The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Tunisia to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Switzerland, Ambassador Sabri Bachtobji, has formally presented to the ITU Secretary General, Mr. Houlin Zhao, the Tunisian Government nomination and full support to Dr. Bilel Jamoussi for the post of Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) of the ITU.
The nomination letter from Minister of Communication Technologies of Tunisia, Dr. Nizar Ben Neji, and Dr. Bilel Jamoussi’s curriculum vitae, vision statement, biographic information and link to the dedicated website (https://Bilel4TSB.tn) are now officially published on the ITU website: https://pp22.itu.int/en/elections/candidates/
Dr. Jamoussi is well known in the ITU for his past 12 years as Chief of the Study Groups Department in Telecommunication Standardization Bureau. He is a world expert in Telecommunications and holds 23 US patents that he received while working for the private sector in the US and in Canada as Director of Standards for 15 years before joining ITU.
Dr. Jamoussi’s candidacy was endorsed by the African Union during its executive council session in 2021 as the only African candidate to the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau of ITU and also endorsed by the League of Arab States ICT Ministers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2019, making Dr. Jamoussi the only Arab candidate to any elected position in the ITU, in Bucharest Romania, September 26 to October 14.
Below is an excerpt from the Minister Letter to Mr. Zhao:
“Most recently, on the occasion of the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly WTSA-20 held in Geneva in March 2022, all the stakeholders and partners in ITU had the opportunity to appreciate Dr. Jamoussi’s high skills and talent of coordination, negotiation, and of reaching consensus on many difficult topics.
“Dr. Jamoussi also delivered a successful Global Standards Symposium GSS-20 focused on international standards to enable the digital transformation, a key topic to most Member States especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Dr. Jamoussi communicates in the four of the official ITU languages: fluently in English, French and Arabic. He also speaks some Spanish.
“In the 157-year history of the ITU, the African and Arab regions have never led the Standardization Bureau. This time, we objectively believe we have the most qualified and best suited candidate to lead the Standards Bureau.
“Finally, Dr. Jamoussi’s election will bring the much needed and currently missing African and Arab representation in the team of 5 elected officials of the ITU as well as the necessary rotation among the regions for the position of TSB Director, noting that in the past 32 years, TSB was led by a Director from the APT or CEPT regions.”
