The 18th ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-10) was hosted by Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and Transport. The Conference welcomed a total of 2,022 registered participants and observers from 167 ITU Member States, 42 Sector Members and observer organizations, including over 70 Ministers, 26 Deputy Ministers, and 35 ambassadors, making it the biggest event of its kind ever held in the city of Guadalajara.

The Conference met for three weeks from 4-22 October at the Guadalajara Expo centre under the accomplished chairship of Mr Fernando Borjón of Mexico. The Conference closed with delegates agreeing on ITU’s essential role in several key areas. ITU’s mandate has been strengthened in bridging the digital divide, strategies to accelerate broadband roll-out, and implementing the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, and extending its involvement in areas such as better use of information and communication technologies to manage climate change and disaster response; conformance and interoperability; and accessibility for persons with disabilities.

A last minute compromise saw consensus on a number of key Resolutions on Internet issues. The agreements strengthen and underline ITU’s commitment to work with the Internet community and extend the benefits of the Internet to all global citizens.

The Conference also agreed on ITU’s Strategic Plan 2012-2015, and adopted the Financial Plan for the same period. Both will help the Union implement the decisions of the conference during the next four years until the 2014 Plenipotentiary.

This summary includes excerpts from the ITU Press Release dated 22 October 2010. You can view the full press release here.

For more information, visit the Plenipotentiary Conference (Guadalajara, 2010) web site.