ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I.Touré has called for greater international cooperation to combat growing threats to cybersecurity and to the safety of children online.
Speaking at the Thursday morning plenary (8 May), the Secretary-General appealed to Member States to set aside any differences they may have on cybersecurity issues and to work more closely together through ITU and other international organizations as well as amongst themselves to address these challenges.
Councillors echoed the concerns of the Secretary-General and expressed their appreciation for the work of ITU in helping to combat threats such as denial-of-service attacks, identity and data theft and increasingly destructive and sophisticated malware in line with its Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA) built around five main pillars, namely legal measures, technical and procedural measures, organizational structures, capacity building and international cooperation.
A report presented to the Council on activities carried out by ITU since June 2013 to strengthen its role in building confidence and security in the use of information and communication technologies was presented by the ITU secretariat and was noted with appreciation by the Council. The Council was especially appreciative of ITU work in assisting developing countries build cybersecurity capabilities and encouraged the organization to continue to build partnerships to further develop this action.
In collaboration with United Nations agencies, other international organizations and the European Commission and, in association with IMPACT – the International Multilateral Partnership against Cyber Threats – ITU continues to help countries around the world address cybersecurity challenges. To date, some 50 countries have received assistance to assess their national cybersecurity preparedness and response capabilities.
ITU is also pursuing its partnership with Forum for Incident Response Team (FIRST) ─ the world's biggest computer incident response teams association ─ to share best practice on how to develop national incident response capabilities and, through IMPACT, with INTERPOL to synergize action with the law enforcement community. Together with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and some 35 UN agencies, ITU has also developed a UN-wide framework on cybersecurity and cybercrime.
ITU regularly organizes regional cybersecurity forums for all ITU regions which serve as capacity-building platforms and also foster cooperation at regional and international levels. ITU has organized cybersecurity training workshops for more than 2700 government officials, regulators and public and private sector ICT professionals around the world.
Member States, particularly developing countries, continue to receive assistance in understanding the legal aspects of cybersecurity in order to help harmonize their legal frameworks. For example, within the framework of a European Commission project in the African, Caribbean and Pacific islands regions, the report noted that by September 2013 the ITU had undertaken activities aimed at facilitating the harmonization of cybersecurity-related legislation in some 60 countries in those regions.
Five countries (Burkina Faso, Kenya, Montenegro, Uganda and Zambia) have been assisted in setting up national computer incident response teams (CIRT) and seven others (Barbados, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Jamaica and Tanzania) are currently receiving similar assistance. In addition, several national computer incident response teams around the world have taken part in ITU-IMPACT cyber drills conducted within simulated cyber-attack scenarios to test their communication and response capabilities in emergencies.
In July 2013, ITU signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Communication Commission to set up a Regional Cybersecurity Centre to facilitate collaboration on combating cyber threats at the regional and national levels – with an emphasis on protecting children
In addition, ITU is leading the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) project to rank the cybersecurity capabilities of nation States. The objective is to publish six regional indices, eventually constituting one global index. The GCI project is a joint effort between ITU and ABI Research and was launched at ITU Telecom World 2013, with the first results from the Arab region.
ITU also continues its formal cooperation with cybersecurity companies such as Symantec and Trend Micro, which have agreed to share information on current and emerging global cyberthreats.
ITU's role with regard to international public policy issues relating to the risk of illicit use of ICTs
Algeria, which was very instrumental in the development and adoption of Resolution 174 (Guadalajara, 2010), noted that the resolution was yet to be implemented and that only one meeting had been held so far on the subject (at WSIS Forum 2012). Algeria further observed that the reasons for the adoption of Resolution 174 remained valid, and that it would therefore put forward to the upcoming Plenipotentiary Conference proposals to revise the current text. Saudi Arabia backed this view.
But what does Resolution 174 cover? It gives ITU a role with regard to international public policy issues relating to the risk of illicit use of information and communication technologies and calls for action to curb such use. It says that illicit use of these technologies could have a detrimental impact on a country's infrastructure, national security and economic development.
