WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
13 September  2017 
(17-4074) Page: 1/23 
  Original: English  
 
 
FEASIBILITY STUDY FO R A FEE -PAYING TRAINING SCHE ME 
 
OPTION PAPER  
 
 
This option paper has been prepared by an external consultant under the guidance of the 
Secretariat.  It is submitted to Members for their consideration.  
 
_______________  
 
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENT  
1   SUMMARY  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  2 
2   INTRODUCTION  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  2 
3   SITUATION ANALYSIS  ................................ ................................ ................................ . 3 
3.1   Is there a demand for WTO TRTA from non -traditional audiences?  ................................ ..... 4 
3.2   TRTA current offer  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 6 
3.3   Does the current WTO TRTA meet the demands from non -traditional a udiences?  .................  8 
3.4   Demand for certification  ................................ ................................ ...............................  8 
4   OPTION ANALYSIS  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 9 
4.1   Existing WTO online courses might be offered to non -traditional audiences for a fee  ........... 10 
4.2   Existing face -to-face courses might be offered to non -traditional audiences for a fee  .......... 11 
4.3   Bespoke courses, both e-Learning  and face -to-face, might be developed for 
participants from non -traditional audiences for a fee  ................................ .............................. 12 
4.4   Disconnect courses and certification  ................................ ................................ .............. 12 
5   RECOMMENDATIONS  ................................ ................................ ................................ . 14 
ANNEX 1 - SCOPE  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........  16 
ANNEX 2 - METHODOLOGY  ................................ ................................ .............................  17 
ANNEX 3 - INTERVIEWS  ................................ ................................ ................................ . 18 
 
  WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  1  SUMMARY  
1.1.  This report responds to the recommendation of t he External Evaluation  of the WTO TA 
conducted in 2016 to "consider and propose options for opening up at least some WTO training 
courses or topics (e.g. e-Learning ) to wider audiences in all countries, perhaps on a fee -paying 
basis." ( Recommendation  9 in WT/COMTD/89).  Therefor e, a fee -paying training scheme is 
envisaged for the "non-traditional " audience  of the WTO TA and for them only.  These audiences 
include representatives from academia, non -government organizations, the private sector, 
members of parliaments, journalists, etc. as well as delegates from developed country Members , 
who are not currently freely able to attend WTO training activities, whether online or face -to-face. 
1.2.  The study confirmed that a certain level of demand from non -traditional audiences exists, but 
could not quantify it.  However, i t also confirmed that , in a very competitive market,  the existing 
WTO portfolio of courses and training would be ill -suited to respond to the contrasted needs of 
these highly segmented and price -sensitive audiences.  
1.3.  Building o n the lessons learnt from institutions similar to the WTO (ITU, UNITAR and IMF) , 
and having reviewed the possibility (i) to offer existing online or face -to-face courses to non -
traditional audiences for a fee; and (ii) to develop bespoke online or face -to-face courses for non -
traditional audiences for a fee; this study concludes that the best way forward  at this point is for 
the WTO to:  
a. promote all existing e-Learning  course materials more widely and ensure they are easily 
accessible to both traditional and non -traditional audiences at no cost for the 
participants, including through related organ ization s' e-Learning  platforms and 
universities;  
b. design a comprehensive WT O certification system for all participants, delink this from 
the courses and ensure that it is consistent across courses, robust enough to limit fraud 
and open to external verification;  
c. provide certification for a fee to non -traditional audiences (there w ill be no charge for 
traditional audiences), with previous graduates being ‘grand -fathered’ into the new 
system; and  
d. should there be evidence of sufficient demand and should WTO resources and 
circumstances allow it, consider diversification into more speci fic training offerings for 
non-traditional audiences at a later stage.  
2  INTRODUCTION  
2.1.  This study stems from the recommendations made in the TRTA External Evaluation  
conducted in 2016.1 This evaluation provided an independent assessment of the operations of t he 
TRTA from 2010 to 2015, analysed its delivery mechanisms, identified good practices, formulated 
lessons learned and made recommendations for further improvement.  The evaluation argued that 
restricting the TRTA to the current target audience may limit th e ability of the WTO to achieve an 
increase in global awareness regarding WTO agreements.2 One of its recommendations was to 
"consider and propose options for opening up at least some WTO tr aining courses or topics 
(e.g.,  in e-Learning ) to wider audiences in all countries”.3 
2.2.  The evaluation also identified the "budgetary and staffing ceilings imposed on the WTO 
Secretariat” and “the increased use of the [WTO] Dispute Settlement Mechanism that has fuelled a 
transfer of internal resources and staff to support this function" as serious constraints on the WTO 
                                                      
1 See WT/COMTD/89 (WTO TRTA Evaluation Steering Committee: WTO Trade -Related Technical 
Assistance External Evaluation: Final Report:  31 October 2016: Saana Consulting.)  
2 See WT/COMTD/89,  paragraph  5.8. 
3 See WT/COMTD/89, section 8.2.1 ( Recommendation 9). WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  capacity to deliver TRTA.4 Cognizant of these constraints, it suggested that appropriate e-Learning  
and face -to face courses may be opened to non -traditional audiences on a fee -paying basis.5 
2.3.  The Secretariat  already accommodates self -funded particip ants in several of its courses.  For 
the e-Learning  course, the current platform cannot accommodate fee -paying participants for 
technical reasons.  It does not offer any online payment facility and its security syste m would not 
allow its implementation.  In the meantime, a mobile application has been developed to give free 
access to the online courses training material in all countries.  
2.4.  This study therefore assesses the feasibility of establishing a fee -paying mechanis m targeting 
non-traditional World Trade Organization (WTO)6 Trade -Related Technical Assistance (TRTA) 
audiences.  In particular, it assesses whether the establishment of a fee -paying mechanism 
targeting non -traditional TRTA audiences is feasible under exist ing TRTA policy objectives, 
structures and constraints, it defines the scope of such scheme and it sets out its possible 
implementation modality(ies).  
2.5.  To this end, it analy ses the current TRTA offering, together with learnings from the 
experience of  severa l similar alternative programmes (Section 3), reviews several options to alter 
the current TRTA offering (Section 4) and recommends specific refinements to the current TRTA 
offering (Section 5).  Details of the process undertaken are set out in the Annexes (1 Scope, 2 
Methodology, and 3 Interviews).  
3  SITUATION ANALYSIS  
3.1.  From its headquarters in Geneva, the WTO currently offers an extensive and diverse range of 
TRTA activities that aim to build capacity in developing countries (including Least Developed 
Countri es – hereafter Developing Countries) to implement the WTO Agreements and to reap the 
benefits of a greater participation in the Multilateral Trading System.  Access to TRTA for 
Developing Countries is embedded in the WTO Agreements and Decisions as  part of the  special 
and differential treatment provisions.  
3.2.  TRTA mostly takes the form of training activities around the WTO Agreements, which are 
mostly courses delivered over the WTO e-Learning  platform or delivered face -to-face. Face-to-face 
courses may  be held at national (i.e. held in the respective Members or Observers) , at regional or 
at global level.  
3.3.  It has been estimated that the WTO delivered some 2,100 TRTA activities from 2010 to 201 5 
that benefited 80,000 participants and costed  CHF 110 Million .7 In 2016, the WTO delivered 274 
TRTA activities, trained over 18,000 participants at a cost of CHF 15.6 Million.8 
3.4.  The TRTA activities are financed by the WTO through its regular budget,9 and from Members' 
voluntary contributions to the Global Trust Fund (GTF) and other earmarked trust funds.10 11 
3.5.  The WTO has noted that “in the fast -changing context of globalization, where technology and 
trade relations evolve rapidly, the responsiveness of skills supply to demand is particularly 
important” and that “appropriate skills development policies are key to helping firms participate in 
trade, and also to helping workers find good jobs”.12 
3.6.  The "traditional" audience for TRTA courses consists of individuals who are nominated by 
their national authorities. They are primarily comprised of civil servants from the ministries dealing 
with trade and trade -related issues in eligible Developing Countries . 
                                                      
