Statistical Terms Glossary

comprise new products and processes and significant technological changes of products and processes. An innovation has been implemented if it has been introduced on the market (product innovation).

Refers to the state of knowledge concerning ways of converting resources into outputs.

Registers the commercial transactions related to international technology and know-how transfers. It consists of money paid or received for the use of patents, licences, know-how, trademarks, patterns, designs, technical services (including technical assistance) and for industrial research and development (R&D) carried out abroad, etc. The coverage may vary from country to country and the TBP data should be considered as only partial measures of international technology flows.

Technology transfer is the process of sharing of skills, knowledge, technologies, methods of manufacturing, samples of manufacturing and facilities among governments and other institutions to ensure that scientific and technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users who can then further develop and exploit the technology into new products, processes, applications, materials or services. It is closely related to (and may arguably be considered a subset of) Knowledge transfer. Related terms, used almost synonymously, include "technology valorisation" and "technology commercialisation". While conceptually the practice has been utilized for many years (in ancient times, Archimedes was notable for applying science to practical problems), the present-day volume of research, combined with high-profile failures at Xerox PARC and elsewhere, has led to a focus on the process itself.

Aims at harnessing selected new technologies for employment creation and poverty alleviation. It is to act as an umbrella to a host of national and regional programmes designed to promote new technology inputs emphasizing new ICTs, selected biotechnologies and new materials technologies.

Technopole refers to a center of high-tech manufacturing and information-based quaternary industry. These may be developed by the private sector or by the co-operation or partnership between the public and private sectors. Governments of all levels promote them as a panacea for economies hurt by economic restructuring. Large corporations and small business locate in technopoles. Networking between other firms is important and made possible by technological advances.

A telephone card, calling card or phone card for short, is a small plastic card sized and shaped like a credit card, used to pay for telephone services. In most or all cases the card itself is not used, knowledge of the access telephone number to dial and the PIN being sufficient. Standard cards which can be purchased and used without any sort of account facility give a fixed amount of credit and are discarded when used up; others can be topped up, or collect payment in arrears. The system for payment and the way in which the card is used to place a telephone call vary from card to card.

A telecentre is a public place where people can access computers, the Internet, and other digital technologies that enable them to gather information, create, learn, and communicate with others while they develop essential digital skills. While each telecentre is different, their common focus is on the use of digital technologies to support community, economic, educational, and social development—reducing isolation, bridging the digital divide, promoting health issues, creating economic opportunities, and reaching out to youth for example

Capital expenditures are called to invest during the fiscal year in order to acquire tangible assets such as physical facilities and intellectual assets, as well as intangible assets such as computer software and the index is infrastructure investment and includes spending and expansion of facilities to achieve greater efficiency and return on investment.

Authority is mandated to: ensuring adequacy of telecommunications services throughout the UAE; achieving enhancement of services, both in terms of quality and variety; ensuring quality of service and adherence to terms of licenses by licensees; encouraging telecommunications and IT services within the UAE; promoting and enhancing the telecommunications sector within the UAE; promoting and developing the telecommunications sector in the UAE by training, development and the establishment of relevant training institutions; resolving any disputes between the licensed operators; establishing and implementing a regulatory and policy framework; promoting new technologies; ensuring that the UAE becomes the regional ICT hub; developing the country’s human capital; and encouraging research and development

The TRA is an independent body and its duties and powers include: protecting the interests of subscribers and users, and promoting effective and fair competition among established and new licensed operators.
To develop the Kingdom of Bahrain as the region’s most modern communications hub and to facilitate the development of the market. To protect the interests of subscribers and users of telecommunications services and maintain effective and fair competition between established and new entrants to the telecommunications market.

TRA is committed to develop the telecommunications sector in the Sultanate by regulating and maintaining the telecom services, promoting the interest of telecommunications services providers and beneficiaries, and ensuring that consumers receive international standards of telecommunications services, with a reasonable range of choices at reasonable prices.

An independent governmental commission to regulate the performance of the ICT and postal sector, stimulate competition, protect the interests of the beneficiaries, monitor the implementation of quality of service indicators (KPIS) and providing services at affordable prices in order to achieve sustainable growth in all relevant sectors through working within an institutional framework with the stakeholders, relying on highly enthusiastic intellectual capital.

Work at satellite offices or at home using a computer and related equipment that links the telecommuter to the employer’s main office. The telecommuter may be required to spend some time (e.g., 1 or 2 days each week) in the main office.

A two-way telecommunications service that allows live video images and speech of participants in a conference to be transmitted between two or more locations. Videoconferencing services generally require digital transmission.

(the use of the telephone as an interactive medium for promotion and sales)

Connecting the subscriber's terminal equipment to the public switched network and which have a dedicated port in the telephone exchange equipment.

Fees that wireless telephone companies pay to complete calls on wireline phone networks or vice versa.

Description de la mission confide à un comité ou à un autre groupe, précisant notamment les objectifs des travaux à exécuter et délimitant les sujets qui seront abordés.

Tertiary education, also referred to as third stage, third level, and post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, or gymnasium. Higher education is taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, while vocational education and training beyond secondary education is known as further education in the United Kingdom, or higher education in the United States.

Automatic conversion of text streams to voice.

A family of standards for mobile telecommunications defined by the International Telecommunication Union,[1] which includes GSM EDGE, UMTS, and CDMA2000 as well as DECT and WiMAX. Services include wide-area wireless voice telephone, video calls, and wireless data, all in a mobile environment. Compared to 2G and 2.5G services, 3G allows simultaneous use of speech and data services and higher data rates (up to 14.0 Mbit/s on the downlink and 5.8 Mbit/s on the uplink with HSPA+). Thus, 3G networks enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency.

Is a family of standards for mobile telecommunications defined by the International Telecommunication Union,[1] which includes GSM EDGE, UMTS, and CDMA2000 as well as DECT and WiMAX. Services include wide-area wireless voice telephone, video calls, and wireless data, all in a mobile environment. Compared to 2G and 2.5G services, 3G allows simultaneous use of speech and data services and higher data rates (up to 14.0 Mbit/s on the downlink and 5.8 Mbit/s uplink ).

A collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations, to make a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone system specification within the scope of the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 project of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). 3GPP specifications are based on evolved Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) specifications. 3GPP standardization encompasses Radio, Core Network and Service architecture.

Is a channel access method for shared medium networks. It allows several users to share the same frequency channel by dividing the signal into different time slots. The users transmit in rapid succession, one after the other, each using his own time slot. This allows multiple stations to share the same transmission medium (e.g. radio frequency channel) while using only a part of its channel capacity. TDMA is used in the digital 2G cellular systems such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), IS-136, Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) and iDEN, and in the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard for portable phones. It is also used extensively in satellite systems, and combat-net radio systems.

Time-division multiplexing (TDM) is a type of digital or (rarely) analog multiplexing in which two or more signals or bit streams are transferred apparently simultaneously as sub-channels in one communication channel, but are physically taking turns on the channel. The time domain is divided into several recurrent timeslots of fixed length, one for each sub-channel. A type of multiplexing where two or more channels of information are transmitted over the same link by allocating a different time interval ("slot" or "slice") for the transmission of each channel. I.e. the channels take turns to use the link. Some kind of periodic synchronising signal or distinguishing identifier is usually required so that the receiver can tell which channel is which.

Is an amount of time or a particular time interval. In sounds and music, a duration is a property of a tone that becomes one of the bases of rhythm.

Is a limit on the period of time or number of iterations or transmissions in computer and computer network technology that a unit of data (e.g. a packet) can experience before it should be discarded.