Work was conducted under the chairmanship of Dr Hessa Al-Jaber, Secretary-General of ictQatar whose deft handling of the debates led to the successful outcome of the conference on a broad front. "What makes this conference different from any other is the breadth of the measures adopted and pertinence of the decisions taken", said Dr Al-Jaber. "The conference agreed on a comprehensive package that will further improve access to the benefits of ICT" she said, adding "not only can we aspire to bridging the digital divide, but with the Doha Declaration and Action Plan, we now have the commitment and the tools to do so".

The International Telecommunication Union’s fourth World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-06) which met from 7 to 15 March at the Sheraton Convention Centre in Doha, Qatar, attracted 969 participants attending, including 820 government delegates from 132 countries and 4 representatives from Palestine, 93 representatives of public and private companies from 31 countries and 14 from national telecommunication-related entities from 9 countries, and 38 representatives from regional and international organizations. In addition, 241 media representatives from 22 countries registered with 139 covering the events on site.

WTDC-06 was the first global development conference held in the wake of the World Summit on the Information Society, which met in Geneva in 2003 and concluded its deliberations in Tunis in November 2005. The Doha Action Plan takes on board several action lines set out by the Summit, specifically those related to information and communication infrastructure development, public policy and regulatory framework, capacity building, e-applications and radio spectrum management.

The Action Plan is based on a mutually reinforcing strategy for telecommunication development to be implemented at the global, regional and national levels. The Plan is based on six programmes, six global initiatives, two cross-cutting activities and a new regional approach where each region defined the framework of action for all stakeholders based on agreed categories and region-specific priorities. The Doha Action Plan offers a comprehensive package that provides the elements needed to make an impact on the ground together with clear guidance for achieving universal access.

ITU Deputy Secretary-General Roberto Blois, speaking at the close of WTDC-06, expressed his satisfaction on the agreement reached in putting forward the Doha Action Plan. He said, "The adoption of programmes and new initiatives based on international cooperation and multi-stakeholder partnerships will have far-reaching implications in telecommunication and ICT development especially in rural areas."

The Doha Action Plan puts forward six programmes that are intended to act as catalysts in the development process:

The six programmes encourage actions to be taken on women, youth and children, indigenous people and communities, people with disabilities and communities living in underserved areas and become important tools for achieving universal access. In addition, ITU’s work programme for the next four years now includes a new subject of study to examine the question of access to telecommunication services for people with disabilities.

In the light of the spate of natural disasters and calamities in recent times, which in many cases have targeted developing countries, the programme for least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS) has been expanded to include emergency telecommunications. The Programme component Emergency Telecommunications of programme 6 is aimed at benefiting those who are the most vulnerable during natural disasters, especially when they are caught in an information and communication vacuum. In implementing this programme, ITU will develop ICT-based solutions directed at improving early-warning communication, disaster preparedness and mitigation in LDCs and SIDS. Emergency telecommunications is a critical area for these countries with fragile economies and special needs.

Other subjects of study include the impact of telecommunication development on the creation of employment; and securing information and communication networks, including best practices for developing a global culture of cybersecurity.

Programmes 2, 3 and 6 for ICT in rural, isolated and poorly served regions have been expanded to include indigenous communities. Cross-cutting activities have been reaffirmed on developing statistics and information on telecommunications/ICT as well as on Partnerships and Promotion.

The Doha Action Plan also sets out the nuts and bolts for regional initiatives, aimed at integrating development activities into longer-term projects that have the greatest potential to impact the development process. The regional initiatives spell out the aims and expected results for each. By consensus, each region agreed to group their initiatives under five categories and to select the top five projects that best met the region’s priorities. Armed with an effective package that focus on deliverables and that can be deployed across several states, countries will be able in a better position to attract the type of large-scale investment needed for many of the projects.

ITU Deputy Secretary-General Roberto Blois said, "The endorsement of the important role to be played by ITU in implementing the programmes outlined by WTDC-06 and the recognition of ITU’s lead role in implementing the WSIS outcomes gives clear direction in achieving the objectives of building an inclusive, people-centred and development-oriented Information Society."

In his closing remarks, Mr Hamadoun Touré, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, expressed his confidence that the programmes outlined at Doha will clear the passage towards bridging the digital divide and help accelerate the pace of development. Addressing delegates, he said, "ITU’s long history in helping the world communicate will now be used to its best advantage in using ICT-based solutions and telecommunications in furthering the development priorities for the benefit of people everywhere." He went on to say, "Doha has set the pace for the objectives of the World Summit on the Information Society to close the digital divide and harness the full potential of information and communication technologies to achieve the development goals by 2015."

For a more detailed account of the outcome of the Conference, a press report is available here.

This press release is also available in Arabic