Among other things, Resolution 174 underlines the importance of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), in particular, the role of ITU as facilitator for WSIS Action Line C5 on building confidence and security in the use of ICTs. It calls on ITU, in its capacity as facilitator for WSIS Action Line C5, to organize meetings of Member States and relevant ICT stakeholders, including geospatial and information service providers, to discuss approaches to addressing and preventing the illicit application of ICTs, while bearing in mind the overall interests of the ICT industry. It invites Member States and relevant ICT stakeholders to pursue dialogue at regional and national levels in order to find solutions to the problem of illicit use of ICTs. It instructs the Secretary-General to raise awareness of Member States regarding the adverse impact that may result from the illicit use of information and communication resources. He should also take the necessary measures to maintain the role of ITU to cooperate within its mandate with other United Nations bodies in combating the illicit use of ICTs.
Cuba's contribution…
Cuba's contribution on strengthening the role of ITU in building confidence and security in the use of ICTs (Document C14/ 68) sparked a back-and-forth exchange of statements with the United States. The document says, allegedly, that the United States is sponsoring a "Cuban twitter" to stir political unrest in Cuba. It calls on the Council to highlight in its debates that the sending of unsolicited messages is a clear violation to a number of ITU Resolutions and Recommendations, including Resolution 174 and that this kind of aggression shows the need to further strengthen the international regulatory framework on the use of ICTs, a purpose to which Cuba said it was fully committed, both within ITU and in the UN system.
The United States responded that the Council was the wrong venue in which to address what it described as "a purely bilateral issue", adding that "This contribution is wholly one-sided, addresses issues beyond the mandate of the ITU, and is therefore a distraction from the important work of the Council. We believe the contribution is without merit and should be disregarded by the Council." In particular, the United States said it rejects the characterizations and many of the assertions in Cuba's contribution. "While the contribution addresses the use of a telecommunication service, it raises issues that cannot be addressed through the ITU, including privacy and the content of electronic messages. Cubans, like people everywhere, have the right to freedom of opinion and expression."
The Chairman of the Council noted Cuba's contribution and invited the two Administrations to work in a spirit of dialogue in line with Resolution 174. Both parties made statements that were placed on record in the minutes of the meeting.
Child online protection in the spotlight
Countries expressed their appreciation and support for ITU's activities on protecting children online and especially congratulated the ITU Secretary-General for his leadership and commitment towards building a safer online environment for children and young people.
The outcome report of the March 2014 meeting of the Council Working Group on Child Online Protection presented to the Council emphasized the paramount importance of international cooperation in addressing the issue of child online safety. The need to cooperate closely with the private sector and international organizations to ensure a harmonized approach to meeting the challenges involved was also acknowledged, as was the collection of relevant data and indicators.
It was noted that decisions taken at the recent World Telecommunication Development Conference in Dubai had strengthened the Council Working Group on Child Online Protection as a global platform for cooperation and experience sharing among different stakeholders.
More information was requested on a recommendation regarding the development of appropriate filters to eliminate inappropriate online content. On a question regarding possible cooperation between ITU and the European Commission related to new child online security measures taken by the latter, the secretariat clarified that the European Commission is already a partner of the ITU Child Online Protection initiative and had participated in the working group meeting as an expert.
Countries such as Costa Rica, Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman and Zambia were praised in the report for their efforts to highlight child online safety concerns in their national political agendas.
Finally, several countries re-emphasized the importance of ITU's role in the field of child online protection and encouraged the organization to continue its action in this field.
The ITU's Child Online Protection initiative is a key component of the organization's Global Cybersecurity Agenda established in conjunction with other United Nations agencies and partners as an international collaborative network for action to promote safe online behaviour. In this regard, specific guidelines have been developed for children, parents, guardians, educators, industry and policy-makers.
ITU's activities related to youth
The Council warmly received ITU's activities on youth covering the period June 2013 to May 2014. "Young people are seen to be pioneering ICT usage, and are driving trends in a fluid and major growth industry. As avid and creative users of ICTs, young people are key contributors to building an inclusive information society and bridging the digital divide in ITU's activities on youth," said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Chief of ITU's Strategic Planning and Membership Department (SPM), presenting the Secretary-General's report on youth activities.
Some of the activities fall within the Five-Year Action Agenda launched in 2012 by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to encourage and guide the work of the UN system. The agenda places significant importance on the empowerment of young people, as does the System-wide Action Plan for Youth Development (SWAP) which the UN launched in 2013. ITU plays an active role in implementing SWAP and in inter-agency activities on youth.
