​Address by Eva Spina​​​, Chair of ITU Council 2017 ​

​Excellencies,
Distinguished Councilors, 
Secretary-General Mr Houlin Zhao,
Deputy Secretary-General Mr Malcolm Johnson,
Directors of the Bureaus, Mr. François Rancy, Mr. Chaesub Lee and Mr. Brahima Sanou,  

Ladies and Gentlemen,  

Welcome to the 2017 session of the ITU Council. At first, I would like to thank the 48 councilors who elected me and the Vice Chair, Mr. Rashid Ismailov from the Russian Federation. We will work to respond to your trust.

We are at the eve of the 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference, in an important moment of transition, in which to make an assessment on the results achieved and to shape the activities for the coming years. The great spirit of collaboration between ITU memberships is the tool can allow to meet all of our goals. 

Last year, with international collaboration, WTSA‑16 achieved a range of targets and it showed the strategic direction and structure to support the development of the trusted ICT infrastructure essential to the success of 5G systems, the Internet of Things and Smart Sustainable Cities. We are all grateful to the Government of Tunisia and the chair of WTSA‑16, Mr. Moktar Mnakri, for the success of that Assembly.   

I hope that the same spirit will be the base for the success of the next World telecommunication development conference - to be held later this year in Buenos Aires - for expected outcomes related to ICT for Sustainable Development Goals and to set the priorities for the development sector. 

In this Council meeting, we will make decisions on meaningful issues. 

Fundamental for the correct performing of the activities of the Union will be the adoption of the draft biennial budget of the Union for 2018-2019, with consequent resource allocation to the Strategic Goals and Objectives of the Union and the ITU operational plan for the next four years.

We will also hear about the progress towards the Connect 2020 Global Telecommunication/ICT Targets and the status of implementation of the Agenda in view of the 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference, in order to strategically analyze where connectivity efforts should be focused and prepare for the elaboration of the targets for the next strategic plan of the Union.

Important updates will be provided on the status of preparations for the Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-18), according to the proposal of the United Arab Emirates to host it in the city of Dubai and the endorsement by the Council in the meeting of the last year. It will be necessary to start the work for the strategic and financial plans for the next period. Furthermore a progress on the significant ITU Headquarters  Premises Project will be presented with detailed specification.

We will examine the work performed by the various Council Working Group who have paved the way for this Council and we could know from the Experts Group on ITRs the situation of the review of the International Telecommunications Regulations and the decision on the continuation of their work. 

Distinguished colleagues,

The 2017 Council has much work to do. I count on your spirit of cooperation to obtain a productive discussion on the many important issues of this year and to achieve our desired goals. 

Thank you