Address by Eva Spina , Chair of ITU Council 2017 

Excellencies,
Distinguished Councilors,
Secretary-General Mr Houlin Zhao,
Deputy Secretary-General Mr Malcolm Johnson,
Directors of the Bureaus, Mr. François Rancy, Mr. Chaesub Lee and Mr. Brahima Sanou,   
Ladies and Gentlemen,   

It is my great honor to open the Inaugural Plenary Meeting of the 2018 ITU Council, as the outgoing chair.

Council 2017, at the eve of the 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference, dealt with the preparation of the PP-18 and with the possible improvements of its roll-out, establishing to confirm the dates of the Conference, to maintain the paper-ballot voting procedure and to produce ethics guidelines for internal candidates.

Last Council approved the Biennial budget of the Union for 2018-2019, amounting to in total CHF 324,617,000, maintaining the amount of the annual contributory unit for 2018 and 2019 at CHF 318,000 and  the strategic, operational and financial plans and the four-year rolling operational plans of the Union.

Council 2017 made decisions about future conferences and meetings of the Union, in particular on preparations for the 2017 World Telecommunication Development Conference  (WTDC-17), held last October in Buenos Aires, defining the theme "Enabling the positive use of Artificial Intelligence for All"  for current year edition of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, with the aim to focus on the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to accelerate the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and resolving to convene the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, asking the Secretary General  to consult the Member States on the precise place and exact dates of the WRC 19.   

During the last Session we discussed of such issues as implementation of the decisions of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the Agenda for Sustainable Development for the period up to 2030, the working scheduling of the Expert Group on the review of the International Telecommunication Regulations and the establishment of the Council Working Group for Strategic and Financial Plans for 2020-2023.

Distinguished colleagues,

I would like to thank ITU's staff for all the assistance and the steady support I have received during my chairmanship, with special thanks to Ms Doreen Bogdan, Mr Arnaud Guillot and Ms Beatrice Pluchon, as well as to the Secretary-General, Mr Houlin Zhao, the Deputy Secretary-General, Mr Malcolm Johnson, and Bureau Directors François Rancy, Chaesub Lee and Brahima Sanou.

I would like to express my gratitude to the 2017 chair of the Standing Committee on Administration and Management, Ms. Vernita Harris, and to all the chairs and the participants of the Council Working Groups. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my country, Italy, for giving me a chance to serve as the Chair of the 2017 ITU Council.

 Finally, I thank all of you for your spirit of cooperation showed during last Council and  I wish the incoming Chair, Mr. Rashid Ismailov, from the Russian Federation, and the Council 2018 great success. 

Thank you​