4 See WT/COMTD/89, paragraph  5.64. 
5 See WT/COMTD/89, s ection 8.2.1 ( Recommendation 9). 
6 See https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/whatis_e.htm   
7 See WT/COMTD/89, section 3.12 and figure 1.  
8 See WT/COMTD/W/225, sections 3.1.1 and 3.1.2.  
9 See WT/COMTD/89, paragraph  2.4. 
10 See https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/teccop_e/financing_trta_e.htm  
11 From 2010 to 2015, this was approximately 1/4 from the WTO regular budget and 3/4s from 
alternative sources, see WT/COMTD/89, paragraph  2.4. 
12 See https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/reser_e/investinsskillsprog_e.htm  WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  3.7.  “Non-traditional” audiences of TRTA include delegates from developed Members of the WTO 
and representatives from academia, non -government organizations, the private sector, members 
of parliaments, journalists, etc.  They are not currently freely able to attend TRTA courses on WTO 
Agreements offered under Key Result 1 of the Biennial Technical Ass istance and Training Plan 
2016-17 (hereafter the TA Plan).13 The WTO currently addresses the needs of such representatives  
to a certain extent  through its ‘ Information & External Relations Division’14 and some small scale 
dedicated programmes under Key Resul t 4 of the TA Plan.15 
3.1  Is there a demand for WTO TRTA from non -traditional audiences?  
3.8.  There is a clear ongoing demand for TRTA among traditional audiences, as demonstrated by 
the year on year increase in participant numbers from 15,000 in 2015 to 18,600 in 2 016.16 
3.9.  There have been several general indications to the TRTA team that there may also be a 
greater – though unspecified – demand for access to the TRTA trainings among non -traditional 
audiences:  
a. members of non -traditional audiences have requested to parti cipate in TRTA regional 
and global courses (occasionally they attend on a self -funded basis and subject to space 
within the training room);17 
b. members of non -traditional audiences have been invited to participate in TRTA face -to-
face national courses by beneficiaries'  national authorities;  
c. members of non -traditional audiences have requested access to  online TRTA courses ; 
and 
d. there have been multiple requests from universities/student organizations for TRTA 
training.  
3.10.   The interviewees for this study have provided additional anecdotal evidence that suggests 
there is an increased interest in trade matters among non -traditional audiences  due to global 
political and economic circumstances : 
a. the proposed withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union h as led to a 
significant increase in the number of visits by delegations to the WTO;  
b. the number of requests for visits to the United Kingdom by representatives from the 
Secretariat in connection with the proposed withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the 
European Union has increased;  
c. the adoption of the Trade Facilitation Agreement has trigged an increased interest in 
WTO disciplines by members of non -traditional audiences such as private sector  
representatives and import/export organizations ; 
d. there has been  an increased interest in trade matters following the various actions and 
statements by the United States of America regarding its trade policies;18 and 
                                                      
13 See WT/COMTD/W/211 . 
14 See https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/secre_e/div_e.htm  and, more specifically for journalists: 
https://www.wto.org /english/forums_e/media_e/media_e.htm . 
15 See WT/COMTD/W/211 , section 6.4.  
16 See WT/COMTD/W/225, section 4.3.  
17 It is regarded as good practice to limit the number of participants in a face -to-face training to 30 to 
allow an optimal level of interaction among, and guidance to, participants.  
18 See https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/01/trump -may-ignore -wto-in-major -
shift-of-u-s-trade -policy/?utm_term=.92b3dfc4fac3  “The Trump administration … announced a  sharp break 
from U.S. trade policy, vowing  it may ignore certain rulings by the World Trade Organization if those decisions 
infringe on U.S. sovereignty.” and also  
https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/reports/2017/AnnualReport/Chapter%20I%20 -
%20The%20President%27 s%20Trade%20Policy%20Agenda.pdf  at Page 1, Section 2 A “As a general matter, WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  3.11.   More specifically, the interviews undertaken for this study have also shown that there is 
demand for tra ining on trade -related matters among non-traditional audience Geneva -based 
missions to the WTO: they have clear training needs, budgets are available and there is a stated 
interest to do such training with the WTO.  There are several specific target groups among such 
missions:  
a. senior appointees who want to bring their trade related knowledge up to date;  
b. officials in related fields who wish to learn more about trade  agreements , such as  ‘trade 
and development’ officers;  
c. new arrivals at the  Geneva -based missions , who wish to develop their relevant network; 
and 
d. junior staff who wish to learn about, or refresh their knowledge of, relevant and current 
applicable elements of trade policy.  
3.12.   The general context within which the WTO offers TRTA is impacted by sev eral macro -trends 
in the education field:19 
a. there is a clear general demand for access to information and training delivered over the 
internet, see the increasing popularity of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses);20 
b. there is a clear demand for this informati on to be available at no, or at nominal, cost 
(many MOOCs are free of charge); and  
c. there is an expectation from participants that the desired information is available when 
and where they want to access it.  
3.13.   Feedback from the interviews conducted for this study suggests that these general trends 
need to be adapted to each target geography:  
a. cultural differences and technology limitations may lead to differences in the adoption of 
e-Learning  in different geographies: for example, it was suggested that partici pants in 
South America often tend to prefer e-Learning  and participants in Africa often prefer 
face-to-face courses;21 and 
b. utilizing any e-Learning  method that requires a ‘link’ to be maintained over the internet 
is less popular and less successful than uti lizing a method where the data is downloaded 
and accessed later.  
3.14.   Several other issues were identified during the interviews undertaken for this study that are 
of relevance to assess the demand from non -traditional audiences:  
a. Despite TRTA face -to-face courses being mostly funded by the WTO for their traditional 
audience, many target attendees within this traditional audience tend to work in small 
teams and, if th ey were to be absent from their team for an extended period for a face -
to-face course, it wi ll likely cause staffing issues for the team.  This often becomes a 
barrier to participation for the potential participant in regional and global courses, as can 
the balance of the costs that have to be incurred to attend such courses.  Feedback from 
relevan t representatives proposed that more TRTA training might be usefully transferred 
                                                                                                                                                                     
