{"id":513,"date":"2026-04-29T11:06:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T11:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/bdt-highlights\/?page_id=513"},"modified":"2026-04-29T11:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T11:09:10","slug":"highlights-april-2026","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/bdt-highlights\/highlights-april-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Highlights – April 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Capacity Development<\/strong>:<\/strong> Africa<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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From 13 to 17 April, the ITU Academy, in collaboration with the Digital Bridge Institute \u2014 an ITU Academy Training Centre \u2014 organized the first-ever face-to-face training on \u201cStrategic Fiber Optic Infrastructure Deployment and Regulatory Management\u201d in Abuja, Nigeria. The training brought together 27 policymakers and government officials, primarily from across Africa. Combining theory and practice, including a site visit to one of Africa\u2019s largest semiconductor companies, the week-long programme equipped participants with practical knowledge and tools to support effective fiber optic infrastructure deployment in their respective countries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\n \n Reference document <\/a>\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[This activity is the result of a BDT project. You can find more details of the project here<\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Emergency telecommunications<\/strong>: Europe<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Leading on the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative’s Pillar 3 \u2013 on warning dissemination and communication \u2013 ITU\u2019s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) joined the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) 112 Conference held from 15-17 April in Riga, Latvia. During the session “Latest developments on Public Warning Systems,” BDT presented an update of the initiative\u2019s work and progress across the world, highlighting that more countries are implementing mobile early warning systems to increase resilience and inclusivity. Nevertheless, many countries, especially in Africa and Asia and the Pacific, still face challenges in leveraging digital technologies to reach those at risk. To address this gap, ITU is continuing its efforts to raise awareness of the potential of cell broadcast, and to provide technical assistance to a growing number of countries. BDT also highlighted the work of the Artificial Intelligence for EW4All (AI for EW4All) Group and the Technical Expert Group for Mobile Early Warning Systems (TEG-Mobile).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The session emphasized the widespread application of cell broadcast technology to send alerts across EU countries and underscored the need to look at opportunities for the next generation of multi-channel emergency communications. The discussion explored emerging technologies such as direct-to-device satellite systems, 5G broadcasting, and enhanced Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) alerts from industry actors. During the session “Strengthening Public Warning Worldwide: Contributions of the ITU Technical Experts Group,” BDT shared insights on how countries are exchanging best practices to ensure that their national public warning systems remain state of the art. With technology evolving rapidly, BDT leads the efforts in collaborating with key stakeholders to help ensure timely and reliable warnings reach everyone through every available channel \u2014 maximizing technology’s potential to save lives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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New Members<\/strong>: Arab States<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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CPX is a trusted leader in end-to-end cyber and physical security services, serving more than 100 government and enterprise clients and protecting 100K + end-users. They empower organizations to assess risks, protect assets, and operate with unwavering confidence. They also help enterprises elevate their cyber maturity and succeed in an AI era. CPX\u2019s mission is to deliver transformative cyber and physical security solutions that safeguard digital landscapes and empower communities to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Emergency telecommunications<\/strong>: Asia and the Pacific<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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BDT conducted a stakeholder consultation to develop the National Emergency Telecommunication Plan (NETP) for the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Held from 23-24 March in Majuro, the consultation brought together participants from government institutions, including the Ministry of Transportation, Communications & Information Technology (MOTC&IT), the Ministry of Culture and Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Human Services, the Ministry of Public Works, Infrastructure & Utilities, and the National Disaster Management Office, among others. The valuable inputs from the participants will be incorporated into the revised draft of the NETP. Following the consultation, participants attended a capacity building session on the implementation of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), as well as an awareness session on ITU\u2019s draft assessment for a common cell broadcast solution (CBS) for Pacific countries. This country assistance is provided under the project \u2018Enhancing Digital and Affordable Access to ICT Services in Asia and the Pacific\u2019, supported by MIC Japan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Network and digital infrastructure<\/strong>: Global<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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AI Show and Tell: ML Tower Detection was presented at the ITU Innovation Hub Open House on 31 March as part of BDT\u2019s engagement in ITU transformation work. Presented to an internal audience, the demo showcased a machine-learning approach to detect telecommunication towers from satellite imagery. This capability will strengthen BDT programmes and projects that depend on high-quality infrastructure data for implementation, including the Connectivity Planning Platform (CPP).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The demo tool is available at https:\/\/bbmaps.itu.int\/sat-img<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n \n Web Page <\/a>\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[This activity is the result of a BDT project. You can find more details of the project here<\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Other<\/strong>: Global<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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On 30 March, BDT held a Know Your Members session which brought together ITU-D Sector Members for an exchange of information and strengthening relations with BDT. The dialogue helped better understand the private sector’s priorities, explore areas of shared interest, and strengthen engagement in line with the Baku Action Plan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Capacity Development: Africa From 13 to 17 April, the ITU Academy, in collaboration with the Digital Bridge Institute \u2014 an ITU Academy Training Centre \u2014 organized the first-ever face-to-face training on \u201cStrategic Fiber Optic Infrastructure Deployment and Regulatory Management\u201d in Abuja, Nigeria. The training brought together 27 policymakers and government officials, primarily from across Africa. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-513","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/bdt-highlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/bdt-highlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/bdt-highlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/bdt-highlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/bdt-highlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/bdt-highlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/bdt-highlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/bdt-highlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}