The BYND2015 Summit on Youth and ICTs, held in September 2013 in San Jose, Costa Rica, where young people were able to advocate for ICTs in the United Nations post-2015 global development frameworks. The summit resulted in a declaration, which was endorsed by the UN General Assembly later that month, and serves as a high-level framework to encourage and guide Member States in developing their own ICT-based youth initiatives.
Another notable activity is "The Young Innovators Competition", held every year as an integral part of ITU Telecom World events. It invites new start-ups and concepts to compete and ten winners are selected to join the ITU Telecom World event for a four-day programme of pitching sessions, hands-on workshops and mentoring – and also the chance to win up to USD 10 000 in funding. With an online community of 3500 followers, The Young Innovators Competition continues to enjoy strong growth.
On activities in research, analysis and statistical monitoring, ITU-D has published two youth-related reports. The "Measuring the Information Society 2013" report included the first-ever in-depth analysis on young people's use of ICTs, with a special focus on measuring the world's digital natives. "Digital Opportunities: Innovative ICT Solutions for Youth Employment", published this year details the skills young people need in a modern workplace, including digital literacy, computer literacy, and web literacy. It also includes positive steps for policy-makers to enable youth training and entrepreneurship.
On activities with academia and external partners, the fifth ITU Kaleidoscope academic conference, themed "Building Sustainable Communities", took place in Kyoto, Japan, in April 2013. The sixth ITU Kaleidoscope event, "Living in a converged world – impossible without standards?" will take place in June 2014 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.
Within the United Nations system, ITU has been active in the Inter-Agency Network for Youth Development (IANYD), where it chairs a sub-working group that encourages the use of ICT by young people to foster political inclusion. IANYD was established as a reporting and coordination mechanism for the entire United Nations system's work on youth, carried within the scope of SWAP.
Finally, ITU is providing an online platform (https://crowdsourcing.itu.int/) where young people can express their views on possible post-2015 targets and indicators. The aim is to support the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Youth in its efforts to crowdsource input into the global Post-2015 development agenda. ITU is also providing direct technical and analytical support to a team of UN system experts involved in the post-2015 negotiations.
Comments from the floor
Costa Rica expressed its support for ITU to continue engaging in such activities, noting with appreciation the new resolution from WTDC-14 on "Promoting information and communication technologies among young women and men for social and economic empowerment". Costa Rica further noted that while some ITU Sectors have distinct resolutions and activities on youth, there is no ITU-wide coordination and reporting mechanism. In this context, Costa Rica announced its plans to put forward a resolution to the upcoming Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-14) and called upon the secretariat to support this by offering its in-line platform to gather inputs. Poland said it would offer its support as there is a need to coordinate this across the Union. Such a resolution would lead to improvement, greater efficiency and pooling of resources. Poland further highlighted its active involvement at WTDC-14 in developing the resolution adopted by that conference on youth.
Several countries – including Senegal, the Russian Federation, Poland and Mexico – that had sent young participants to the BYND2015 Summit commended both ITU and the Government of Costa Rica for their initiative.
Mali and Bulgaria commended ITU and Costa Rica for the event, and encouraged further action on this issue. Bulgaria further encouraged ITU membership to increase the number of youth in their delegations.
While noting the importance of ITU's activities on youth, Saudi Arabia requested that indicators and benchmarks be developed to provide a baseline for the purpose of measuring and reporting.
The ITU secretariat took note of the comments and recommendations, and expressed commitment to continue working on the issue. It also appealed to national Administrations to include both young people and a gender balance in their delegations to PP-14.
It was agreed that an annual report on ITU's activities on youth would be presented to each session of the Council.
ITU's Internet- related activities noted
ITU's Internet-related activities are governed by several Plenipotentiary Conference Resolutions. A report was presented to the Council, summarizing ITU's activities related to Resolutions 101 on "Internet Protocol-based Networks"; 102 on "ITU's role with regard to international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet and the management of Internet resources, including domain names and addresses"; 133 on the "Roles of administrations of Member States in the management of Internationalized (multilingual) domain names"; and 180 on "Facilitating the transition from IPv4 to IPv6.
Councillors noted, with appreciation, ITU's efforts with regard to Internet-related issues, including in the area of standardization, as well as support to developing countries. They further expressed their support to ITU's contribution to the protection of Intergovernmental Organization (IGO) names and acronyms in the new generic top-level domain (gTLD).