we believe that these goals can be best accomplished by focusing on bilateral negotiations rather than 
multilateral negotiations – and by renegotiating and revising trade agreemen ts when our goals are not being 
met.”  
19 There are multiple examples but a sample is at: https://www.edx.org/  and 
https://www.khanacademy.org/  
20 There are multiple portals available, one such example is: http://mooc.org/   
21 It was suggested that participants in South America were often learning in a second language and 
found the e-Learning  more accessible, while co nnectivity issues in Africa often limited accessibility to e-
Learning . Neither of these assertions has been verified further.  WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  to e-Learning  from face -to-face courses and that the e-Learning  courses should be 
opened up more widely within the traditional audience, beyond those persons nominated 
by nati onal authorities.  
b. There is a need for cost -effective, TRTA e-Learning  in languages other than English: 
while most courses are  also delivered in French or Spanish, there is a desire to see more 
courses in these and other local languages.  This is expected to  have a major impact in 
disseminating e-Learning  content to a broader audience, both within the traditional 
audience and for non -traditional audiences.  
c. There continues, it was suggested, to be an inconsistent ability and knowledge among 
participants at TRT A face -to-face courses, reinforcing comments by the External 
Evaluation .22 This prompted one interviewee to question whether, given that the TRTA is 
essentially limited to those participants who are less able to afford such training, has it 
started to attra ct a brand equity of being “less than the best”, such that it fills an 
important gap but, given a choice, potential participants might choose to attend other 
courses.  This perspective was potentially reinforced by the feedback from developed 
country ‘home based’ officers dealing with trade -related matters who saw limited benefit 
in attending a WTO course over attending an ‘executive’ focused trade related 
programme at a local university.  It was suggested that the PLS could be enhanced 
through fuller e-Learning  courses and a robust examination/certification process, such 
that, in time, this would help boost the overall quality and reputation of the WTO face -
to-face courses.  
d. By offering face -to-face training to participants from D eveloping Countries  only, are 
these participants disadvantaged by not being able to interact with their peers  from 
developed countries to understand alternative perspectives.  
e. By offering face -to-face training to participants from the public sector  only, are the se 
participants di sadvantaged by not being able to interact with participants from the 
private sector to understand alternative perspectives on trade matters.  
3.2  TRTA current offer  
3.15.   The External Evaluation  identified nearly 40 providers of relevant training, many of which 
have worked with the WTO, and suggested that “there is no programme of trade -related technical 
assistance closely comparable to that of [the] WTO”.  It noted that the “WTO was the most 
knowledgeable on WTO Agreements and the kind of TRTA they provide cannot be a s competently 
provided by other organ ization s”, although it also noted that the feedback may have had a “focus 
on WTO”.23 (Sample providers of similar e-Learning  programmes include the Inter -American 
Development Bank (IADB)24 and the World Bank25 which both o ffer extensive ranges of e-Learning  
courses.)  
3.16.   This study places a particular emphasis on the TRTA e-Learning  offering. This currently 
consists of 25 courses with additional support for participants from traditional audiences, such as 
regular ‘chat’ sessions with experts that are each held several times at different times of the day 
to accommodate participants lo cated in different time zones.  The WTO e-Learning  programme 
forms a key part of the WTO progressive learning system (PLS),26 where participants advance 
through a series of increasingly sophisticated courses and, prior to being accepted for any face -to-
face course, they must have both taken the foundation e-Learning  modules and have passed the 
respective on -line examinations/certification.  
                                                      
22 See WT/COMTD/89, paragraph  5.68, which noted that participants are often not of “comparable levels 
of knowledge, aptitude and experience” such that …  participants on the same course have reported that “the 
course is too difficult or too easy”.  
23 See WT/COMTD/89, paragraph  5.31. 
24 See http://cursos.iadb.org/en/cou rses/?lang=en&id=25293   
25 See https://olc.worldbank.org/wbg -academy  
26 See https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/teccop_e/pls_e.pdf  WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  3.17.   The content of the WTO e-Learning  offering is already available to non -traditional audiences 
on a non -chargeable basis: t he presentations are available on the WTO web -site through the 
e-Campus portal,27 with the only differences for participants from these non -traditional audiences 
being: that this access does not provide the additional support offered to traditional audience s 
through the ‘chat’ sessions, access to experts, etc.; and that it does not provide for an 
examination or certification on completion of the course.  
3.18.   For this study, interviews were undertaken with several institutions similar to the WTO and 
offerings from  other providers were reviewed:28 the key learnings are set out in full in Part 3 of 
Annex 3 – Interviews , and are summarized below.  
a. Other organ ization s face similar challenges to those faced by WTO: 
i. each organ ization  has seen a general broadening of demand  from their respective 
traditional target audiences, often coupled with a greater demand from non -
traditional audiences, for increased flexibility in delivery ( e-Learning  versus face -to-
face and the establishment of hybrid courses) and increased segmentation of the 
training offered (generalist versus specialist, information delivery versus skills 
development workshops, offering courses in additional languages); and  
ii. this ha s often been coupled with a pressure to reduce costs, to out -source more and 
to focus on the core strengths offered by the respective organ ization . 
b. There is a clear trend towards offering courses well beyond the traditional target 
audience, however, quanti fying demand for a particular course can be difficult and 
education delivery has been greatly impacted by the increasing popularity of MOOCs, 
which are often low cost, or even free of charge (at least for the course material).  Thus, 
for the courses offered  by the international organ ization s questioned, estimating the 
specific expected demand and determining the appropriate pricing often presents a 
major challenge.  
c. A private provider segments its target market, conducts market surveys and focus 
groups to und erstand potential participant needs and then sets a price based on a 
number of factors, including the likely take -up for the course, the ability of the target 
segment to pay and the price of the competitive offerings.  These are skill -sets and 
practices tha t take time to develop for a particular segment and which, understandably, 
appear to be under -developed in such international organ ization s. 
d. For international organ ization s, who are often the authority of last resort for global 
standards, this trend toward s offering courses beyond the traditional target audience 
presents both significant opportunities (to build their brand, to show -case their 
role/relevance and to communicate with key influencers and decision -makers), and 
significant issues (to maintain ped agogical quality, to retain technical precision/accuracy 
and to preserve their brand integrity).  
e. The increasing importance of credible certification is also clear: any course should lead 
to a qualification that is worthwhile, i.e. that is meaningful to the  participant and to the 
participant’s ‘community’, and that builds on the brand of the certifying organ ization . 
f. Such a system ought to be coherent, systematic and verifiable, with sufficient 
robustness to reduce cheating opportunities to a minimum. Such a system is also a 
valuable platform to build a community to whom future courses can be directly 
marketed, which, in turn, facilitates a more systematic ‘up -levelling’ of knowledge and 
skill-sets among the broader community of practitioners for the respectiv e international 
organ ization , generates additional revenue and extends the brand of the international 
organization.  
                                                      
27 See https://ecampus.wto.org/search.asp?lang=En   
28 The more relevant inputs were received from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and 
the United Nations  Institute for Training and Research ( UNITAR ). WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  g. Out-sourcing course creation and/or delivery can reduce costs and increase both reach 
and flexibility, while also reducing financial risk fo r the international organ ization . 
However, it also forces a re -focusing of the international organ ization  with regard to its 
dealings with third party organ ization s, with contractual obligations imposed on the 
international organ ization  (to deliver materia ls, to manage the quality of all third parties, 
to ensure appropriate marketing, etc.), and with regard to the management of the 
international organ ization ’s brand.  
3.3  Does the current WTO TRTA meet the demands from non -traditional audiences?  
3.19.   While it is clea r that the WTO expertise on trade matters is pre -eminent and beneficiaries of 
TRTA have noted that the WTO is “the most knowledgeable on WTO Agreements”,29 it is not 
obvious whether WTO traditional audiences have undertaken a thorough bench -marking of training 
alternatives30 nor whether training that meets the requirements of the traditional audiences will 
meet those of non -traditional audiences.31 
3.20.   Feedback for this study has confirmed this latter observation:  
a. members of the private sector require relevant, short courses that help them to conduct 
their business better and, in general, current TRTA courses are designed to go into more 
detail and to take longer to complete;  
b. while it is clear that there is relevant interest in such training from non-traditional 
audiences in Geneva -based missions to the WTO, it is not clear whether the TRTA 
offering will meet demand in the ‘home countries’ of such missions, where leading local 
universities often have pre -existing personal ties to the potential participants, offer an 
established education brand and provide certification that is recognized more widely in 
the respective local environment  and beyond ; and  
c. one specific course might not meet the needs of all non -traditional audiences - there 
may well be a need for several  courses targeting different non -traditional audiences.  
3.21.   The practice for potential participants from these non -traditional audiences is to review what 
is offered in the market and to compare the competing alternatives.  Consequently, non -WTO 
providers of ex ecutive education have experience of marketing their courses: segmenting their 
addressable market; designing their courses to meet the specific needs of their target segment; 
and adapting their offering to meet changing demands among their target segment.  
3.22.   This is in contrast to the WTO marketing to potential participants from its traditional 
audience, who have little, if no, choice but to use WTO offered courses: they are nominated to 
attend by their employer and they have insufficient funding to access alt ernative solutions.  It is 
not clear whether, if the current courses of  the WTO were to be offered to non -traditional 
audiences, they w ould succeed in a market -based competition for potential participants form non -
traditional audiences.  
3.4  Demand for c ertifica tion 
3.23.   While the motivation to undertake training may vary from a desire by the participant (or 
their employers) to improve the knowledge of the participant, through their securing entry to a 
more advanced education programme, to extending the personal netwo rk of the participant, a key 
element of any training is the evidence of its successful completion from the training provider 
through credible examination and certification procedures.  
                                                      
