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Global Standardization Activities

Vol. 23, No. 10, pp. 92–94, Oct. 2025. https://doi.org/10.53829/ntr202510gls

ITU-T TSAG (Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group) Participation Report

Hiroshi Yamamoto and Tomoko Inoue

Abstract

A meeting of the International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) was held from May 26 to 30, 2025, both at the ITU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and online. This was the first TSAG meeting of this study period (2025–2028), and discussions were mainly held on the structure of TSAG and the activity policies of the Working Parties and Rapporteur Groups under TSAG. This article introduces an overview of TSAG and the main deliberations.

Keywords: ITU-T, TSAG, standardization

1. About TSAG

The Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) reviews the standardization activities of all Study Groups (SGs) in the International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), reassess work methods, meeting rules, and procedures for cooperation with other standards developing organizations (SDOs), and considers proposals for the SG structure for the next study period on the basis of an analysis of standardization issues that ITU-T should address in the future and deliberates proposals for the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA), which is held every four years.

This TSAG meeting was attended by 176 people on-site and approximately 111 people online, from 57 countries. From Japan, in addition to on-site participation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and domestic companies and organizations (NEC, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NICT), NTT, KDDI, NTT DOCOMO, Telecommunications Technology Committee (TTC)), there were also remote participation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Hitachi, the ITU Association of Japan, KDDI Research, and OKI.

2. TSAG management structure

The TSAG chair was Abdurahman Al Hassan of Saudi Arabia, who continued from the previous study period (2022–2024), and in the plenary, a report was made on the new TSAG structure for this study period (2025–2028). Two Working Parties (WPs) were established: WP on Working Methods, Collaboration, Engagement and Strategic Planning (WP1) and WP on Work Programme, Restructuring and Thematic Resolutions (WP2), and two Rapporteur Groups (RGs) were established under WP1: RG on Working Methods (RG-WM) and RG on Industry Engagement and Strategic and Operational Planning (RG-IES), and two RGs were established under WP2: RG on Work Programme and Restructuring, SG Work and SG Coordination (RG-WPR) and RG on Sustainable Digital Transformation (RG-DT) (Table 1). From Japan, Ms. Miho Naganuma of NEC was reappointed as one of the ten vice-chairs and was appointed as the rapporteur of the RG-WPR. Mr. Shigeru Miyake of Hitachi was approved to continue in his role as the liaison officer of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Joint Technical Committee (JTC) 1.

Table 1. TSAG management structure.

3. Reports on activities of each WP RG

3.1 RG-WM

RG-WM discusses ITU-T working methods and revisions to ITU-T A-series Recommendations (Organization of the work of ITU-T). The main topics of this meeting were as follows:

Discussion on the revision of Recommendation ITU-T A.1 (Working methods for ITU-T SGs) continued from the previous study period, and it was agreed to continue the discussion at the next interim meeting in September.
It was decided that a liaison statement would be sent to the relevant SGs (SG2, 11, 17, 21) regarding the draft new Recommendation ITU-T A.RA (appointment and operations of registration authorities) with a view to reaching an agreement at the next TSAG meeting.
Agreement was reached on the Recommendation ITU-T A.18 Appendix (Guiding principles for periodic reviews of joint coordination activities), and liaison statements were sent to each SG.
No agreement was reached at the WP level on Recommendation ITU-T A.13 (Non-normative ITU-T publications, including supplements to ITU-T Recommendations), and discussions will continue.
Regarding ITU-T A-series Supplement 4 (Guidelines for remote participation), the necessity of this document was discussed, and the discussion will continue.

3.2 RG-IES

RG-IES discusses measures to promote industry participation in ITU-T. The main topics of this meeting were as follows.

As a measure to stimulate industry participation, it was discussed that it is necessary to raise awareness of how ITU-T standards have contributed to industry, and it was agreed to issue a liaison statement to each SG requesting the sharing of successful cases of standardization development.
A steering committee was formed to hold a workshop aimed at improving industry engagement. The first author of this article will participate from Japan as a steering committee member.
This RG will also be in charge of issues for the preparation of the next WTSA, and this was added to the RG-IES Terms of Reference (ToR).

3.3 RG-WPR

RG-WPR discusses work programmes, restructuring, SG work, and coordination, reviewing all SG activity reports, approving the question structure proposals by SGs, coordinating regional groups, and coordinating between SGs, other SDOs, and sectors. The main topics of this meeting were as follows:

Reviews of newly established or revised questions for each SG were conducted, and some questions (SG21 Q9) were reviewed at the TSAG level.
It was agreed that ITU-T SGs should be advised to refrain from initiating work items outside their jurisdiction and not to take responsibility for areas outside the scope of the ITU, and liaison statements were sent to each SG.

3.4 RG-DT

RG-DT discusses standardization activities related to digital transformation. The main topics of this meeting were as follows:

Discussion on the ToR, such as the objectives and scope of this RG

4. Future plans

The next TSAG meeting is scheduled to be held from January 26 to 30, 2026 (subject to change). In preparation for the next TSAG meeting, multiple interim meetings will be held by each of the RGs introduced above (mainly scheduled to be held from September to November 2025).

Hiroshi Yamamoto: Director, Head of Standardization Office, R&D Planning Department, NTT, Inc.
He received a B.S. and M.S. in information and computer science from Waseda University, Tokyo, in 1999 and 2001. In 2001, he joined NTT, where he has been involved in research and development (R&D) in the field of communications quality and traffic, network architecture, as well as in international standardization activities. Since 2015, he has served as the company’s primary USA liaison, representing the company in collaboration with various U.S.-based standardization organizations, such as Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), Broadband Forum, Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), as well as open source software organizations such as the Linux Foundation, and contributing to the widespread dissemination of the company’s R&D results worldwide. He has also been active and contributed to the field of research funding, such as obtaining R&D funds in the quantum field from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
In 2023, he was appointed director, head of the Standardization Office, which oversees all NTT Group standardization planning and activities, and has been involved in the overall management of the group’s international standardization activities. He has also served in various international standardization roles both in Japan and overseas, including as a member of Information and Communications Council ITU Division, chair of Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) WTSA WG1, member of the Japan Industrial Standards Committee (JISC) Electronics Technical Committee and Information Technology Technical Committee, member of the IEC High Level Correspondence Committee and Market Strategy Board (MSB) Correspondence Committee, chair of the TTC IOWN GF Technical Committee, and leader of the International Cooperation Advisory Group.

Tomoko Inoue: Senior Manager, Standardization Office, R&D Planning Department, NTT, Inc.
She received a B.A. in literature from Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, in 2003 and M.A. in informatics from Kyoto University in 2005. She joined NTT WEST in 2005 and worked on the maintenance and operation of core networks and application services. She moved to NTT Information Sharing Platform Laboratories (which later became NTT Software Innovation Center) in 2011, where she conducted research on network virtualization technologies for cloud services, cloud infrastructure (infrastructure as a service) development, and OpenStack community activities. She was then seconded to the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, where she contributed as the head of venue information technology equipment allocation planning and operations. After returning to NTT, she was engaged in business development in the fields of location technology and artificial intelligence robotics.

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