivity SUDATEL
USO and Funding
7-9/10 Sana'a
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

18. Distance Learning Approach
The new approach will be available to train managers in various issues
Two activities will be organized:
Frequency Spectrum Management Virtual Forum
Business management Virtual Forum
In cooperation with CoE for Americas a set of distance learning sessions will be available for the Arab Region through CoE ARB
Available On-line modules:
Introduction to Regulation
Interconnection
Licensing
Spectrum Management
Regulation of new services and IP applications
Internet and e-commerce
Human Recourses are required to act as facilitators/instructors for the distance learning activities.
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

19. Future Steps A set of CoEs network will be established.
New more proactive role of the Leading party.
Workshop and distance learning approaches will be emphasized.
Limited number of lecturers and more specialized topics will be approached.
Increased role of the Instructors from the Region.
Data base of Regional Experts and trainers is required.
Support to be provided by existing Subject Matter Experts.
Availability of data, case-studies, tools, etc,. for Working Group activities within the workshop
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

20. We are Looking for:
Nomination of a focal point from each Regulatory Office
A list of experts and trainers in the various fields of interest
More active role on hosting the CoE activities
More contributions: Presentations, case studies..
Financial support to insure the sustainability and self standing of the CoE
Potential partners from the Region
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003

21. ITU CoE/ARB Initiative and Activities
Thank You
5th Annual Meeting for Telecommunication Development in the Arab Region, Beirut, Lebanon, May 2003