ITU-D Study Group 1 Plenary Session 2018
Opening Ceremony
30 April – 4 May 2018
Geneva Switzerland
Opening Speech
Brahima Sanou, Director,
ITU Telecommunication Development Sector
Ms Fleur Regina Assoumou Bessou, Chairman of Study Group 1,
Vice-Chairmen of Study Group 1,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to this meeting of ITU-D Study Group 1. This is the first meeting of the ITU-D study groups for the 2018-2021 cycle and since the World Telecommunication Development Conference convened in Buenos Aires in October 2017.
I would like to welcome and congratulate Ms Fleur Regina Assoumou Bessou, whom WTDC-17 appointed Chairman of Study Group 1, all Vice-Chairmen, and the candidates for rapporteur and vice-rapporteur positions in the study Questions. I would also like to welcome all the participants, including those who are attending this meeting remotely.
Before I go on, my thanks also go to the previous SG1 Chairman, now TDAG Chairman, Ms Roxanne McElvane Webber and her Vice-Chairmen, on the remarkable way in which she steered the work of Study Group 1 over the preceding period, and the rapporteurs, co- rapporteurs and vice-rapporteurs for the immense amount of work that they have done, as was recognized by WTDC-17. To date, the final reports have been downloaded close to a quarter of a million times!
As I mentioned at the 23rd session of TDAG just two weeks earlier, I feel very happy and proud that two out of three statutory bodies of ITU-D (TDAG, Study Group 1 and Study Group 2) are led by very capable women. I am sure that under Fleur's leadership, ITU-D Study Group 1 will produce timely deliverables and great results.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This is a very exciting time for us all.
The meetings of the two study groups this week and the week after mark an important milestone in preparing our work for this new study period.
These meetings will also appoint the rapporteurs and vice-rapporteurs for each Question. I am very pleased to see the great interest expressed by the membership in being involved in the management of the study groups and in the substantive work on the Questions.
We have multiple candidates for the vacant positions for all Questions. I would like to thank you, Madam Chairman, for managing the process of selecting the rapporteurs and vice-rapporteurs in a manner that takes due account of the appropriate balance between competencies, geographical distribution, and distribution among Member States, Sector Members, Associates and Academia. I would like to thank all those who expressed the willingness to be a rapporteur or vice-rapporteur.
The World Telecommunication Development Conference in Buenos Aires agreed on certain changes to the Sector's working methods, such as the delivery of annual outputs, the holding of topical workshops together with the Question, and the reporting on synergies achieved through the work of the related study Questions, programmes, regional initiatives and projects, which will have an impact on the work of the ITU-D study groups. This is an important point. The telecommunication/ICT sector is changing at a very rapid pace and we need to ensure that our working methods are adapted to meet the needs of the membership, while also ensuring that we are using our available resources effectively and efficiently.
The work of ITU-D study groups is crucial in accelerating the attainment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Through your work we are able to establish concrete linkages between the work of the Development Sector and the Sustainable Development Goals, known as SDGs.
ITU-D study groups represent a unique neutral platform where experts gather to produce relevant tools, useful guidelines and resources for our membership.
The study groups allow participants to be engaged in a continuous learning process, to keep abreast of technological developments in the areas agreed by the membership at the WTDC, to share information, and to find solutions to challenges faced by stakeholders active in these areas.
In order to attain the four objectives of the ITU-D Strategic Plan, we need to ensure that the work of the study groups and the implementation of programmes and regional initiatives are coherent and interdependent in such a way as to achieve overall synergies.
We count on your active participation in these meetings and on your constructive input to this process.
You can rely on the determined and committed secretariat and topical focal points in headquarters and in the regions appointed by myself among the BDT staff to assist you in your work.
I wish you all an enjoyable and productive meeting.
