The objective of the Programme is "to advise the Secretary-General, in an informal manner, on new  topics of a regulatory, policy or other nature of high-current interest which cut across the work of the ITU Sectors, with a view to possible inclusion of these topics in the regular work programme of the Union". The ongoing work under the New Initiatives Programme is reported to the ITU Council on an annual basis.

The topics of the workshops are selected from areas of high current interest by the Secretary-General in consultation with the Member States and Sector Members.

In line with Council Decision 496, the main objective of the workshop is to inform the Secretary-General on the subject of possible new work items for the Union.

In addition, the workshop will serve as a forum for policy-makers and regulators involved in spectrum management, wireless user groups, experts and industry players to exchange information and experiences on the issue of radio spectrum management in the current climate of technological change and convergence.

Among other things, the workshop will discuss radio spectrum management issues that range from topics such as the continued relevance of international and national service definitions for radio spectrum use and whether market forces should play a larger role in spectrum allocation and assignment. The workshop will also focus on issues related to the unlicensed portions of the radio spectrum. Experiences of individual countries will help stimulate the discussions.

From these discussions, the workshop will seek to identify a number of important global trends in radio spectrum demand and attempt to distil a set of policy priorities that could be used to guide the ITU and its membership in managing access to radio spectrum in the coming years in order to maximise its use at both international and national levels.