29 See WT/COMTD/89, paragraph  5.33. 
30 Participants from traditional audiences come, by definition, from Developing Countries where 
accessing alternative options is limited by financial restrictions.  
31 See WT/COMTD/89, section 8.2.1 ( Recommendation 12) “Members grapple with informing and 
engaging with private sector actors in WTO -related issues affecting them”, and suggested that a specifically 
designed course for the private sector should be created.  WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  3.24.   The WTO e-Learning  courses provide for an examination for each participa nt, a ‘pass’, for 
grades greater than 60%, and a ‘distinction’, for grades greater than 90%, with no ‘certificates of 
attendance’.  No charge is levied for this service.  It is automated, is often greatly valued by 
participants and can be linked to a partici pant’s profile on LinkedIn.32 
3.25.   Other international organ ization s also address assessment/certification by requiring that 
participants pass an examination at the end of their e-Learning  course, with those who pass 
receiving a certificate electronically.  One o rganization even builds on this and follows up with 
participants several months after their course completion to assess whether they have applied the 
learnings from their course in the period after graduation.  However, some do offer mere 
‘Certificates of A ttendance’ and certification completeness and processes vary.  
3.26.   Other training providers also generate certificates for participants: EdX,33 the Harvard/MIT 
platform utilized by, among others, the IMF,34 offers their courses free of charge to any and all 
participants but charges for the examination certificate: for USD  49, a participant can “highlight 
their knowledge and skills” with an “instructor -signed certificate with the institution's logo to verify 
[their] achievement and increase [their] job prospects” i n a form that can be easily posted directly 
on LinkedIn.  As a not -for-profit organization, EdX relies on such verified certificates to help fund its 
free education programme.35 
3.27.   An alternative approach is that of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute:36 this is a 
fully private education institute that has established a global reputation for quality training, 
rigorous examinations and a ‘must have’ qualification among many financial professionals.  While it 
charges for its courses and examinatio ns, what is most notable is that it seeks to deliver status to 
those participants who pass all of its examinations by awarding a title, ‘CFA Charter -holder’, and it 
maintains a publicly available directory of their charter -holders.37 This not only has the b enefit of 
conferring status on the participants, it builds a community of qualified practitioners around the 
globe and reinforces the CFA brand.  
3.28.   For any participant to value an examination/certification process (and thus to be prepared 
to invest time in qu alifying and to pay the examination fee) the process has to be credible.  The 
common challenge for all examinations/ certification processes undertaken over the internet is: ‘Is 
the person who is taking the examination, the person who will be accredited wit h the results?’  At 
present, there is no clear solution to this issue without linking into an existing form of biometric 
analysis, of which there are many, but none of which is sufficiently ubiquitous for a global offering 
to rely upon it.  However, systems that monitor behavioural usage of keyboards are now being 
deployed and this will quite possibly see relatively quick adoption as there is a clear use case in 
on-line education.  While some risk mitigation practices can be adopted (such as limiting the time 
to take the examination), until such a solution is widely available, examination/certification 
providers are continuing to operate and accept this risk.  
4  OPTION  ANALYSIS  
4.1.  It is assumed that the WTO remit to provide training to nominated participants from 
Developing Countries will remain; and that the course material for the e-Learning  courses 
continues to be made available, at no cost, from the e -Campus website.  Four options to increase 
the offer to  non-traditional audiences  without negatively impacting the l evel of offer to the current 
primary audience have been identified:  
a. Existing e-Learning  courses might be offered to non -traditional audiences for a fee;  
b. Existing face -to-face courses might be offered to non -traditional audiences for a fee;  
                                                      
32 See https://www.linkedin.com   
33 See https://www.edx.org/   
34 See http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm   
35 See https://www.edx.org/about -us 
36 See https://www.cfainstitute.org/Pages/index.aspx   
37 See https://www.cfainstitute.org/community/membership/directory/Pages/index.aspx#section -1 WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  c. Bespoke courses, both e-Learning  and face -to-face, might be developed for non -
traditional audiences for a fee; and/or  
d. All e-Learning  courses might be made more widely available and the WTO might 
establish a highly regarded series of qualifications that are  recognized as the pre -
eminent qualifications for trade policy practitioners.  
4.1  Existing WTO online  courses might be offered to non -traditional audiences for a fee  
4.2.  This option has the potential to extend the reach of the WTO extensively and will meet the 
goals of increasing knowledge among a wider audience and building capacity.  It has the potential 
to build a clear brand for the WTO in the trade -related education market segment and to lay the 
foundations to build a much greater trade -related community centre d around the WTO.  
4.3.  Registration should continue to be automatic and the sole goals of such registration process 
should be to have the student accept the terms and conditions of using the web -site and to 
capture the key details of the student for such confir mation  and to facilitate relevant market 
analysis: there need be no human involvement and no selection / approval element in the 
registration process.  
4.4.  While the existing e-Learning  offering, with its enhanced support, is very valuable in 
developing countri es and its key elements should be maintained, this can be achieved by 
continuing the current operations and, when using a more open course registration scheme, the 
nominated participants might enter a “promotional code” that will then lead them to the exis ting 
registration verification process .  
4.5.  However, the enhanced elements of the existing courses for participants from the traditional 
audience utilize a not insignificant amount of time of the WTO e-Learning  team to support each 
programme (such as bespoke ‘Chat Sessions’ with WTO’ experts on particular elements of each 
course).  Consequently, scaling such courses is not something that can be done without extensive 
planning, the likely training of additional staff and the incurrence of additional cost.  
4.6.  Additional resources required to meet the consistently growing  demand for e-Learning  among 
traditional audiences might  be funded through the revenues generated by  the fees recovered from  
participants from non -traditional audiences.  
4.7.  There are many channels to attract participants from non -traditional audiences: WTO 
branded e-Learning  courses could be made available through the IMF/EdX platform, the World 
Bank Academy, as part of the IADB training course portfolio etc.  Such courses could also be made 
accessib le: to all students on any tertiary course through their education centre portal, as the 
module that addresses trade related issues; to members of industry associations through their 
web-sites; and to members of chambers of commerce through their web -sites. 
4.8.  While it may not fully meet their needs, making a ‘stripped down’ version of the e-Learning  
courses, consisting only of the presentation material, more freely accessible for participants from 
non-traditional audiences and additional participants from the  traditional audience may provide a 
stop-gap solution . However, traditionally, trainings ought to be developed such that they educate 
to fill a gap… and it is not clear that the gap for traditional audiences being addressed by the 
existing WTO e-Learning  will fill the respective gaps for non -traditional audiences.38 Thus, merely 
offering existing WTO courses that have been developed for the traditional audience to a non -
traditional audience has the potential to damage the WTO brand in the fee paying market 
segment.  
4.9.  If this path were to be pursued, trial courses for carefully targeted participants from non -
traditional audiences might permit the e-Learning  deliverables to be tested by unpacki ng the non -
traditional audience  participant’ s needs into required kno wledge, skills  and characteristics, and 
then testing to see whether these are delivered to the participants by the existing e-Learning  
offering.  By assessing the acquired feedback, existing courses might be usefully adapted to meet 
                                                      