Councillors also welcomed the role of various forums in facilitating discussions on Internet-related public policy issues, including ITU's World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and NetMundial.
On a question seeking more information on ITU's collaboration with various entities, the ITU secretariat responded that it works with stakeholders from all groups, including the private sector and civil society, in areas such as capacity building on IPv6 and spam.
Finally, ITU Secretary-General briefly reported on his participation at NETmundial on behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General (see also Issue No. 1 of Council 2014 Highlights). He congratulated the Government of Brazil for successfully hosting NETmundial, which is an important milestone in the global dialogue on Internet governance. He noted that its outcomes will help to inform upcoming forums, including UN-hosted events such as IGF and the WSIS+10-related processes and forums.
Council Working Group on International Internet-related public policy issues
The report on the third and fourth meetings of the Council Working Group on International Internet-related public policy issues (CWG-Internet) was presented by the group's Chairman, Majed Almazyed from Saudi Arabia.
Councillors expressed their support for the group's activities, especially as a platform that fosters dialogue and experience sharing among Member States with regard to issues pertaining to international Internet-related public policy. They also welcomed the various online open consultations with stakeholders throughout the working period of the Council Working Group. In this regard, all Member States are invited to participate actively in the deliberations and contribute to the work of the group.
Update on ITU Conformance and Interoperability programme
The Council was updated on the status of ITU's Conformance and Interoperability (C&I) programme since its last session in June 2013. Reinhard Scholl, Deputy to the Director of ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) recalled that the programme is based on four pillars: 1) Conformity assessment; 2) Interoperability events; 3) Capacity building; and 4) Establishment of test centres and C&I regimes in developing countries. Pillars 1 and 2 are led by TSB and pillars 3 and 4 by the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT). A joint task force involving all three ITU Sectors is working closely together to implement the programme.
Mr Scholl said that the decisions taken at the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-14), which took place from 30 March to 10 April 2014 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, will strengthen the C&I programme. In particular, the Dubai Declaration recognizes that "widespread conformance and interoperability of telecommunication/ICT equipment and systems through the implementation of relevant programmes, policies and decisions can increase market opportunities and reliability and encourage global integration and trade".
Following this status report, Cameroon presented its contribution (Document C14/58) saying that its national Telecommunications Regulatory Agency recognizes that type-approval, as currently implemented in the country, is unsatisfactory. In that document, Cameroon requests BDT's assistance to establish a subregional telecommunication maintenance centre. The document also says that Cameroon fully supports the principle of continuing the ITU C&I programme and proposes that the Council instruct the Sectors to pursue the programme.
Tunisia, the Russian Federation, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China, Kenya, United States, Italy, Rwanda, Senegal and Burkina Faso took the floor to address the key points raised in both presentations. They all commended the ITU secretariat for its work so far in implementing the C&I programme and urged the secretariat to give the programme high priority, particularly with regard to ITU assistance in setting up regional C&I test centres and providing related training in developing countries. Several councillors from developing countries urged ITU to accelerate the programme to eliminate the risk of non-compliant or counterfeit equipment and devices.
Tunisia recalled that it had hosted several C&I workshops and seminars and joined other countries in requesting that C&I efforts be strengthened. Duplication of effort and resources in building test labs, especially when they already exist at regional or subregional level, should be avoided.
The Russian Federation, described by Mr Scholl as a "a great catalyst in moving C&I work forward'', stated that ''the C&I programme is one of the most important activities in ITU", while China offered to make its C&I expertise available to developing countries, in collaboration with ITU. The United States offered to provide a rapporteur for the new study question on "Assistance to developing countries for implementing conformance and interoperability programmes," adopted at WTDC-14
The Council noted the status report and agreed that the secretariat should report to the Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-14) that will take place from 20 October to 7 November 2014, on the progress made over the last four years and the requirements to accelerate the programme as requested.
Responding to all this support, Mr Scholl said "Last year at the Council, for the first time unanimous support was voiced for the conformity and interoperability programme which used to be quite controversial. This year again there is overwhelming support. Thank you for that.
Report on the recent World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-14)
Convened under the overarching theme of "Broadband for Sustainable Development" in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 30 March to 10 April 2014, WTDC-14 charted a course to accelerate and expand broadband uptake and digital literacy worldwide, particularly in the least developed countries, to enable their populations to access the benefits of digital inclusion.
