9 December 2011, New York, United States: Cybersecurity is clearly one of the greatest issues of our times, and it will continue to grow in importance. In 2011, we live in a society where almost everyone is connected to information and communication technologies (ICTs) – with close to six billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide and more than 2.3 billion people online...

06 December 2011, Washington DC, USA : I firmly believe that m-health applications in particular will be key in providing affordable, sustainable, quality primary health services – especially to patients in rural areas...​

05 December 2011, Washington DC, USA : It is a great pleasure to be with you here in Washington this morning for the m-enabling summit – which is being organized by G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs, in cooperation with the Federal Communications Commission, and ITU, the United Nations Specialized Agency for ICTs...

02 December 2011, Basel, Switzerland : The Novartis Symposium fits in very well with our other activities, and I welcome this opportunity to discuss m-health and telemedicine opportunities with you today...​

24 November 2011, Baku, Azerbaijan : Azerbaijan’s ICT sector has expanded more than five-fold over the past eight years, and mobile cellular penetration is now over 100%...​

23 November 2011, Baku, Azerbaijan : It is a great pleasure to be with you here in Baku today, for the opening of the 17th edition of BakuTel, the largest ICT event in the Caspian and Caucasus regions...​

02 November 2011, London, UK: Cybersecurity is a global issue requiring global solutions. Given the scale of the threats, we can no longer rely on ad hoc solutions, or hope to survive by strengthening our defences after a cyberattack has occurred. So we must work together to set international policies and standards, and to build an international framework for cybersecurity..​.

​28 October 2011, New York, United States: When we speak about people’s right to communicate and to access information we must understand this in a global setting where the distinctions between content and connectivity are rapidly eroding. We can no longer separate the content people crave from the infrastructure that channels it. If Article 19 is to resonate in the 21st century then it arguably needs to include access to new media, the internet and even wireless broadband networks...

27 October 2011, Geneva, Switzerland:By the time we next meet there will certainly be more than six billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide and I expect there to be more than two and a half billion people online...​

​25 October 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: It is a truly great honour to welcome you to the official inauguration of ICT Discovery. This is where ITU highlights the history of information and communication technologies, their achievements, and how they have transformed our lives...

​25 October 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: What a tremendous honour and pleasure it is to welcome you to the official re-opening of the ITU’s most important conference room, which has now been extensively refurbished. This was made possible by the generous funding – to the tune of five million Swiss Francs – by the Russian Federation, through the National Radio-Technical Bureau, represented today by its General Director, Viktor Prikhodko...

​25 October 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: Anyone who has been to earlier editions of this event will see some quite radical changes here this week – the most important of which are the hugely increased levels of inclusion and interactivity...

25 October 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: ITU Telecom World has become a genuine conversation this year, reflecting the concerns and dreams and visions not just of people here in Palexpo this week, but remote delegates on every continent, participating via homes, schools, telecentres, and businesses large and small...​

​25 October 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: China Mobile is the world’s most valuable mobile telecommunications company. It is the builder of the world’s largest mobile telecommunications network...

​24 October 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: I am absolutely convinced that broadband will be the defining technology of the early 21st century. It will revolutionize the lives of everyone, everywhere. It will help deliver radical improvements in healthcare, education, transportation, utility supplies and government services...

​21 October 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: This Session of Council was attended by 343 participants representing the 48 Member States of Council, 33 Member State Observers, and 7 Sector Member Observers...

​11 October 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: It has been another very important year for ITU and indeed for the global economy. And this is my key message today: there is no longer any part of modern life on planet earth that is not directly impacted by ICTs and by the work we do here at ITU...

​27 September 2011, Nairobi, Kenya: ITU remains firmly committed to the WSIS process, which has made considerable progress in many areas in advancing the implementation of the WSIS outcomes...

26 September 2011, Nairobi, Kenya: This Ministerial Forum provides a platform to discuss the opportunities and challenges presented by information and communications technologies – ICTs – in developing countries...

​21 September 2011, Armenia City, Colombia: Broadband is the most powerful tool we have to accelerate progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals, and to drive social and economic progress on a global scale...

​12 September 2011, São Paulo, Brazil: The Internet as Basic Infrastructure in the 21st Century: Why Everybody Needs Access To BroadbandIt is significant that Futurecom is held here in Brazil – because of course Brazil has made quite extraordinary progress in ICT development over the past few years. Indeed, last year saw the number of mobile cellular subscriptions here reach 200 million, giving a mobile cellular penetration of over 100% – compared to just 13% a decade earlier...

​8 September 2011, Kigali, Ewanda: We need to bring the benefits of the broadband revolution to everyone – wherever they live and whatever their circumstances. Broadband is the most powerful tool we have to accelerate progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals, and to drive social and economic progress on a global scale...