38 See WT/COMTD/89, paragraph  7.29, which noted that “the management culture [is] traditionally 
based on supporting Member -driven negotiations, rules and dispute settleme nt.” WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
- 11 - 
 
  the needs of participant s from non -traditional audiences.  Again, this is likely to take some 
considerable time, effort and cost.  
4.10.   If the out -sourcing approach employed by other international organ ization s were to be 
adopted by the WTO, it might be possible to secure support from p rivate sector, trade related 
businesses to develop such materials for the WTO.  While this may seem a simple solution, it will 
likely bring with it many unintended consequences: the WTO’s role of facilitating the resolution of 
disputes requires it to be, an d be seen to be, neutral.  If a corporate or a government were to 
generate such material for the WTO and a dispute were to come before the WTO involving this 
party, regardless of the absence of any actual conflict of interest, would the publicly neutral 
position of the WTO not be compromised?  
4.11.   Equally, while material generated by a third party might reduce the cost and time of course 
generation, the cost and time of review and ‘quality control’ would likely increase as the ‘peer 
review’ would likely have to b e undertaken by the WTO itself, as it is the WTO that is the global 
expert in trade related matters.  The WTO team does not currently include a marketing expert so 
such a new approach would likely also require different skill -sets to those existing in the WTO 
team and would likely require additional head -count.  
4.12.   The likely demands on the time of relevant staff and the likely levels of funding required to 
increase the  capacity to deliver tailor-made e-Learning  courses for non -traditional audiences will 
be sign ificant.  The market demand for such courses on a fee -paying basis is uncertain and, to 
establish such a programme without following a steady increase in engagement with the targeted 
non-traditional audiences, understanding their needs, adapting the courses  to their needs and 
determining whether this will be cost -effective for the likely fee -levels for attendance on the 
courses, will likely lead to many issues.  
4.13.   Initial feedback received suggests that  those Members who are funding the GTF and other 
TRTA progr ammes targeting  traditional audience s may wish to recover any funds that  would  be 
generated  by offering  TRTA courses  to non-traditional audiences.  One key donor stated that they 
are likely to seek  to recover any additional revenues received by the WTO for such services, pro 
rata to their contribution to the GTF.  
4.2  Existing face -to-face courses might be offered to non -traditional audiences for a fee  
4.14.   While the primary focus of this study is on e-Learning , e-Learning  is not a stand -alone 
service provided by the WTO, it is part of the PLS that may lead to access to face -to-face 
courses.39 Extending the current online training offering to participants from non -traditional 
audiences can be expected to lead to requests to extend the face -to-face training.  While some 
face-to-face courses have places for participants from non -traditional audiences, most do not, and 
there have already been requests to have such participants from non -traditional audiences attend 
more face -to-face courses beyond the number of available pla ces. 
4.15.   The ability to scale the existing face -to-face courses with relevant qualified training staff is 
extremely limited, to the point of becoming non -existent, as the required staff support for such 
courses is extensive and the pool of potential people wit h relevant experience within the WTO who 
might become qualified training staff is actually being reduced.  
4.16.   The expected demand for places from participants from non -traditional audiences is difficult 
to estimate.  Feedback received during the interviews unde rtaken for this study suggested that 
leading potential participants from non -traditional audiences are less likely to be released for 
existing TRTA face -to-face courses as the courses last too long and that, for many potential 
participants, to attend such courses in Geneva would represent a significant expense.  
4.17.   The TRTA External Evaluation  noted that “Members grapple with informing and engaging 
with private sector actors in WTO -related issues affecting them”, and suggested that specifically 
designed courses  for the private sector should be created.40 In support of this assessment, 
interviewees for this study reiterated that many participants from non -traditional audiences can be 
                                                      
39 See https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/teccop_e/pls_e.pdf  
40 See WT/COMTD/89, section 8.2.1 ( Recommendation 12). WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
- 12 - 
 
  expected to attend courses provided by other, non -WTO providers, such as the econ omics 
departments of local universities, where the certification will carry some weight in their local 
environment and where the networking with other participants will be useful to them in their 
business environment.  It is not clear that the existing WTO courses, which have been prepared for 
traditional audiences, will meet the needs of potential participants from non -traditional audiences.  
Intuitively, we assume that the existing face -to-face courses will not meet exactly the demands of 
non-traditional au diences.  
4.18.   On a face -to-face course, feedback given by WTO experts to questions from participants 
from traditional audiences is often pragmatic and candid.  If broader audiences, such as journalists, 
are invited to such discussions, it is expected that equiva lent responses will require greater 
consideration and will likely have detailed caveats, which will take time and may well reduce the 
benefits of attending such face -to-face courses for the participants from traditional audiences.  
4.19.   The likely demands on the  time of relevant staff, who are already in short supply, and the 
likely levels of funding required to establish such capacity to deliver these additional face -to-face 
courses will be significant.  The market demand for such courses is uncertain and, to est ablish such 
a programme without following a steady increase in engagement with the targeted non -traditional 
audiences, understanding their needs, adapting the courses to their needs and determining 
whether this will be cost -effective for the likely fee -levels for attendance on the courses will likely 
lead to many issues.  
4.20.   Findings reported in 4.13 above regarding the possibility that Members who are funding the 
GTF would wish to recover revenues generated by fee -paying trainings also applies to this option.  
4.3  Bespoke courses, both e-Learning  and face -to-face, might be developed for 
participants from non -traditional  audiences for a fee  
4.21.   There is not one non -traditional audience but many and it is unlikely that one course will 
meet all needs: the needs of a local Industry Trade Association, usually of particular importance to 
the local economy in a particular developing country , will often differ significantly from the needs 
of a large multi -national based in a developed country.  To develop bespoke courses that wil l 
attract relevant participants will require detailed input from representatives from such non -
traditional audiences and this will most likely make them expensive to develop.  
4.22.   Estimating/generating demand for such courses may well require different skills a nd 
budgets – course material will need to be tailored for those who want to know what they have to 
do to trade in a particular way, as opposed to setting out how an Agreement addresses trade in a 
particular area, and, once developed, the course has to be m arketed to potential participants, as 
opposed to having relevant Member national authorities nominate participants for a course.  
4.23.   As for the two options above, revenue recovery by donor Members, as explained in 4.13, is 
also relevant for this option.   
4.4  Disco nnect courses and certification  
4.24.   All e-Learning  courses might be made more widely available and the WTO might establish a 
highly regarded series of qualifications that are recognized as the pre -eminent qualifications  for 
trade policy practitioners . Rather t han creating additional material or charging participants for the 
courses, the WTO would charge for the certification.  Additional participants might take 
examinations for existing e-Learning  courses, whether or not they have taken the respective e-
Learning  course, for a fee, as is the case with the IMF/EdX approach.  If successful, they would 
receive a certificate and their success could be verified on a publicly available, web -based 
directory, akin to the structure employed by the CFA  Institute . 
4.25.   This should  be offered in parallel with promoting and ensuring easy access to existing WTO 
e-Learning  material  including through a simplified registration process as explained  in 4.3  above.  
4.26.   Albeit more limited than the first three options above, this option still ha s the potential to 
extend the reach of the WTO and will meet the goals of increasing knowledge among a wider 
audience and building capacity.  It retains the potential to lay the foundations to build a clear brand WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
- 13 - 
 
