This follows a key decision of the World Summit on the Information Society, which concluded last November in Tunis, to ensure that all villages, schools, libraries and local governments will be connected to information and communication technologies (ICT) by 2015.

The Doha meeting is the first major world development conference of the year, and the first gathering of experts to focus on the implementation of the road map laid out by world leaders at the World Summit on the Information Society, which concluded last November in Tunis.

At a Press conference on the eve of the opening, Roberto Blois, Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) stated, "In order to reach the WSIS goal of connecting all communities, we have to tailor the potential of technology to the needs of humanity, especially remote communities and vulnerable sections of the population." He added that it would be necessary to develop low-cost rural telecommunication systems and make broadband and wireless telephony more accessible and affordable. Mr Blois said, "In keeping with these overall objectives, the WTDC-06 Doha Action Plan will consider two new global initiatives intended to benefit persons with disabilities, and promote telecommunications for use during emergencies and for disaster prevention and mitigation."

Blois said that following the success of the landmark World Summit on the Information Society people around the world are looking at ITU for leadership in implementing the objectives of an inclusive Information Society. "ITU has grown in stature," he said.

Welcoming the Press to WTDC-06, Dr Hessa Al Jaber, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology (ictQatar), said that WTDC will provide a unique opportunity for developing countries to share their experiences and consolidate the success of WSIS. Dr Hessa continued, "His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, has set forth the vision for a progressive State of Qatar where thought and creativity can prosper, where political reforms and the people’s participation in decision-making are no longer an option but a necessity, where women are granted a wide scope in effective participation in the development process, where the private sector has greater opportunities to participate in the development process, and where the resulting modern economic base provides citizens with equal opportunities and open horizons so that they can achieve higher standards of living."

Dr Hessa emphasized that the key objective is to be part of promoting international cooperation, regional initiatives and partnerships that can sustain and strengthen telecommunication infrastructure in developing countries, so the digital divide will decrease. She said, "WTDC-06 will provide an excellent opportunity for developed and developing countries to share their unique aspirations and insights. It represents a landmark in the march of the international community to achieve the WSIS Principles."

Director of the ITU Development Bureau (BDT) Hamadoun Touré said that some of the major technological challenges include building broadband and wireless networks, the evolution of next generation networks and the convergence of computing power and radio-spectrum management.

Looking at future trends, Hamadoun Touré said, "New technological developments bring new challenges, such as enabling universal access to ICT, as well as growing difficulties created by spam and the increasing threats to the security of ICT-based infrastructure and systems." He added, "WTDC will develop a blueprint for these new challenges".

The World Summit on the Information Society endorsed ITU’s role in ensuring security in the use of ICT. "Cybersecurity is critical in the use and development of ICT," said ITU Deputy Secretary-General Roberto Blois. "With the exponential growth in the use of cyberspace for mission-critical services, the fight against cybercrime has become a necessity."

In today’s interconnected and increasingly networked world, societies are vulnerable to a wide variety of threats, including deliberate attacks on critical information infrastructures with debilitating effects on our economies and on our societies. In order to safeguard ICT systems and infrastructure and in order to instil confidence in online trade, commerce, banking, telemedicine, e-government and a host of other applications, it has become vital to develop a global culture of cybersecurity.

"Unless these security and trust issues are addressed, the benefits of the Information Society to governments, businesses and citizens cannot be fully realized", said Blois.

One of the two key reports on ICT launched today in Doha on the occasion of the World Telecommunication Development Conference — World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report 2006 on Measuring ICT for Social and Economic Development — examines current trends and developments in the telecommunication/ICT sector and highlights the importance of ICT for development.

In a presentation to the Press, Vanessa Gray, Telecommunication Analyst at ITU said that the telecommunication industry has experienced continuous growth as well as rapid progress in policy and technological development, resulting in an increasingly competitive and networked world.

"There are now more ICT users worldwide and more people communicating than at any other time in history," said Gray. "By the end of 2004, the world counted a total of 3 billion telephone subscribers, 1.8 billion mobile subscribers and 1.2 billion fixed lines. Both the number of mobile subscribers and the number of internet users more than doubled in just four years. The world had over 840 million internet users, which means that on average 13 per cent of the world’s population was online."