​7 September 2011 – United Kingdom: The joint efforts of Buckinghamshire New University, BNU, and the International Telecommunication Union, ITU, have allowed us to help spread knowledge and expertise to where it is needed most...

6 September 2011, Rome, Italy: It is a great pleasure for me to be here with you today in Rome for the Opening Ceremony of Green Standards WeekOver the coming days there will be opportunities to discuss – in a very full programme – ways of improving energy efficiency; smart applications to support future growth while caring for the environment; driving the transition to a low carbon economy; and measuring, monitoring and adapting to climate change...

​30 August 2011, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic: In recent years, the CIS has been a most dynamic region in the ICT sector, particularly in the area of mobile communications. Between 2000 and 2010, growth reached 67 per cent in the CIS and no less than 88 per cent in the Kyrgyz Republic, which had reached mobile cellular teledensity approaching 100 per cent by the beginning of this year; a tremendous achievement...

11 July 2011, Paramaribo, Suriname: I am very pleased to see that the Caribbean countries – through the CARICOM Secretariat – have developed a Regional Digital Development Strategy for ICT development in the Caribbean...
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​10 July 2011, Paramaribo, Suriname: With over 100 members from more than 30 countries, CANTO is not only the leading telecommunications trade organization in this region, but also plays an important role in ITU – and we are very grateful for CANTO’s support for and participation in ITU’s work...

​8 July 2011, Quito, Ecuador: On behalf of ITU let me say how pleased we are to see that Ecuador is so clearly using ICTs to deliver improvements in health, education and government services, and to help bring about what you quite rightly call ‘good living’...

​6 July 2011, Quito, Ecuador: It is no exaggeration to say that information and communication technologies – ICTs – are fast revolutionizing every aspect of the world in which we live. Here in Latin America, quite exceptional progress has been shown in ICT development, particularly in mobile cellular communications. Indeed, a number of countries in the region – including Ecuador of course – now have mobile penetrations comfortably exceeding 100%...

​27 June 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: Throughthese multi-stakeholder initiatives we are making our best efforts to promote the potential of ICTs for Health and we are looking at ways in which m-health and e-health projects can be scaled up in the real world. Most importantly we are trying to link the ICT world with the medical world...

​27 June 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: The practice at the ITU of amending its Constitution and Convention at every Plenipotentiary Conference is truly unique in the United Nations system...

​22 June 2011, Singapore: “We’ve heard a great deal about the mobile miracle; how can that be replicated for broadband – especially in Asia?” - That’s a very good question. And that’s one of the main reasons ITU set up the Broadband Commission for Digital Development with UNESCO last year...

​22 June 2011, Singapore: At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, world leaders put forward a bold and brave challenge: nothing less than to end poverty around the globe. The task was defined in a set of Millennium Development Goals, the MDGs, which have a target date of 2015...

​21 June 2011, Singapore: According to ITU figures, there are now well over five billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide, and more than two billion Internet users. Over 90% of the global population is covered by a mobile phone network, and even in rural areas of some developing countries, more than half of all households have mobile services...

​20 June 2011, Singapore: ICT — and especially broadband Internet connectivity — offers a uniquely powerful way to accelerate social and economic development. Communities that lack ICT access and ICT know-how risk being left behind...

​13 June 2011, Luanda, Angola: Since the publication of your last ‘white book’ in the late 1990s, and after peace was reached, the ICT sector in Angola has achieved significant growth, with overall teledensity increasing from just 7% in 2005 to over 50% by the beginning of last year...

​8 June 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: The Radiocommunication Sector is entering a critical busy period with the holding of the RA and WRC in early 2012. The challenge of leading these two major events towards successful outcomes, I am sure, will be efficiently met by the Director, Mr Rancy...

​6 June 2011, Paris, France: As I said in my first remarks this morning, it is time to move beyond reports, and to focus on concrete projects; real on-the-ground initiatives; and innovative, grass-roots solutions. Let’s make a difference where it really counts: in the homes and the lives of the billions of underserved people everywhere...

6 June 2011, Paris, France: The Broadband Commission for Digital Development was created last year because we firmly believed – and continue to believe – that broadband represents a unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity to drive social and economic development, and to help us accelerate progress towards meeting the MDGs...

​1 June 2011, London, United Kingdom: We live in a world where information and communication technologies – ICTs – have become ubiquitous, and now perform an essential function in education, health, finance, trade, energy and indeed every other sector. Over the past few months we have also seen the dramatic and catalytic role that ICTs are now playing in modern diplomacy and the political arena – for example with Wiki-leaks, and across the Middle East...

​31 May 2011, London, United Kingdom: I would like to say a few words about the importance of broadband. I’m sure that many people here today – especially young people from developed countries – already take broadband for granted as part of everyday life...

