Report of ITU-T TSAG Meeting and Activities of NTT R&D European Representative Office

1. Summary of TSAG and Review Committee meeting

The International Telecommunication Union, Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T)’s Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) meeting differs from that of standard Study Groups (SGs), the objective of which is to create recommendations. Instead, it is intended as an event to debate ITU-T’s standardization activities, work plans, and methodologies. Topics covered include approaches to the way future standardization will be deliberated, how standardization is to be maintained across multiple SGs, the creation of Focus Groups (FGs) for the intensive investigation of new issues, and other themes.

The Review Committee is a group created for the purposes of debating the organizational structure of ITU-T beyond 2016 with an eye to efficient deliberation on standards issues, and for considering partnerships with other standards organizations. Mr. Yoichi Maeda, formerly with NTT and now the chief executive officer and senior vice president of TTC (Telecommunication Technology Committee), serves as its chair.

Focusing on trends in TSAG and the Review Committee enables members to gain an early understanding of the major thrust of ITU-T’s activities as a whole. The following section describes the core issues discussed at the June 2014 TSAG and Review Committee meetings.

2. Core issues discussed at June 2014 meeting

The meetings in June were held at ITU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and they focused on two core issues—the revisions to patent policy and the creation of two new FGs.

3. Future ITU-T trends

The new FG issues agreed upon at this year’s TSAG meeting involve proactively utilizing information and communication technology (ICT) and standardization to address social needs. A key point to this attempt is that it will be consistent with e-health, smart grid, and ITS (intelligent transport system) approaches and will not involve the orthodox horizontal approach to classifying issues by layer, but instead will employ a vertical, integrated approach to these layers and consider how standardization must be deployed in the aid of existing social concerns. Japan must actively contribute to these efforts, and through our activities at ITU-T, aid the development of global business by understanding vertical (industry-wide) needs.

4. Activities of Frankfurt R&D European Representative Office

The R&D (Research and Development) European Representative Office was established in 2010 as an overseas branch of the NTT Research and Development Planning Department for the promotion of our network operator partnerships, joint research, and standardization activities in Europe.

Based in Frankfurt, Germany, the organization is the sole representative office in Europe under the NTT holding company. The staff currently consists of this author alone.

The goal in establishing this office is to further expand NTT’s R&D activities in Europe. Thus, efforts are underway to communicate with each country’s carrier and vendor research organizations to build trust and create wide-ranging partnerships.

In terms of standardization, in addition to participating in discussions on standardization strategy such as the TSAG described herein, and also taking part in a timely fashion in new technical endeavors, this office is simultaneously supporting the globalization of R&D as a whole and launching investigation into the use and joint research of ICT in Europe. The European office is also working to build partnerships with carriers and has contributed to the smooth collaboration in research activities with major European carriers such as BT and Orange; in addition, the business side of the firm has promoted communication and collaboration with carriers.

Europe has begun taking steps to deliberate on a framework for the future, with Horizon 2020, the successor to FP7 (7^th Framework Programme), itself a program designed to foster R&D, being launched as a new seven-year plan. The European Commission (EC) is also supporting a multitude of research programs. In particular, deliberation on 5G, the fifth generation mobile telecommunications system, is rapidly moving into motion through industry-government-academia partnerships in Europe. In December 2013, 5GPPP (5G Public-Private Partnership Association), an agreement on public-private research, was officially inaugurated as part of the EU’s move towards establishment of 5G services. Horizon 2020 is moving forward with cutting-edge approaches in healthcare systems, smart cities and communities, and transportation, areas of core importance to NTT, so the progress of the program merits careful attention.

NTT’s R&D European Representative Office plans to focus closely on R&D trends in the above areas and how they concern telecommunications networks, as well as movements within vertically oriented industries.

Going forward, we plan to further strengthen our R&D partnerships with overseas Group companies and to enhance the communication of information on these topics to contribute to the global activities of the NTT Group.

Masakatsu Fujiwara General Manager, NTT R&D European Representative Office, NTT Research and Development Planning Department. He received the B.E. in electrical engineering and the M.E. in applied systems science from Kyoto University in 1994 and 1996, respectively, and the M.B.A. from Cornell University, USA, in 2005. After joining NTT Network Service Systems Laboratories in 1996, he was engaged in R&D of key technologies for network management systems during 1996–2007 and 2010–2013. He was engaged in R&D strategy planning at NTT Research and Development Planning Department during 2007–2010. He has been with NTT R&D European Representative Office in Frankfurt, Germany, since 2013.