  for the WTO in the trade -related education m arket segment and to reach out to a much greater 
trade -related community.  
4.27.   While the quality of the discussions and networking at the face -to-face courses may be 
improved if non -traditional audiences are represented, this will require that non -traditional 
participants must also pass the TRTA examinations and achieve the relevant certification in order 
to demonstrate that they are qualified to attend the face -to-face courses.  
4.28.   For this proposal to be credible in the market -place, examination grades must be 
meaningful and the resulting certification verifiable.  The current TRTA pass grade is 60% and the 
current distinction grade is 90% . However, the standard of the examination is not clear: are the 
questions easy and hence the certification of limited value?  If an examination/certification 
programme is to be offered for a fee, the questions asked and the grades, both to pass and to 
achieve a distinction, should be reviewed and applied systematically to all courses and to all 
participants.  
4.29.   To cater for multiple at tempts at an examination, the content and variety of the questions 
set and the resulting certification will have to be expanded and reviewed to ensure that they are 
robust.  The content of the questions and the order of the questions will need to be expande d and 
varied in order to avoid a standard set of answers being generated and circulated on the internet 
(reducing the value of the certification).  These will also need to be revised on a regular basis.  The 
upfront investment this would represent for the WT O would be significantly more limited than to 
develop new courses or adapt existing ones under option 3 above.  
4.30.   Pricing might appear to be a more difficult issue . If the exams are priced too low, there is 
limited perceived value, but if it is too high, many  students will not be able to afford it.  Elsewhere, 
many examinations/courses are priced at the higher end in order to ‘skim’ the market and then 
discounts are offered to particular segments through the use of “promotional codes” so, for 
instance, students  at University X might be charged a nominal fee once they have entered their 
respective promotional code.  Additional work would need to be undertaken on this point before 
launching the programme and going to market.  
4.31.   While it will require certain administrative work, primarily data transfer, to prepare for this 
development, this additional work will have other benefits and will be significantly less work and 
less cost than the alternative approaches listed above.  Examples of the work to be undertak en are 
the establishment of a participant based database, as opposed to a course based database of 
participants, and the necessity to capture the details of previously successful participants such that 
their success is ‘grand -fathered’ into the new databas e. This restructuring of the database will be 
necessary as, at present, it is possible to see who attended Course X in May 20XX but it is not 
possible to see which courses ‘Participant X’ attended, when they took the examinations and 
whether they passed th e examinations.  If the examination/certification is to carry some value for 
the participant, it is necessary for the WTO to be able to easily identify who took which 
examination and when.  This will also reinforce the PLS.41 
4.32.   It is worth noting that it is com mon practice for non -WTO course providers to permit 
participants to log into a reserved area of the relevant web -site and to secure such information for 
them-selves and to secure additional copies of certificates , etc. This is not possible with the 
existin g WTO systems but could (and should) easily be adopted in a participant driven system.  
4.33.   Such a development would have the useful side effect that it will permit the Secretariat  to 
establish a record of who has taken which examination, when and with what res ult: it will permit 
to also address the current issues that names are transliterated from other scripts in different 
ways and that particularly long names are abbreviated in different ways, such that one person may 
have several entries on the existing WTO system.  It will also provide clarity to the WTO as to how 
many participants attend WTO courses: at present, it is only possible to measure the number of 
attendees (multiple attendances by the same participant are not distinguished).  
4.34.   This approach will enab le the Secretariat to build the foundations to support any further 
expansion of their offering, to expand their offering slowly by launching the 
                                                      
41 See https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/teccop_e/pls_e.pdf  WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  examination/certification to non -traditional audiences, such that potential interested participants 
can be iden tified, actual needs can be assessed, relevant staff can be recruited to the WTO as 
needed, appropriate TRTA course materials can be generated to meet needs for which participants 
will pay and to ensure that the WTO brand is built systematically.  
4.35.   This exam ination/certification could be an interim step to offering greater access to TRTA 
and even developing a WTO Academy, which could, in time, position the WTO as the pre -eminent 
provider of trade related training to the trade community.  This appears to be the  easiest and the 
quickest way to initiate engagement with non -traditional audiences and will provide a useful way 
to secure some indication as to the extent and nature of the ‘real’ demand for TRTA courses 
among non -traditional audiences.  
5  RECOMMENDATIONS  
5.1.  The various TRTA activities are extensive and inter -linked.  To restructure the existing 
arrangements completely would be expensive, disruptive and is beyond the remit of this study. 
Bearing this in mind, this study concludes that the WTO should enhance/amen d its modus 
operandi, as follows:  
a. During the next bienni um, promote its existing e-Learning  course materials more widely 
and ensure that they remain easily accessible to both traditional and non -traditional 
audiences (with automated access and with de mini mis registration requirements) at no 
cost for the participant.  Such increased access would include using related organ ization s' 
education portals, such as the IADB, World Bank and IMF/EdX e-Learning  platforms as 
well as university e-Learning  programmes. Th e registration should require no more than 
essential data collection (geographic location; role , such as government representative, 
NGO representative, journalist; gender; ..) and an agreement to the terms and 
conditions of the supply of the course material that requires no human intervention. This 
should be complemented with promotional messaging th rough existing WTO 
communication channels and with soft marketing to centres of tertiary education, to 
relevant national and international industry associations and to chambers of commerce.  
b. Implement a comprehensive WTO certification system for anyone who wishes to take the 
WTO examinations ; separate this from participation in the courses and ensure that it is 
of a consistent quality across all courses, is sufficiently robust to minimize fraud and is 
open to external verification, with fees being charged to  participants from non -traditional 
audiences . The Secretariat considers that the introduction of such a system would not be 
possible before several years, and certainly not before 2020.  Such a system will permit 
anyone who wishes to do so, to take an exami nation, whether they are from a traditional 
or non -traditional audience.  Each candidate will register for the examination and provide 
sufficient information that they can be easily identified and they will agree to permit 
their name to be made publicly ava ilable.  If a candidate has been nominated as part of 
the TRTA traditional audience, they will receive an appropriate ‘promotional code’ and no 
fee will be levied.  For all other candidates, a fee will be charged to take the examination, 
whether or not they are successful.  Each successful candidate will receive: a notification 
that they have failed; a certificate that they have passed; or a certificate that they have 
achieved a distinction.  Previous graduates will be ‘grand -fathered’ into such scheme.  
This wi ll require some work to establish a ‘graduate record’, as opposed to an ‘attendee 
record’ within the TRTA database.  Once established, a publicly available directory of the 
graduates from TRTA courses can be made available on the WTO eCampus web -site. 
One s ide-effect could be that, while courses may be offered in a limited number of 
languages, examinations might be offered in a broader selection of languages.  Additional 
work will be needed to set an appropriate fee level.  
c. Should there be evidence of sufficie nt demand, should WTO resources and circumstances 
permit and should the WTO wish to consider expanding the TRTA offering, the WTO 
should examine diversifying into more specific training offerings for non -traditional 
audiences and increasing its training ro le within the trade related community.  The WTO 
is the pre -eminent brand as regards trade related matters and it has a leading role in the 
provision of trade -related training.  There is an opportunity worth exploring for the WTO 
to expand the TRTA towards becoming a broader Academy for those involved with trade WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
- 15 - 
 