​26 May 2011, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation: Over the past few years the CIS region is the most dynamically developing region in the area of ICTs, and in mobile communications in particular...

20 May 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: In my function as UNGIS Chair for 2011/2012, it is my pleasure to initiate the open consultation process through this meeting. And I am very happy to see that from the beginning of this process we have with us so many representative of governments, civil society, the private sector and international organizations...
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​19 May 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: Cybersecurity was a hot topic during the Tunis phase of WSIS, and ITU’s concrete response was to launch the Global Cybersecurity Agenda in 2007, as a global framework for international cooperation. More recently, we are proud to have forged a strong and highly supportive relationship with IMPACT – the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber-Threats...

​18 May 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: This is the Fourth Parliamentary Forum on Shaping the Information Society. And this year we will be addressing ‘The Triple Challenge of Cybersecurity: Information; Citizens; and Infrastructure’. The Forum is being organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and of course the ITU...

17​ May 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: These Broadband Commission thematic Working Groups offer a valuable opportunity to focus on specific issues and concrete outputs within the greater broadband theme. The working groups will present an outline of their work to the third meeting of the Broadband Commission in Paris in June. They will then deliver their outcomes at the Broadband Leadership Summit in October, here in Geneva...

​17 May 2011, Geneva: This year, as we celebrate ITU’s 146th anniversary, we focus our attention on the world’s rural communities in our quest to connect the remotest corners of the globe to the benefits delivered by information and communication technologies, ICTs...

​16 May 2011, Geneva, Switzerland:

​16 May 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: ICTs not only enable rapid progress in meeting the WSIS targets and the Millennium Development Goals, but – in the 21st century – ICTs also represent the single best tool we have for advancing social and economic development...

​16 May 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: Let me welcome you all, on behalf of ITU – including more than 20 ministers, 150 members of parliament who are here today, and other honourable guests. More than 1,000 stakeholders have registered to this meeting, and other participants are following us remotely...

​11 May 2011, Paris, France: I would like to say a special thank you to the Executive Secretary, Christian Roisse, not just for inviting me here today, but also for having agreed to join us on the Broadband Commission for Digital Development. The Broadband Commission was launched last year by ITU, in conjunction with UNESCO, to help stimulate broadband infrastructure roll-out across the whole world, and to bring the benefits of broadband to all the world’s people...

​27 April 2011, Buenos Aires, Argentina: A New Era in Telecommunications: Prospects for Latin America

​21 April 2011, Burundi: Over the past decade, we have seen information and communication technologies become ubiquitous and pervasive, and we have seen their influence spread into all domains of human activity.

​20 April 2011, Burundi: It is a great pleasure and an honour to be with you here in Burundi today and to be able to discuss with you the importance of information and communication technologies in the 21st century.

​11 April 2011, Nouméa, New Caledonia:

​11 April 2011, Nouméa, New Caledonia: Since its foundation, PITA has worked tirelessly to further ICT development across the Pacific islands and to develop the necessary mechanisms to support cooperation and complementarity between PITA members. You have also done excellent work in promoting and enriching common policies and strategies to develop vital technological domains...

​10 April 2011, Nouméa, New Caledonia: The IGF was therefore created in accordance with paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda, as a fresh start to pave the way for discussions on a number of issues, including public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance, in order to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet...

​4 April 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: I see your preparatory work, and the 2012 conference itself, as key opportunities to increase the already excellent collaboration between countries, so that all the countries in the world, working together, can reach new levels of economic and social development by means of efficient telecommunication services...

​30 March 2011, Dubai, United Arab Emirates:

​29 March 2011, Dubai, United Arab Emirates: This conference comes at a particularly opportune time, with spectrum issues now being a top priority for all of us. As Secretary-General of ITU, where spectrum issues are discussed, debated and managed on a global basis, I wholeheartedly applaud such conferences and forums. We are already seeing many positive developments in spectrum management, with spectrum re-farming and trading now becoming a reality...

​10 March 2011, Trieste, Italy: Today, we truly live in a world of ubiquitous connectivity. I am not referring simply to the fact that there are more than five billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide, or that there are now over two billion people online – although these facts are of course very significant. No, I am referring instead to the fact that in the second decade of the twenty-first century, almost everything we encounter in our professional and personal lives is now inter-connected in one way or another...

​8 March 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: I am sure that you are all aware of ITU’s passionate commitment to the world’s Least Developed Countries. Since the Third United Nations Conference for LDCs in 2001, ITU World Telecommunication Development Conferences and ITU Plenipotentiary Conferences have adopted specific resolutions in favour of LDCs, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States...

6 March 2011, Levi, Finland: As co-vice-chair of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, it is very encouraging to see the work of the Commission now beginning to take on a more practical, concrete form, with the creation of subgroups focusing on specific issues...
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​2 March 2011, Moroni, Comoros: ICTs help us fulfil our mandate to ‘Connect the World’. They also help to generate jobs, and are key in driving growth, productivity and long-term economic competitiveness. ICTs are the most powerful tool we have for achieving social and economic progress on a global scale...

