The ITU Regional Development Forum for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was held in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, from 31 March to 1 April 2015 under the theme “Broadband for Sustainable Development.”
The Forum discussed the five CIS Regional Initiatives approved by the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-14) held in 2014.
The Initiatives focus on the following areas: child online protection; ensuring access to ICTs for persons with disabilities; using ICTs for human capacity building; development of broadband access; and building confidence and security in the use of ICTs.
The Forum started with a consideration of best practices implemented from the CIS Regional Initiatives approved by WTDC-10, which could be used in the period of 2015 -2018. Participants also discussed ways to improve the implementation of the new Regional Initiatives.
Mr Brahima Sanou, Director of the ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) invited participants to provide feedback on the Regional Initiatives, “to ensure that they meet your vision and aspirations.”
He noted that broadband development, which is one of the key regional initiatives, “will contribute to sustainable development in the region, through timely service delivery for health, education, banking and business.” However, he said, “the region should take all measures to avoid a new digital divide arising from unequal access to broadband technologies.”
Mr Filip Pavel, Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of the Republic of Moldova said that, “the regional initiatives are particularly important for the development and implementation of national ICT strategies among the regional Member States.”
“To adequately respond to the needs and expectations of society, stakeholders in the ICT sector must maintain a continuous dialogue and cooperation with each other. This is an approach that we consider crucial for success,” he added.
At the Forum, ITU launched a publication on the Regional Initiative. “The priorities articulated as the CIS regional initiatives stem from the rapid development of ICTs in recent years and the increasingly ubiquitous role of the Internet in almost all spheres of human life,” said Mr Orozobek Kaiykov, Head of the ITU Area Office for CIS.
“We hope that, armed with the experience gained during the previous four-year periods, the Member States from the CIS region, in cooperation with ITU, will successfully implement the regional initiatives for the benefit of people living in the region,” he added.
See Also: Final Report
Mr Brahima Sanou Speech
