The Development Symposium for Regulators (DSR) was a watershed event for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), marking the first time that ITU organized an event just for telecommunications regulators and policy-makers interested in establishing a regulatory body. The goal of the Symposium was to launch a dialogue in which all the world’s regulators can share their experiences and views in order to learn from each other. Invitations to the Symposium were extended to regulators and senior policy-makers. In addition, representatives from regional regulatory organizations and other experts were invited to make presentations. The Symposium's main objective was to launch a free and frank dialogue among regulators and policy makers and therefore participation was limited to these groups.

The Symposium included sessions exploring:

• the rise of national regulators;
• the trend toward regional regulatory organizations;
• interconnection;
• regulatory strategies to increase Internet connectivity;
• the impact of convergence;
• the institutional framework for establishing independent regulators;
• initiatives for the future.