The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) relies on its distinctive and diverse global membership to promote and disseminate their shared aim to connect the world.
ITU's upcoming Plenipotentiary Conference, PP-22, will bring together the world's information and communication technology (ICT) leaders under the theme to “Connect and Unite" in Bucharest, Romania, to guide ITU's spectrum, standardization, and development initiatives over the next four years.
The conference – representing ITU's highest governing body – will be held at the Palace of the Parliament in the Romanian capital from 26 September to 14 October 2022.
Together, the ITU Secretariat and membership oversee global radio spectrum allocation, drive the creation of global technical standards for ICT networks and services, and promote digital inclusion for under-served communities worldwide. At a time when digital transformation is accelerating around the world, an anticipated 2,500 decision-makers and influencers from ITU's 193 Member States will set out a roadmap for all these activities for 2024-2027.
Help make PP-22 gender-responsive, green, and inclusive of youth
Last year, ITU's Virtual Consultation of Councillors decided to make the conference as gender-responsive, green, and inclusive of youth as possible, setting a new bar of excellence for international meetings and events consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations for 2030.
Gender-responsive: The transformational potential of Internet access and use is not equally distributed. Women and girls form the majority of the estimated 2.9 billion people who are still unconnected in today's world. The UN Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved without closing the digital gender gap. PP-22 aims to advance gender equality through greater participation of women in Member State PP-22 delegations, agenda-setting, governance, the running of the conference, and decision-making.
Green: As our lives become increasingly connected, the proliferation of devices contributes to the world's rising carbon emissions. It also adds to e-waste – the alarming surge of discarded electrical and electronic equipment such as phones, laptops, fridges, sensors, and TVs. At the same time, however, ICTs must be part of the solution to slash carbon emissions across all sectors of the global economy. Likewise, ITU and the Government of Romania aim to integrate environmental considerations into all aspects of PP-22. We invite Member States and delegates to support these efforts (see PP-22 Advocacy Kit for suggestions).
Inclusive of youth: Today's world is home to around 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10 and 24 – the largest generation of youth in history. Close to 90 per cent of them are living in developing countries. ITU's Generation Connect initiative has set out to engage global youth as equal partners and change-makers alongside today's digital leaders. ITU calls on its Member States to bring young people as part of their PP-22 delegations to Bucharest and enable them to engage actively at PP-22.
The PP-22 Advocacy Kit highlights concrete ways for the ITU Secretariat, Romania as our PP-22 Host Country, ITU Member States, and PP-22 delegates to contribute – before, during and even after PP-22. All their contributions can help make this our greenest, most gender-responsive, and most youth-inclusive event yet.
See the PP-22 video playlist, which features interviews with the Chair-designate on making PP-22 green, gender-responsive, and inclusive of youth, as well as on why we need more women as delegates and what skills they will need to ensure a successful conference.
Further opportunities to “Connect and Unite"
This Plenipotentiary offers a relatively rare opportunity for ITU and its membership to connect and unite. Only taking place every four years, these gatherings of ITU's highest governing body are also a key platform for us to raise awareness more widely about the importance of new and emerging technologies for a sustainable global future, as well as about ITU's vital role in closing the digital gap.
Here are some key communication and advocacy initiatives – aimed at achieving sustainable impact during PP-22 and beyond – that you may wish to consider joining as a partner or donor.
“Technology for Good" photo competition: In the run-up to ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 (PP-22), the ITU Secretariat is calling for photo submissions telling the story of technology for good everywhere. Photos should illustrate how ICTs are created and/or used by a diverse range of people around the world, as well as how they transform economies and societies. We would like to receive photos in the following categories: Gender; Green; and Youth. Top 20 photos in each category will be reviewed and shortlisted by an ITU jury and presented to ITU social media communities for their votes. The competition is open to all individuals aged 18 years and older, as well as to corporate entities. Nine winners – three in each category – will receive awards in the amount of 500 Swiss francs (CHF), and all shortlisted and winning photos will be displayed digitally at PP-22. The competition submission form, terms and conditions and technical requirements can all be found here. The initiative is supported by United Nations Information Centres and by the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth. The photo selection may be enhanced through AI and award winners presented in a metaverse, pending partnerships.