​25 February 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: Over these two weeks, CPM11-2 addressed a variety of spectrum-related matters dealing with the future development of radiocommunications, enabling convergence and coordination of all radio services. The global management of the radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits is essential to extend the reach of information and communication technologies to all corners of the world...

​16 February 2011, Barcelona, Spain: The timing of the launch of this particular work group is especially appropriate, in the wake of COP 16 in Cancún, which heralded two significant shifts in the United Nations’ approach to climate change...

​15 February 2011, Barcelona, Spain: We have seen the most extraordinary progress in ICT development in the past decade, especially in mobile communications. I hardly need to remind anyone here at the Mobile World Congress that at the end of the 1990s there were fewer than 500 million mobile cellular subscriptions globally. Or that today, there are well over five billion...

​14 February 2011, Barcelona, Spain: China Mobile is the world’s most valuable mobile telecommunications company. It is the builder of the world’s largest mobile telecommunications network. And it is of course the operator with far and away the largest number of mobile cellular subscriptions in the world – with almost 600 million customers at the end of last year, and over 20 million 3G customers. As such, China Mobile is a beacon not just in mobile telecommunications, but across the whole ICT sector...

​8 February 2011, Havana, Cuba: As players from certain regions of the world increase their influence in the development of ITU-T global ICT standards, major players, SMEs and academia from Latin American and Caribbean countries risk being left behind...

​8 February 2011, Havana, Cuba: At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, world leaders put forward a bold and brave challenge: nothing less than to end poverty around the globe. The task was defined in a set of Millennium Development Goals, which have a target date of 2015 – which is now just four years away...

​7 February 2011, Havana, Cuba: This event reflects the growing importance of information and communication technologies – ICTs – in the world we live in today, and perhaps this is a good moment to take stock of what has already been achieved...

​31 January 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: As you will know, two weeks ago we held a formal inauguration ceremony for the five elected officials. Today, however, is our opportunity to address you, ITU’s most important resource: the staff who make this organization great. It is an enormous personal honour for me to have been re-elected as ITU Secretary-General – but I am very much aware that without you, each and every one of you, my job is impossible...

​31 January 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: For the great majority of those of us lucky enough to be living in rich, industrialized countries, a few extra cents on the price of a loaf of bread, or a kilo of rice, really doesn’t change all that much. A few dollars a week at most, quickly forgotten. We should never forget, however, that for billions of people, the cost of meeting their daily food needs represents a significant proportion of their total income...

​26 January 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: In a globally-interconnected world, there is of course no such thing as any sector which acts alone, or which is unaffected by whatever is going on in the world around it. Healthcare is no exception, and there are many cross-cutting issues affecting us, and in particular the work of this Commission...

​26 January 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: Technologies already widely-available – and of course ordinary mobile phones are the key example here – will play a vital role, I am sure, in the delivery of basic health services, especially to rural and remote communities...

​26 January 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: At the beginning of the year 2000, there were 500 million mobile cellular subscriptions globally and 280 million people around the world used the Internet. By the beginning of this year, those numbers have mushroomed to over 5 billion mobile subscriptions and more than 2 billion Internet users. Certainly, we still have far to go in delivering the affordable broadband access which is vital for really meaningful progress in digital health initiatives and programmes...

​23 January 2011, Bucks New University (BNU), United Kingdom: As Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union – the United Nations Specialized Agency for Information and Communication Technologies – I cannot overstate the role higher education plays in bringing the social and economic benefits of ICTs to all the world’s people...

​22 January 2011, Great Missenden Abbey, United Kingdom: It is always a special pleasure to be present amongst people who, like me, recognize the fundamental importance of learning. The greatest and most valuable resource in the world is human brainpower – and we can achieve so much through education and through transferring skills. Between individuals, between academic institutions and between countries...

​17 January 2011, Muscat, Oman: Today, the boundaries between infrastructure and content have converged, and in many cases have virtually disappeared.Traffic across networks – both fixed and mobile – is now fully-digital, blurring any distinctions there might once have been between voice, data and video...

​17 January 2011, Muscat, Oman: Since its foundation, AICTO has worked tirelessly to develop ICTs throughout the Arab region and to provide the necessary mechanisms to support cooperation and complementarity between AICTO members. You have also done excellent work in promoting and enriching common policies and strategies to develop vital technological domains...

​14 January 2011, Geneva, Switzerland: It is an enormous personal honour for me to be re-elected as ITU Secretary-General, and I am grateful to be celebrating this occasion with such a distinguished group of guests and colleagues. I am also very much aware of the great burden of responsibility which has been placed upon my shoulders...