World Telecommunication Development Conference to Tackle Challenges Posed by the Digital Divide

Geneva, 19 February 2002 — The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will organize the third World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) in Istanbul from 18 to 27 March, 2002 at the invitation of the Government of Turkey. 1,500 top-ranking delegates from government, the private sector, international and regional organizations are expected to attend.

Based on a review of the achievements of the previous four-year action plan, the conference will work towards adopting:

• The Istanbul Declaration, enshrining a shared vision of the future of telecommunications worldwide.
• A Strategic Plan for Bridging the Digital Divide, translating the vision into objectives and priorities for consideration by the Plenipotentiary Conference in Marrakesh, Morocco (September-October 2002) and for inclusion in the Strategic Plan of the ITU.
• An Action Plan , which will establish the work programmes for implementing the Strategic Plan in the period 2003 to 2006.

The Conference will agree on development priorities in view of the high-level recognition of the Digital Divide between developing and developed nations created by the rapid but uneven expansion of information and communication technologies (ICTs). "While many middle-income developing countries are making rapid progress to world-class networks, it is in the world’s poorest nations where the problems of the Digital Divide are most acute" said Yoshio Utsumi, ITU Secretary-General. "The challenge facing the upcoming World Telecommunication Development Conference is to show how sector reform, investment and capacity-building can make a genuine difference to improving the livelihoods of the world’s most deprived", he added.

Another objective of the Conference will be to promote international cooperation and partnerships that can sustain and strengthen telecommunication infrastructure and institutions in the developing countries. "The four years since Valetta, when our 2nd World Telecommunication Development Conference took place, have been characterized not just by technological convergence, but also by "stakeholder" convergence," said Hamadoun Touré, Director of the BDT. "Never before have there been so many new players interested in contributing to the development and promotion of ICTs. It is against this backdrop of convergences that the WTDC-02 has been convened to provide guidance to the ITU on how best to extend the benefits of ICTs to all the world’s inhabitants."

Along with the outcome of other major global and regional Digital Divide initiatives, the outcome of the WTDC-02 will provide critical input for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to be held under the ITU's leadership in 2003, at which time a common vision and political commitments of the Information Society will be developed by all of its stakeholders.

In the run-up to WTDC-02, regional preparatory meetings (RPMs) have established regional priorities in Africa, the Americas, the Arab States, Europe and CIS and Asia and Pacific regions as well as a roadmap to achieve regionally defined goals. Click here for more information

World Telecommunication Development Conferences (WTDC) are convened every four years with the purpose of reviewing the progress made in telecommunication in developing countries, and to establish ICT development priorities, strategies and Action Plans for the future. Priority is accorded to the expansion and modernization of networks, the mobilization of resources and regulatory reform needed to boost telecommunication penetration and access in the world’s poorer countries.

Accreditation to the event is required in order to access the Conference venue. The accreditation procedure requires that journalists covering the event on-site submit a photocopy of a valid press card, a letter of accreditation or a recent copy of the credits page of the magazine/newspaper which lists their name. Only editorial staff may be accredited. To apply for accreditation, you may register from the website. Please read the instructions carefully. An acknowledgement will be sent when your accreditation has been accepted.

As photo badges will be issued, it is therefore strongly recommended to register before 11 March for those planning to cover the opening of the Conference. When issuing badges, priority will be given to pre-accredited journalists.

The availability of press documentation in French and Spanish will be determined on the basis of the overall demand expressed by 1 March 2002. Press documentation will be available only on the Web from the WTDC newsroom