  around the World.  In contrast, if the WTO does not continue to build on its excellent 
reputation and the high quality wo rk already done to establish its TRTA, consideration 
should be given to the risk that the credibility of its programme may be eroded in the 
market -place and, therefore, the reduction of its value to its traditional audience.  It can 
secure an initial market  assessment of potential demand from non -traditional audiences 
through the more open examination/certification process.  If this is positive and supports 
further engagement, the WTO can then segment its target market, conduct market 
surveys and focus groups  to understand potential participant needs, tailor courses to 
meet these needs, establish pricing mechanisms, and invest in staffing (trainers, 
marketers…)  and necessary direct establishment costs.  
  WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  ANNEX 1 - SCOPE  
a. This study has been undertaken in the co ntext:  
i. of the current vision of the WTO’s training reach;  
ii. that the existing progressive training structure for intensive courses, workshops 
and internships has a successful track record; and  
iii. that the move to delivery of e-Learning  courses has already incre ased the reach of 
the WTO training and has ensured that there is a solid base level for all 
participants attending the more advanced courses.  
b. The feasibility for the establishment of a fee -paying training scheme targeting non -
traditional audiences for the WTO has been explored.  
c. This study has addressed the feasibility of (a) scheme(s) to establish/expand external 
additional training material creation for a new audience (non -traditional WTO TA audience) 
which may potentially require an external delivery of trainings; and, where feasible, 
introduced different options.  
d. Where deemed feasible, the potential scope and possible implementation modalities for such 
a scheme  have been set out.  
e. This study has captured existing learnings from similar organ ization s and has opened up 
several avenues as a result of consultations with organ ization s that already have educational 
“Academies”.  
  WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  ANNEX 2 - METHODOLOGY  
a. Information collection through:  
i. interviews with relevant players using a prescribed questionnaire, in particula r, 
interviews with institutions where they have expanded their offering to identify 
parallels that might be useful and which might suggest likely demand for new courses 
at the WTO;  
ii. desk analysis of other service providers that have expanded their target ma rket 
segments, including a review of the web -sites of other relevant organizations;  
iii. discussions with the extended WTO training team; and  
iv. a review of relevant documents obtained from other organizations.  
b. It should be noted that securing reliable inputs as t o the potential interest of non -traditional 
audiences to use any additional training service offered by the WTO was not so 
straightforward and the reliability of their stated interest is not so certain.  
c. An overview of sample alternatives/additions to the W TO offering was set out.  
d. Options were identified for the implementation of fee -paying training schemes for such 
solutions.  
 WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  ANNEX 3 - INTERVIEWS  
1  WHO? 
i. 4 Country Missions to WTO in Geneva  
ii. 9 WTO Officers  
iii. Representative from International Telecoms Union  
iv. Representative from ITC  
v. Representative from UNITAR  
2  QUESTIONS FOR INTERV IEWS WITH COMPARABLE  ORGAN IZATION S 
2.1.  What is offered and how  
i. Is there a specific Learning Academy within the organization?  
ii. Is this service part of organization's mandate (capacity building, marketing e.g. in 
case of WIPO), or is part of outreach and visibility? (i.e. is it core business?)  
iii. When assessing training needs, do you split those into national/regional/gl obal or 
assess them in a "generic" global manner?  
iv. If capacity -building is the main mandate of your Learning Academy, is there a driver 
towards LDCs?  
v. How do you address LDCs?  What are the ‘real’ needs and the ‘gating’ items in such 
markets… is there a need for a smaller, extremely well -trained set of experts or is 
there a need to target a broader set of people who have a more basic understanding?  
vi. Is there a need for skills based courses? (such as negotiation skills, cross -cultural 
negotiations …)  
vii. How large i s the Academy?  
 In terms of operations (People, Budget, …)?  
 How many people are trained?  
 Is the training delivered "in person"?  If so, for how many students?  
 Is the training delivered "electronically"?  If so, for how many students?  
 What sort of courses are delivered?  How many different courses?  
viii. How do you deal with language issues?  
ix. Does it target a traditional population (i.e. primary target beneficiaries according to 
your mandate)?  If so, who?  
x. Does the training include a non -traditional population?  If so, w ho? 
xi. Choice of courses: is this "supply -driven" or "demand -driven"?  
xii. Is there a "train the trainer" programme that allows you to cater for broader audience 
that your initial target?  WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
- 19 - 
 
  xiii. If so, how effective did you find this approach in expanding your audience?  Do you 
measure the extent/reach of cascade trainings?  
xiv. Does the organ ization  charge for the training?  
 If you charge, was there any issue with regard to being able to charge with 
'charter' documents that you had to change?  How?  
 If you charge, how did you determine your price? (collect some figures)  
 If you don't charge, is it because your rules don't allow it?  
xv. Are the trainings developed internally?  
xvi. Are the trainings entirely or partially delivered by an external institution?  If so, by 
whom?  
xvii.  Logistics and Administration: are these (including registration and cost -recovery) 
managed internally, or by a service provider?  
xviii.  Is there a business driver for the selection of the chosen model?  
xix. Does the business model include different arrangements (admin istrative or otherwise) 
according to the type of training?  
xx. How is quality control maintained? (Are course materials systematically reviewed?  
How does this scale?)  
xxi. Is there an automatic process to update materials?  Or is it based on feedback and 
success ass essment?  
xxii.  If it is the latter, how do you assess the success of the training delivered?  
 Is there a structured certification process for students?  
 Are Participation Evaluation Forms anonymous, are they reliable?  Are there 
other feedback mechanisms?  
 How do th ey measure success?  (Is an enhanced offering with better 
understanding acceptable or is it a question of ‘numbers’ eg > google drives > 
chat rooms > alumni domains > repository of learners’ profiles.)  
 Do you use users' return to measure relevance/success?  
xxiii.  Does your online system allow that? i.e. Do centralised digital updates lead to 
automatic invitations to previous attendees to ‘re -attend’ based on updated material?  
xxiv.  Do metrics include the number of ‘returning users’, the time spent on the site, is this 
correlated to use by non -native speakers or to geography?  
xxv.  Might courses usefully be reduced in scope so that they are more ‘bite’ size? (this 
might increase flexibility)  
2.2.  Review of the fee -paying training programmes offered by the above -mentioned organizations  
i. Has this training service been reviewed/developed recently?  
ii. What are the challenges in providing such training schemes?  
iii. What are the results obtained from the implementation of any fee -paying training WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
- 20 - 
 
  scheme?  (These may include: greater visibility and outreach, enhanced financial 
sustainability, enhanced sustainability of the learning impact amongst the targeted 
audience, any spill over effects such as streamlined processes, etc.)  
iv. What are the good practices that would be recommended?  
v. Can you share some lessons learned post -mortem?  (Both positive and negative: Do 
you have to devote resources to Marketing?  Or do you manage to spontaneously fill 
your classrooms to break -even.  As a result, do you consider that it is a successful 
initiative or  would you do it differently if you could go back or would that not work at 
all…) 
2.3.  Additional areas that may be addressed if time permits  
i. Do you just drive value for money or do you experiment with new courses?  (ie risk -
taking to meet perceived demand) and how has it turned out (positive or negative)?  
ii. Are there any issues with matching the provision of courses in high -cost locations with 
the ability to recoup the increased costs?  Does this impact the proposed expansion of 
services?  
iii. Have any additional benefi ts of building more robust, policy educated communities 
been identified?  
iv. How was accessibility prioritised (such as, mobile access in Africa may be preferable 
when compared to other ways to access the internet)  
v. How quickly are under -used courses terminated ? 
vi. Is there a gain in out -sourced businesses being able to increase and decrease 
headcount more quickly, allowing for a more flexible response to subject and volume 
needs?  
3  SUMMARY OF KEY POINT S FROM INTERVIEWS WI TH KEY INTERVIEWEES  
3.1.  From the interviews conducted for this study, institutions similar to the WTO (such as, the 
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations Institute for Training and 
Research (UNITAR) …) face similarly increasing demands for additional trai ning from their 
members, while simultaneously being expected to build capacity more generally, and all within 
restricted budgets.  
3.2.  The one common thread through all of the interviews was that demands for their services 
out-stripped the available funding and  innovative solutions have had to be found in order to fund / 
facilitate such additional access.  To meet their respective goals, a variety of alternative solutions 
have been adopted by such other institutions: following a broader initial assessment, this s tudy 
has focused on the training provided by the ITU and UNITAR.  
4  ITU 
4.1.  The ITU has established a ‘hub and spoke’ organizational structure.1 This is very light in 
terms of costs and head -count at its Geneva head -quarters and utilizes external, regional 
independent ‘centres of excellence’ to achieve its global reach.2 These centres of excellence are 
located in defined regions that reflect the ITU membership.  
                                                      
