Dr. Rim Belhassine Cherif is a general engineer.
She is currently the Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer and responsible of the digital transformation department at the incumbent telecom operator in Tunisia “Tunisie Telecom”.
Dr. Belhassine Cherif has participated in several ITU conferences, seminars and workshops and she holds many positions at ITU-T such as the positions of chairperson of the Network of Women in ITU-T and chairperson of ITU-T Study Group 13 Regional Group for Africa. She is also Vocabulary Rapporteur for the ITU Standardization Committee for Vocabulary and co-convener of the ITU-T Correspondance Group on Study Group 13 future direction. She has been a vice-chairperson of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group and Co-Rapporteur on Standardization Strategy from 2017 to 2022. Moreover, she has been vice-chairperson of ITU-T Study Group 13 from 2013 to 2024, vice-chairperson of WP3/13 from 2018 to 2024 and also vice-chairperson of the ITU-T Focus Group on Bridging the Gap: from Innovation to Standards between 2013 and 2015.
Dr. Belhassine Cherif graduated from the Higher School of Posts and Telecommunications of Tunis. She obtained her Master degree then her Ph.D. degree from the National Engineering School of Tunis and obtained an Executive MBA from Paris-Dauphine University and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University (promotion major).
In the academic field, she performed several research activities in the domain of telecommunications and electrical engineering, and she is the author of many papers published in international and national conferences and scientific journals
Technology has evolved at a very rapid pace, reshaping nearly every industry and creating an unprecedented demand for skilled professionals.
With these advancements, digital literacy and technical expertise have become vital to the modern workforce, especially in emerging fields such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). Despite this rising demand for talent, a significant imbalance remains in who can benefit from these opportunities.
According to the World Economic Forum, over 90 percent of jobs worldwide now include a digital component, with a majority requiring skills in AI, engineering, product development, and emerging programming languages. Yet, women account for only 29.4 percent of entry-level workers in the technology workforce.
Moreover, almost 40 percent of global employment is exposed to AI, with advanced economies at greater risk of disruption, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As AI reshapes our society, it will affect women’s lives in complex ways, creating both opportunities and challenges related to connectivity, access, digital skills, reskilling and upskilling, gender stereotypes, and algorithmic transparency.
Yet, 71 percent of AI-skilled workers are men, and just 29 percent are women. This 42 percentage point gender gap reflects systemic inequalities and missed opportunities for global innovation and growth.
At the ITU, the UN agency for digital technologies, our mission is to connect the world and to harness innovation with the objective of ensuring a better future for all. In order to fulfill this mission, it is crucial for us to address the tech gender gap and to embed gender equality at the core of all our activities. Within the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector, which plays a central role in developing equitable standards and shaping the rules that globally govern telecommunications and emerging technologies, from IMT-2020 (also known as 5G) networks to artificial intelligence, this commitment is even more essential.
Ensuring that women are fully represented in ITU-T study groups directly improves the quality, relevance, resilience, and inclusiveness of the technical standards the world relies on. Diversity within technical teams enhances their capacity to identify blind spots, anticipate societal impacts, and design systems that work for everyone. Without women at the table, crucial issues related to safety, accessibility, and digital inclusion risk being overlooked.
Furthermore, greater participation of women also strengthens the legitimacy of the ITU’s work and aligns it with UN commitments to gender equality while helping address the wider digital gender gap. Involving women in the ITU-T standards development process, as well as the activities of all its groups (including study groups, the Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG), focus groups, corresponding groups, etc.), gives them visibility, leadership opportunities, and influence over the emerging technologies that increasingly shape our daily lives.
Many real-life examples show how, when the standardization development process is not inclusive, entire populations can be unintentionally excluded from technologies meant to serve everyone. For instance, several early voice and speech recognition systems treated female voices with less accuracy because they were trained mainly on male voice data. Likewise, safety and usability features in smartphones and some wearable devices were frequently created based on male-centric assumptions, overlooking women’s usage patterns and requirements.
To better address gender issues in ITU-T’s work, a dedicated resolution of the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) was established in 2008 and subsequently updated in 2012, 2016, 2022, and 2024 to include more efficient actions that help increase women’s active participation in the standardization development process. This is known as WTSA Resolution 55 on “Mainstreaming gender equality in ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector activities”.
Based on this resolution, the ITU Women in Standardization Expert Group (WISE) was created in 2016 and then rebranded as NoW in ITU-T in 2022. The objective of this network is to encourage the active participation of women in ITU-T activities and leadership roles and to promote the inclusion of a gender perspective across all ITU-T work.
The main mission of the Network is to make the world of standardization, telecommunications, and ICTs development attractive to women through providing opportunities for them to showcase their expertise, learn, teach others, connect, and advance their careers and the standardization process.
The network contributed effectively to a gender-equality campaign, prior to WTSA-24, to ensure that gender perspectives were integrated into ITU policies, work programs, publications, study groups, projects, workshops, and conferences.
Our campaign helped achieve a 25 percent increase in women appointed to leadership roles (one in four leaders). This progress was driven largely by a series of regional events and targeted initiatives, which were culminated in a special event at WTSA-24, bringing participants together for networking, recognition of inspiring female leaders, and meaningful discussions on advancing gender equality in standardization.
NoW’s advocacy also contributed to a record number of women appointed as Chairs and Vice-Chairs of ITU-T Study Groups and WTSA-24 Committees, doubling the figures from the previous cycle. These appointments place women at the helm of shaping standards in AI, Cloud Computing, IMT-2030 (also known as 6G), and other emerging technologies.
Each of the ITU’s three sectors has its own NoW chapter, addressing its specific priorities, while overall coordination ensures synergy across all sectors.
Far more than a networking platform, NoW is becoming a true community of practice that connects women delegates, experts, and policymakers across the world to exchange knowledge, mentor emerging leaders, and strengthen women’s voices in ICT governance. Through training workshops, leadership mentoring, and advocacy activities, NoW aims to equip women with the technical and soft skills needed to engage confidently in complex policy and technical discussions, contribute to study groups, and take on leadership roles within ITU assemblies and advisory boards.
By investing in this kind of long-term capacity building, the ITU is cultivating a new generation of women who are not just present at the table but who have the capacity to actively influence the global digital agenda.
Elsewhere within the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector, through the AI for Good platform, the ITU is also advancing initiatives such as the AI Skills Coalition, which aims to equip women and girls with the tools and knowledge needed to leverage AI for sustainable development. The initiative curates training programs tailored to women and young learners, recognizing that they remain underrepresented in AI-related fields. By providing access to curricula curated by women experts, ITU aims to inspire a new generation of innovators who see technology as a bridge to opportunity, not a barrier.
Closing the digital gender gap remains a complex and continuous challenge, but tangible progress is being made. Through collaboration with government, industry, and academia, we are progressively creating a more balanced ecosystem that recognizes the power of diversity as a driver of innovation and sustainability.
True inclusion requires persistence, and this is why, as Chair of the Network of Women in ITU-T, I invite all stakeholders (women and men, governments and businesses, educators and engineers, etc.) to continue challenging stereotypes, redesigning systems where necessary, and ensuring that ICT standards and technologies benefit everyone, not just those who already have a seat at the table. With every initiative, every mentorship, and every woman who steps forward to lead, we move closer to a future where technology empowers all of humanity.