New “Technology for Good" podcast episodes: Authenticity, drama, intimacy, storytelling, and straight-forward talk are some of the key ingredients that make a successful podcast. ITU Podcasts will produce new “Technology for Good" episodes ahead of PP-22, each featuring a woman who has shown she can influence tech and ICT policy and development for the good of all. This new content aims to help us reach and engage new audiences as well as find new communities with a passion for digital transformation. Please feel free to propose potential interviewees.
Bringing young female and male social media content creators to PP-22: To help attract more young women and men to the ICT world, ITU will bring female and male content creators between 18-25 years of age to PP-22 in Bucharest, where they will report about the conference from their perspective to their respective social media audiences. With the help of our media monitoring tool, we will identify the best young content creators, with the biggest follower size and reach in the field of ICT, from each of the six ITU regions. Along with facilitating their first-hand access to 2,500 delegates, we will share the best content from these young women via our ITU corporate accounts. Content creators will be able to use the ITU Exchange Lounge for live-streamed talks with selected delegates. You are encouraged to propose and/or sponsor popular content creators.
PP-22 media partnership(s): We are looking into exclusive cooperation opportunities between the ITU Secretariat and suitable media to enable mutually beneficial content-exchanges and publicity. Key focuses would include radio, print and TV programming devoted to PP-22, as well as panel moderation with high-profile journalists. We are calling on ITU members to help us – either in kind or financially – to engage key media partners.
Digital asset management: Photos and videos form an integral part of ITU's corporate DNA and are vital for telling the story of ICT innovation, production and use around the world. To date, many ITU photos and videos have been stored on third-party multimedia platforms. To make our rich assets, some of them going back to the 19th century, available and accessible to journalists, ITU Member States, ITU Sector Members, ITU Associates, Academia, and other stakeholders, we need to properly catalogue and store them on a digital asset management (DAM) system. We are calling on our members to help secure these rich media assets for the benefit of all ITU stakeholders financially, and all offers of support on this are welcomed.
Mobile-first “ITU Connect" staff and member communication platform: To put the member experience at the centre, the ITU Secretariat has issued a request for proposals on the United Nations Global Marketplace for an interactive communication and networking platform. This initiative is part of ITU's drive to foster a positive culture of change and exchange. For this initial phase, we are looking into three distinct but integrated modules: 1) social exchange; 2) news dashboard; 3) directory for both internal (650 staff), and separately, external users (initially 200 members). This will enable our Member States and Sector Members to network, communicate and advocate with ITU and among themselves. We are calling on ITU members to help us scale up the platform, eventually to our entire membership.
Corporate ITU website: In addition to communication platforms for staff and for members, ITU has set out to build a highly user-centric, green, and accessible corporate website on a new technology platform designed to ensure business security and continuity. Special thanks are due to the 500 members across all ITU Sectors that are currently taking part in the design of our new, user-centric corporate and events web information architecture!
The next elements of this new web architecture to be designed in collaboration with our members are the ITU Council and Council Working Group pages. To expedite development, the ITU Secretariat is calling for voluntary, extra-budgetary donations to fulfill the project rationale and plan. A total budget in the order of CHF 2 million, submitted to Council in 2019, is included under Unfunded Mandatory Activities in ITU's 2024-2027 Strategic and Financial Plan.
Backgrounders and advocacy kit:
Available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
PP-22 advocacy kit
What you need to know ahead of PP-22
How is ITU funded?
All backgrounders
Campaign resources
Communication package (English)
Discover what others are saying and join the conversation by using the hashtag #Plenipot on your social media channels
About ITU
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), driving innovation in ICTs together with 193 Member States and a membership of over 900 companies, universities, and international and regional organizations. Established over 150 years ago, ITU is the intergovernmental body responsible for coordinating the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promoting international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, improving communication infrastructure in the developing world, and establishing the worldwide standards that foster seamless interconnection of a vast range of communications systems. From broadband networks to cutting-edge wireless technologies, aeronautical and maritime navigation, radio astronomy, oceanographic and satellite-based earth monitoring as well as converging fixed-mobile phone, Internet and broadcasting technologies, ITU is committed to connecting the world. For more information, visit www.itu.int.
