It is with much sadness that we record the death of Nigel Barnes on Wednesday 11 March 2009. Nigel was well known to the ETSI and 3GPP communities, and he will be greatly missed by all those delegates, colleagues and friends who have worked with him over the years.

The news of Nigel's death reached the 3GPP community during the TSG SA meeting in Biarritz last week, and a minute’s silence was observed in his memory.

Nigel Barnes was a standards man through and through, from his early work on the cordless telephony standard CT2, followed by work for ETSI Technical Committees RES, DECT, and SMG.

After a spell as Chairman of the SIM Toolkit Security Group, during which the famous GSM 03.48 specification was published - that is core to the security of all applications based on the SIM Application Toolkit and their administration, he was elected vice chairman of SMG9 in 1997.

Paul Jolivet, now a vice-chairman of 3GPP working group CT6, was starting in standardization at that time and he remembers Nigel Barnes as a strong and supportive influence:

“He was patient and made me feel welcome in SMG9. When I became an official in the group, it was again Nigel who helped me adapt and I know that many delegates were helped by him in this way. There was humour as well as calm and such a good example of fair play to everyone”.

As reward for this commitment and the respect that he has among the SIM and smart card community, Nigel Barnes was the unopposed choice to replace Klaus Vedder when he stepped down as working group T3 chairman at TSG-T3 #24, August 2002. Nigel was re-elected several times, remaining Chairman of this group through its transition from T3 to CT6 in 2005 to the present time.

Klaus Vedder, chairman of the Smart Card Platform committee (ETSI SCP) paid tribute this week to Nigel's capacity for bringing various interest groups to the table.
Dr. Vedder said:

“During the setting up of the SCP in 1999/2000 Nigel was very much involved in securing the support of 3GPP2, T1P1, GAIT and TIA. As vice chairman in SCP and as chairman of 3GPP CT6 he was excellent. Nigel was more than just a delegate or chairman - He was an institution. We will miss his deep involvement, his knowledge, his smart quotes, his way of handling difficult situations, ...”

Nigel - to many, the quintessential Englishman, though he was of South African origin - attended all the 3GPP TSG T and CT plenaries and over two hundred working group meetings since the creation of 3GPP, making contributions in his own inimitable style over the whole decade of the Project to date.

Nigel Barnes was renowned for his integrity, skill and charm; he will be missed and fondly remembered.