Document C14/34 provides a summary of the conclusions of WTDC-14, and was presented to the Council by M. Y. Torigoe, Deputy to the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT). The document summarizes the key outcomes of the conference, notably: the Dubai Declaration; the contribution to the ITU Strategic Plan and the Dubai Action Plan.
Many councillors took the floor to congratulate the host country, the Government of the United Arab Emirates for the excellent organization and hospitality. They also thanked the Director and his team for the organization of the conference. They also mentioned the following points:
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appreciation for the ITU's assistance on emergency telecommunications;
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importance of the activities on climate change;
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importance of the regional initiatives;
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importance of the mechanism to establish partnerships.
In addition, some councillors underlined that WTDC-14 had set the tone for the year and that they hoped to see the "very positive atmosphere and constructive spirit" experienced in Dubai continue at the current session of the Council and at PP-14.
The Director of BDT expressed his appreciation to the host country, to the Chairman of the Conference, Mohamed Nasser Al-Ghanim, Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the United Arab Emirates, to the participants and to the staff.
Mr Al-Ghanim, who joined the Thursday plenary, first of all thanked Egypt for giving his country the opportunity to host WTDC-14. Responding to all the praises, he said that credit should go to all WTDC-14 participants. "The conference was characterized by a truly positive atmosphere, which gave us the positive results we have today. These outcomes are a brilliant success for all the countries in the world. We are proud and honoured to have hosted this conference."
The report's summary was noted and the ITU-D contribution to the draft ITU Strategic Plan was taken into account.
Philippines Minister delivers message of gratitude to ITU for its emergency communications assistance in the immediate aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan and highlights current efforts to build resilient infrastructure
Addressing the Thursday afternoon plenary on 8 May, the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology of the Philippines, Mario G. Montejo, said he had come to the Council mainly to deliver a message of gratitude for the assistance ITU extended to his country in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. "ITU's response of immediately sending its experts with satellite phones and data terminals played critical roles at hospitals and evacuation and relief operation centres. Mr Chairman, ITU's assistance SAVED lives," the Minister said.
Following is the rest of his message. "Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest typhoon in history to have made a landfall struck the Philippines on 8 November 2013, affected more than 9 million people, causing damage to infrastructure and agriculture estimated at billions of dollars. The loss of life count is in thousands of souls. It is our view that these losses can be given meaning by our sharing with others our lessons learned.
The climate is changing. Severe weather is frequent and with increasingly greater magnitude. During Haiyan, cell towers rated for 180 kilometres per hour winds were no match for Typhoon Haiyan's greater than 300 kilometres per hour winds, as were many telephone poles. The typhoon even affected an undersea cable. All communications were lost. Thus, we are currently updating our policies on emergency communications, and are now in the process of putting in place resilient communications systems with valuable input from the ITU's real-world example.
Realizing that adapting to the changing climate and more severe weather events is an unavoidable necessity, the Philippines in 2012 began the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards Project, aptly called Project NOAH, with the aim of generating timely accurate detailed information using advanced meteorological forecasting systems and high resolution hydrological models, coupled to real-time direct and remotely sensed data. We've made good progress on this and can now generate flood early warnings, at least six hours in advance, and 48 hours early warnings for storm surges. We however realize that this information has no value if it cannot reach the people that need it.
With assistance provide by ITU in 2012, we are now on our way to adopting digital terrestrial television broadcasting that will strengthen the disaster preparedness capabilities of our country. Relatedly, we are also now re-examining our spectrum management policies to maximize the digital dividend with the ultimate goal of reaching more of our countrymen. While we are proud of our vibrant ICT-enabled industries, we recognize the need to make ICTs ubiquitous, to save lives, improve delivery of government services, and address the widening digital divide, through making available all ICT-enabled services such as e-health, e-learning, e-commerce and, of course, e-government to people."
The Minister concluded by commending "all the hardworking officials and staff of ITU" for their efforts, citing in particular BDT Director, Brahima Sanou, Dr Eun-Ju Kim, then ITU Regional Office Director for Asia and the Pacific, and the ITU team that was sent to Manila in the immediate aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, led by Ms Giza Fuatai Purcell.
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day
Councillors were informed of the arrangements for the celebration of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) by the plenary Secretary and chief of SPM, Ms Bogdan-Martin. She recalled that the purpose of WTISD is to help raise awareness of the opportunities that ICTs and the Internet can bring to societies and economies, as well as ways to bridge the digital divide. WTISD marks the anniversary of the signature of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union on 17 May 1865.