1 ITU Training Academy   
https://academy.itu.int/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=158&Itemid=669&lang=en  
ITU Online Catalogue  
https://academy.itu.int/index.php?option=com_joomdle&view=coursescatalogdomain&Itemid=478&lang=en  
2 ITU Centres of Excellence 
https://academy.itu.int/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=156&Itemid=604&lang=en  WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  4.2.  With this approach, the ITU has comparatively few direct costs and employees :3 the courses 
are pri marily developed externally, peer reviewed externally and delivered by the centres of 
excellence.  The role of the ITU training team is to set policy, ensure that relevant education topics 
are addressed, ensure that course materials meet the required standa rds and that the courses are 
delivered to the ITU’s detailed guidelines.  
4.3.  Course materials are often developed by the private sector, such as by Cisco Systems Inc. ,4 
and then peer reviewed by ITU nominated experts to ensure that the materials are objective and 
technology neutral.  The ITU often does not pay for such course generation: in this example, the 
representatives from the private sector generate the course material as part of their support for 
the development of the industry and in return for an ackno wledgement.  These course materials 
are then peer reviewed by a group of industry leaders to ensure that they cover the target subject 
matter fully and neutrally.  The peer review is not paid for by the ITU.  
4.4.  The ITU does not have a central record of the cour ses that are operated, nor the number of 
participants.  Courses are driven regionally and most remain face -to-face, although the number of 
e-Learning  courses is increasing.  Centres of excellence often generate e-Learning  courses for their 
target region.  However, the ITU has a central database of all participants who can agree to receive 
notifications of future relevant courses.  
4.5.  While there are many similarities between the WTO and the ITU, one key difference is that 
the subject matter for the ITU courses reg ularly changes, with some courses becoming redundant 
within six months: in contrast, while material for the WTO training may need refining regularly, it 
needs to restructure course materials far less often.  
4.6.  The centres of excellence receive the approved ma terials from the ITU, charge the 
participants on the courses a fee for attending and pay a license fee to the ITU for the use of the 
course materials.  The ITU monitors the quality of the delivery of the training courses by the 
centres of excellence through  regular reviews.  
4.7.  The centres of excellence deliver the courses to any participant who wishes to attend and 
who can pay the course fee.  It should be noted that this leads to courses being available for 
anyone who wishes to attend, that all attendees have t o pay the cost of the course and that the 
centres of excellence will offer as many courses as demand suggests will be financially viable.  
4.8.  Where a particular member wishes to train a significant number of staff, there is no artificial 
limitation, as additio nal courses can be run to meet the excess demand.  If participants from ‘non -
traditional’ audiences wish to attend, there is also no restriction.  This approach has led to courses 
being operated in different languages (such as in Russian for representatives from the 
Commonwealth of Independent States), to additional courses being operated where there has 
been sufficient demand, and to courses that do not generate sufficient interest no longer being 
operated.  The financial risk for the translation and operatio n of additional courses is borne by the 
centres of excellence: they set attendance fees at the market rate that they are able to charge in 
order to attract sufficient attendees for the course to be viable and for them to make sufficient 
profit to cover the  risk of organising the respective course  and pay ITU's licence fees . 
5  UNITAR  
5.1.  UNITAR has established a centralized administration unit in Geneva that operates fee -based 
training programmes which are mostly delivered on behalf of third party organizations an d which 
cover a broad variety of subjects, from conflict resolution to waste management, around the 
world.  
5.2.  While it focuses on courses for Developing Countries and 55% of all participants are 
government representatives, participants from all United Nations  member states attend courses 
and participants include members of civil society, the private sector and international 
organizations.  
                                                      
3 Approx 5 employees and less than USD 500,000 per year (2016).  
4 http://www.cisco.com/   WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  5.3.  Most UNITAR face -to-face courses are organized close to the target audience, for example, 
peace -keeping training is offered  in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and many courses are 
offered as e-Learning , such as the UN climate change training.  While 55% of course deliveries are 
face-to-face, an increasing number are ‘blended’ e-Learning  and face -to-face. 
5.4.  Often courses are  designed by UNITAR to meet a specific need and may even be offered to 
(a) prospective donor(s) for funding.  Fees for its courses might be paid by the participants or by 
the organizer/sponsor of the course, often a donor.  With the former, there is no restr iction on who 
attends: if a potential participant registers and pays the fee, they can attend, which means non -
core attendees may take the place of core attendees.  In the latter, the organizer will invite the 
attendees  and pay the course fees to UNITAR on their behalf . 
5.5.  UNITAR seeks to be the ‘training expert’ and not the ‘content expert’: while some lecturers 
are external consultants and implementation is sometimes conducted through implementation 
partners, UNITAR delivers most of its courses; and, while so me courses are developed internally, 
most (about 80%) are developed externally using experts from academia and the private sector.  
The donors for a particular course will fund the generation of the course materials and the selected 
experts will be paid for  their work in developing the materials, often through UNITAR.  
5.6.  UNITAR has a budget of USD 26 million and a staff of approximately 50, 40 of whom focus on 
training, with 80 of the 115 courses offered being fee -based.  Setting the fee for each course is a 
subject of some complexity: estimating the likely number of course deliveries, particularly with e-
Learning , can be challenging.  Most fee paying courses are e-Learning  and most face -to-face 
courses are ‘in country’.  The management also withdraws courses that do not secure sufficient 
participants.  
5.7.  UNITAR is very conscious about maintaining the quality of its courses in order to maintain its 
brand and courses usually have learning pre -requisites, assessments and follow -up impact 
surveys.  To achieve this, there i s a dedicated manager responsible for quality control.  However, 
UNITAR operates courses for a variety of donors and so the imposition of certification 
requirements varies.  Certification meets the needs of the programme, with approximately 50% 
holding a for mal assessment.  The threshold to pass such an assessment varies from course to 
course, some target 70 to 80%, others only target 60%.  One point of particular note is the work 
by UNITAR to conduct systematic follow -up impact surveys with participants to und erstand 
whether they have applied the lessons learned on the respective course in their work following the 
course.  
5.8.  UNITAR is currently considering whether to follow the trend towards more ‘bite -sized’ 
courses: they are aware of recent work that suggests 90 % of learning is not retained longer than 
10 days unless applied.  
5.9.  Attempts have been made to build a community around the participants: there has been 
some success in creating a ‘community of attendance’ but little in creating a ‘community of 
practice’.  Public Finance and Trade are two exceptions, where solid communities of practice have 
been established.  
6  INTERNATIONAL MONETA RY FUND (IMF)  
6.1.  An aspect of particular interest from the review undertaken for this study with regard to 
sharing knowledge with the gen eral public and significantly scaling up the volume of training to 
member country officials  by an organization similar to the WTO comes from the IMF.  
6.2.  The IMF has outsourced the administration, marketing, provision of materials and the 
examination/certifica tion process.  Since late 2013, it has operated online courses that have 
attracted close to 34,000 active participants, of which over 9,400 government officials and about 
9,800 members of the general public have successfully completed an online course.5 To achieve 
this, the IMF has utilized an external platform, established by Harvard University and MIT (the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology), that seeks to “deliver quality education free of charge to 
                                                      
5 See https://www.imf.org/external/np/ins/english/learning.htm  WT/COMTD/W/226  
 
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  the participant”,6 using over 90 global partners, including many leading universities.  The courses 
offered cover a wide variety of subjects.7 
 
__________  
                                                      
6 See https://www.edx.org/about -us 
7 See https://www.edx.org/course/introductory -apr-microeconomics -mitx-14-01x