September 18, 2019

To address the questions that newcomers to 3GPP dare not ask, the 3GPP TSG Chairs have initiated a breakfast time session – held during the Plenary week – where the leaders take new attendees through material on what 3GPP is doing and how it is done. The first 'Newcomer’s orientation session’ was well attended and should be repeated at future TSG meetings.

A few issues came to light in the session, related to the challenges encountered getting a technical proposal through the groups, how the coordination between SA and RAN is organized, on how challenging the 3GPP environment can be for new comers – as well as practical questions on the portal, web site use and meeting registration.

Georg Mayer, the TSG SA Chairman, led the proceedings. He took participants through the slides but was there to answer questions and to propose support – in the form of offering Mentoring where wanted – for new delegates.

With more and more new entrants in 3GPP, this regular session could yet act as a two-way orientation, with newcomers bringing a new approach to the work.

During Tuesday’s first such event – it was obvious that the leadership are motivated to bridge the information gap for a new generation of experts in to the project. In future sessions, an effort will be made to match new delegates to mentors, in their area of interest – to further cement the commitment to improve accessibility to the work.

The session was jointly prepared and hosted by Georg Mayer (SA Chair) and Lionel Morand (CT Chair).

 Some sources of know-how...

• See the FAQs section of this site...here
• Get the 3GPP Working procedures...here

Contact for this article: Kevin FLYNN, Marketing and Communications Officer, 3GPP