Overall, the digital divide has been reduced. "Our statistics show that within four year, from 2000 to 2004, the gap separating the developing and the developed countries has been shrinking in terms of mobile subscribers, fixed telephone lines and Internet users", said Gray. The gap (or digital divide) is measured by dividing the ICT penetration rate in the developed world by the ICT penetration rate in the developing world. "Phenomenal growth rates in the mobile sector, particularly, have been able to reduce the gap from 9 in the year 2000, to 4 by the end of 2004. This gap has also been reduced in terms of fixed lines, from 6 to 4 in four years, and from 15 to 8 in terms of Internet users", Gray explains.

Yet, major differences persist in penetration levels. In 2004, almost one third of the population in Europe and the Americas was online, compared to 8 per cent in Asia and the Pacific. Europe has almost 15 times the internet penetration of Africa, where less than 2 per cent use the internet. In the Arab states, too, less than 6 out of 100 people are online.

As for broadband access, Africa and the Arab states are lagging behind Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America which account for 97 per cent of all subscribers.

"The good news," according to Gray is that "high growth rates, technological innovation and progress in the mobile sector are extremely promising and providing exciting opportunities in the area of wireless broadband." The report states that mobile is clearly the prevailing (and often only) technology for telecommunication access in developing and rural regions, and broadband deployment will most likely be through wireless access (BWA) technologies like 3G but also WiMAX and WiFi.

The second report launched today — Trends in Telecommunication — identifies a regulatory framework designed to enable developing countries to meet their broadband objectives. Doreen Bogdan, Head of Regulatory Reform Unit at ITU said, "Today, advances in broadband wireless access technologies encourage us to believe that the mobile miracle can be repeated with other ICTs, such as the internet and broadband, given the right regulatory conditions."

The optimism rests on the fact that the developing world has made great advances with mobile voice networks. Bogdan added, "Empowered by the WSIS commitments, we are very optimistic that the digital divide can be bridged and the Information Society achieved in both rural as well as urban areas."

Today’s broadband challenge requires a dynamic response and an end to "business as usual". According to Bogdan, "Regulators have an unprecedented opportunity to speed the uptake of broadband. Old regulatory practices designed to protect legacy operators can be re-tooled as broadband-promoting frameworks."

New broadband technologies can connect even remote communities by

The world of broadband is open to a whole new range of players, as long as the regulatory framework does not prohibit small broadband providers to enter the market. The new vision for broadband regulation entails reducing regulatory burdens, providing innovative incentives, and coordinating efforts by all links in the broadband value chain to unleash commercial and non-commercial deployment opportunities.

Turning to the applications of broadband, Doreen Bogdan said, "As Voice over IP (VoIP) is turning the old telecom business model on its head, it also offers a cheaper communication alternative to millions of users across the world." The rise of VoIP has prompted an array of regulatory responses, from outright bans to full legalization.

"Spam is another challenge raised by broadband," said Bogdan. "So far, existing ant-spam laws have had little effect as most laws target spammers, not the ISPs that carry spam." She is of the opinion that time may be ripe for anti-spam authorities to work with ISPs who can be instrumental in fighting spam. "One possibility," Bogdan said, "is the establishment of enforceable codes of conduct that would require ISPs to prohibit their customers from using ISPs as a source of spam."

The pace of broadband development hinges on the regulatory framework. It is essential to adapt to the changing technologies, as there is increasing evidence that some of the applications that are having the greatest impact on the economy and society are closely linked to broadband uptake.

Vanessa Gray explained that there is clear evidence that ICTs have a direct impact on social and economic development. But the greatest impact of ICTs is indirect, by transforming the way individuals, businesses and people work, shop, learn, interact, and communicate. "ICTs have truly transformed the world," said Gray. "And while it is actually not that easy to measure the concrete and quantifiable impact of ICTs, there are growing efforts to assess the changes that ICTs have made."

As ITU Deputy Secretary-General Roberto Blois said, "It is important to seize the digital opportunities and transform them for the common good of people everywhere." The Doha Action Plan will provide just this opportunity.

This press release is also available in Arabic