The World Conference on International Telecommunications opened on a buoyant note today, with positive words of encouragement from government, civil society and industry.

ICANN’s President & CEO Fadi Chehadé spoke of a “new season of engagement and cooperation” between ITU and his agency, recognizing ITU’s critical role in the  development of the telecommunications industry and broadband infrastructure. “I believe in the power of engagement – and engagement starts with listening,” he said. Chehadé is attending the conference as a special guest at the invitation of WCIT-12 Chairman Mohamed Al Ghanim, and ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I. Touré. “The ITU and ICANN have complementary roles, and moving forward, we shall cooperate in good spirit, while clearly respecting our distinct roles,” said Mr Chehadé.

Speaking at the opening press conference, Australia’s Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy of Australia spoke of ITU’s important role in delivering a more interconnected world. “This is being continued through the UN Broadband Commission. This was an initiative of Dr Touré and he should be immensely proud of it. We must ensure that telecommunications networks are able to grow, to work together and to deliver the services that everyone will need in the 21st century,” he said. The current International Telecommunication Regulations were negotiated in Melbourne, Australia, in 1988.

At the first Plenary Session this afternoon, delegates agreed the basic structure of the conference, as follows:

 

Chairman of the Conference:     Mr Mohamed Nasser AL-GHANIM (United Arab Emirates)

Vice Chairs of the Conference: Mr Manuel COSTA CABRAL (Portugal)

                                                           Mr Edgardo CABARIOS (Philippines)

                                                           H.E. Mr Terry KRAMER (United States of America)

                                                           H.E. Mr Nikolai A. NIKIFOROV (Russian Federation)

                   Mr Gift BUTHELEZI (South Africa)

                   Dr Amr BADAWI (Egypt)

COMMITTEE 5 – Review (Committee 5 is the only substantive Committee of the conference)

Chair, COM 5:                 Mr Joshua K. PEPRAH (Ghana)

Vice-Chairs, COM 5:      Mr Albert B. NALBANDIAN (Armenia)

                                          Mr Luis F. LUCATERO (Mexico)

                                          Dr Bob HORTON (Australia)

                                          Mr Frédéric RIEHL (Switzerland)

                                          Mr Al-Mashakbeh ALANSARI (Jordan)

Chair:                  Ms Bernadette LEWIS (Trinidad and Tobago)

The ITU Media Team will organize a daily media update on the progress of the conference with the ITU Secretary-General and other high-level participants at 18:00 each day from Tuesday 4 December, at 18:00 local time in Dubai. The briefing is accessible via remote participation over ITU’s Adobe Connect platform, at: http://itu.adobeconnect.com/wcit2012. Enter as a Guest in the format First Name + Last Name + (country/organization). You can listen to the audio feed through your computer and see the video from the studio.