This year, the WTISD ceremony will be held on 16 May as 17 May falls on a Saturday. As reported in Issue No. 1 of Council 2014 Highlights, the World Telecommunication and Information Society Award will be presented to the following three eminent laureates: President Paul Kagame of Rwanda; President Park Geun-hye of the Republic of Korea; and Carlos Slim, Chairman of Grupo Carso and President of the Carlos Slim Foundation.
The ceremony will begin with a video message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, followed by the awards ceremony and a round-table discussion on the WTISD-14 theme: Broadband for Sustainable Development.
Councillors are cordially invited to attend the ceremony on 16 May.
The Council took note of the report on WTISD-14 and approved the theme Telecommunications and ICTs: Drivers of Innovation for WTISD-15 as well as for the 150th anniversary celebrations of ITU in 2015.
Council endorses ITU 150th anniversary celebration draft plans for 2015
The Council has approved a report by the committee for the preparation of the 150th anniversary celebrations in 2015. Following are the main conclusions of the committee.
Theme: The 150th anniversary celebrations should focus on ITU achievements in innovation and their impact on daily life throughout history and in the future. The anniversary theme should be in line with the theme of WTISD 2015, "Telecommunications and ICTs: Drivers of innovation".
Timeline:
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2014 Plenipotentiary Conference: Launch of the official anniversary website and announcement of the final list of activities to be organized, including activities organized by ITU membership
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1 January 2015: Start of anniversary year
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17 May 2015: Anniversary celebrations
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31 December 2015: Close of anniversary year.
Venues: The Committee emphasized the importance of the following venues for the celebrations:
On 17 May 2015, celebrations should take place in ITU premises. The committee suggests that ICT Discovery would be the best choice for the celebrations, considering its role in showcasing the evolution of ICTs through the ages and the work of ITU to support their development.
Other ITU events in the course of 2015 should all include an anniversary celebration side event or action point (see Document C14/INF/8 for a list of such proposed events).
Proposed activities: The committee has produced a shortlist of activities for the anniversary celebrations, based on proposals by the membership, the ITU secretariat and the Bureaux. The list, which includes a preliminary assessment of costs, is presented in Document C14/INF/8.
Resource mobilization: The committee recommends that the Council consider the following options to mobilize resources for the anniversary celebrations:
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Option 1 – Establish an inclusive strategy for all ITU membership (Sector Members and Member States) inviting them to make a donation based on years of membership.
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Option 2 – Sponsor specific celebration activities.
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Option 3 – Provide other voluntary contributions to the fund established for the anniversary.
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Option 4 – Provide in-kind support and resources for celebration activities (for example, creation/hosting of an anniversary website, providing a social media platform).
Awareness raising: The committee recommends that all opportunities are taken to raise awareness among the largest possible audiences about the 150th anniversary. Information sessions and presentations should be added to all upcoming ITU events to give wide publicity to the anniversary and the related fundraising campaign.
Involvement of ITU membership: The committee recommends that the Council encourage all members of the Union to become involved in this milestone event and to study as soon as possible the measures to be taken for organizing national celebrations and enlisting full membership participation in all anniversary events. The Council may also invite membership to inform the ITU secretariat of their celebration plans. The secretariat will include those plans in a global agenda of activities for the anniversary.
The Council also approved a draft resolution proposed by the committee to hold the anniversary celebrations throughout the entire year in 2015.
The committee, which is open to participation from Member States, Sector Members, Associates and Academia, is chaired by Nasser Bin Hammad (United Arab Emirates), with as Vice‑chairmen; Yin Chen (China); Issah Yahaya (Ghana); Ahmet Cavusoglu (Turkey); Natalia Timofeeva (Russian Federation); and Maria Victoria Romero (Mexico).
The presentation of the report by the committee chairman complemented an earlier information session on the planned 150th anniversary celebrations.
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Quick Links
Photos and videos
Safer Internet Day 2014
ITU's Child Online Protection Initiative
FerMUN 2014 : Engaging Youth on Global
Climate Issues
#BYND2015 Youth Declaration
Measuring the Information Society 2013
WTDC-14 Highlights
WTISD 2014: Message from Dr Hamadoun I. Touré
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