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Landmark decision by ITU Council on proposal for public consultation and
open access to key conference document
Online public platforms will be created
to enable multi-stakeholder consultation
Geneva, 13 July 2012 – During its annual session in Geneva,
the ITU’s governing body, the Council, debated the issue of making ITU documents
publicly available, especially those submitted to treaty-making conferences such
as the forthcoming World Conference on International
Telecommunications (WCIT-12) which aims to review and update the
International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs).
The forty eight Member States that make up the ITU
Council also discussed the need for open and online
consultations with key communities, such as civil
society stakeholders.1
In his remarks to Council during the debate, ITU
Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré noted that “the world
is changing, in large part thanks to the growth in
telecommunications facilitated by the ITU, and we need
to adapt to that changing world. As we have always done
since our foundation in 1865”.
Dr Touré noted that “all ITU members have full access
to all WCIT-12 documents and can share them within their
constituencies.” As well as proposing that ITU should
hold open consultations on WCIT-12, he encouraged all
Member States to do so too. Dr Touré stressed that while
all documents are available in ITU’s six official
languages, it is nevertheless “crucial for Member States
to prioritize translation into other national languages,
so that national level consultations, such as those
currently underway in the Netherlands and Kenya, can
encompass all citizens and ensure the widespread
engagement of civil society in the important issues that
are being debated in the run up to WCIT-12”.
Following various proposals moderated by the Chairman
of the Council, Mr Ahmet Çavuşoğlu, Head of the
Department for International Affairs of Turkey’s
Information and Communications Technologies Authority,
it was agreed that the latest version of the main
conference preparatory document will be made publically
available on the ITU website within the coming days.
This document is often referred to as TD64, and it
gathers together more than 450 contributions that
members have submitted during the preparatory process of
WCIT-12.
Additionally, the Council unanimously agreed that a
publicly accessible page will be established on the
WCIT-12 section of the ITU website, where all
stakeholders can express their opinions on the content
of the latest version of TD64, or any other matter
related to WCIT. This open access for inputs was
applauded by the Council as an important way for the ITU
membership to be able to note the various viewpoints
that surround the conference. The Chairman of the
Council encouraged all Member States to give due
consideration to these inputs in their preparation for
WCIT-12.
Referring to the importance of national
consultations, Dr Touré said that he encourages “more of
this kind of action at the national and regional level
as we move forward. As we know, the ITRs in 1988 set the
stage for the information society. And I am absolutely
convinced that WCIT-12 will set the stage for the
knowledge society.”
1
It
should be noted that all civil society organizations,
of an international nature and who are working on issues
related to information and communication technologies
are entitled
to join the ITU as members. Indeed several such
additional entities were welcomed into ITU this year,
and their membership fees were waived; this was
supported and endorsed by the ITU Council.
For more information, please contact:
Paul Conneally
Head, Communication and Partnership Promotion
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