UK Telecommunications Academy

BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

The United Kingdom Telecommunications Academy (UKTA) was formed in 1995 as a true public-private partnership and incorporated all the leaders in the UK associated with manufacturing, servicing and operating communications services. Founder members included BT, Cable &Wireless and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The academy was created to help the least developed countries in the world share in the UK's vast telecommunications knowledge. Today, more than 170 countries have received UKTA assistance, enabling them to participate in the training and education programmes that our members have agreed to support.

Telecommunications as a development enabler
The vast disparity between access to communications in the UK when compared to those less fortunate than ourselves has to be seen to be believed. Much is made in the United Nations in respect of teledensity and telephones per 100 households. Realistically, if a person needing to speak on a telephone has a telephone available within one hour's walking distance, this is often perfectly adequate - particularly when the GDP is below US$400 per annum.

However, if those responsible for ensuring the availability of fresh drinking water are unable to communicate with their supply source, for example in a remote location in Africa, then we need to identify clearly which comes first: communications or water? If a construction firm is drilling for water in a remote location and the drill bit breaks, without communication with their suppliers the construction team would have to collect the new bit themselves and then drive back to recommence drilling. In this instance, a telephone call is all that may be needed to ensure the delivery of a replacement part.

Through its various programmes, the UKTA has played a key role in many parts of the world, imparting knowledge and sharing experiences of telecommunications provision.

Helping government
The voice of the UKTA is highly respected by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), particularly in the area of Human Resource Development/Human Resource Management (HRD/HRM) and capacity building.

The development sector of the ITU, ITU-D, was created in 1994 to help the developing countries address communications issues. Working with the ITU, the UKTA has been able to assist the DTI to put forward clear messages as to how the UK can help without committing the government to heavy expenditure.

The ITU value greatly the UKTA and also its sister organisation, the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI). The fact that industry and government are working together is a message the ITU are able to use when debate ensues in Geneva, where political arguments are overshadowing project implementation. The creation of a UKTA pilot project has, on several occasions, resolved potential problems.

Being a not-for-profit organisation and with no employees, all work performed by UKTA members is of direct benefit to the participating delegates. Although assistance by government is greatly appreciated, the cost of administration is absorbed by our members to the benefit of those less fortunate than ourselves.

Coping with change
Despite the rapid change that has taken place over the past eight years, the UKTA has addressed the issues as they have arisen, and today we are a completely different organisation to that created by our founders in 1995.

Commercialisation of government assets in over 100 countries has taken place and competition introduced to the benefit of the consumer. The vast oversupply in the late 1990s of network infrastructure and the dot-com boom has meant that many of our former members have faced bankruptcy or severe curtailment of their activities.

The training products we offer today are free of any direct charge.

On three occasions we have organised seminars with the ITU for the benefit of developing countries and addressed HRD and the 'e-society'. Our latest initiative looks at information and communications technologies.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the DTI and, in particular, the Radio Agency have actively supported the UKTA's initiatives. For our part, the UKTA has played an active reciprocal role in the international telecommunications forum.

Academic recognition
A number of UK and international academic institutions have benefited from UKTA's expertise, and degree programmes have been developed and supported by our members, reflecting the highest standards of excellence. We are fortunate to have two visiting professors and a former director of the British Council among our board members; this commands considerable respect when negotiating with academic institutions. The Master's Degree programmes our members have designed address the issues of 'Regulation and Policy', 'Internet Engineering', 'Management' and 'Operational Communications'.

During a recent briefing of the Minister of Higher Education and Lifelong Learning, the Vice Chancellor of Coventry University expressed how important - from a product-credibility point of view - the partnerships were that he had forged with businesses, which included two of our members.

Scholarships
Working as a public-private partnership, the UKTA has been able to secure scholarship funding to enable the least developed countries of the world to participate in our programmes. The ITU, in particular, as part of its operational plan, has allocated funding for the past five years to support UKTA offerings.

Since we are a not-for-profit-organisation, our members have also benefited from DTI funding when they have participated in exhibitions of both an educational and telecommunications nature. Such exhibitions have taken place in China, Malaysia, India, Brazil, South Africa and Geneva.

Partnerships
The work and experience of UKTA members is greatly valued and various partnerships have been forged, with one example being the South West University for Nationalities (SWUN) initiative in Chengdu, China. The objective of the initiative is to explore how the UKTA can assist with knowledge transfer to the minorities in China, where language is proving to be a considerable problem. Through our partnership with ITU-D, we have faced language difficulties with their 189 member countries on numerous occasions, but these have generally been surmounted with very satisfactory results.

The future
Although it is generally accepted that the word 'telecommunications' has been replaced by 'communications', we - in line with the ITU - have elected to retain the UKTA as our brand to reflect the origins of our roots. However, the programmes our members are offering reflect true support for the integration of 'information and communications technologies'. Our focus this year is how to develop resources for the Information and Communications Technology Society (ICTS). Support for this focus has already been received from our members, including the DTI.

Wireless access and broadband are frequently used terms when referring to the vast knowledge of the ICTS. The UKTA will play a key role on behalf of the UK in respect of capacity building with our colleagues in both the USTTI and the ITU to ensure the gulf between the developed and least developed countries is truly bridged.

Conclusion
The creation of the UKTA has raised the generosity of the telecommunications sector in the UK to new heights, and an awareness of our activities is now well understood by many of our heads of mission in many countries of the world. From a private-sector perspective, the ability to open doors on behalf of the UK without specific company commitment is extremely useful and proves to be of mutual benefit to the recipient and to the provider.

Supplied by courtesy of Professor David P Mellor, Chairman, United Kingdom Telecommunications Academy (UKTA)