Highlights in April

Council 2002 puts the spotlight on upcoming events that will shape the future of ITU

The 10-day meeting of the ITU Council, the governing body of the International Telecommunication Union, ended on 3 May 2002 having covered much ground, with a great deal of emphasis on major events that will shape the future of ITU for many years to come. In his “State of the Union” address ITU Secretary-General, Yoshio Utsumi, called on the Council to prepare thoroughly for the Plenipotentiary Conference — ITU’s top policy-making body due to be held in Marrakesh (Morocco) from 23 September to 18 October 2002; the World Summit on the Information Society, the first phase of which will be convened in Geneva in December 2003; the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-03) to be held in Caracas (Venezuela) from 9 June to 4 July 2003, preceded by the Radiocommunication Assembly at the same venue from 2 to 6 June 2003; and ITU TELECOM WORLD 2003 to be held in Geneva in October.

Leadership of the Council is granted according to the principles of equitable geographical distribution and rotation among the different regions of the world. It was the turn of Region A (the Americas) to provide a Chairman and Region B (Western Europe) to provide a Vice-Chairman. Richard Beaird of the United States was elected Chairman of the 2002 session by acclamation and Michael Goddard (United Kingdom) as Vice-Chairman. ITU traditionally ensures a degree of continuity in the chairmanship of the standing committees. In this regard, Bruce Gracie (Canada) and Frédéric Riehl (Switzerland) were re-elected to serve as Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively, of the Standing Committee on Finance. Corina Petrescu (Romania) and Mette J. Konner (Denmark) were re-elected to serve as Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively, of the Standing Committee on Staff Matters.

Addressing the Council, Mr Beaird stressed the importance of working with the common purpose of reaching solutions that enable ITU to remain an “effective and leading facilitator of global communications”. Referring to the 1998 Plenipotentiary in Minneapolis, he highlighted the significance of the official poster of the conference which had as its epigram, the phrase: “Many voices, One world”. In this context Mr Beaird declared: It has been the purpose of the ITU, since its origins, to facilitate the creation of the world’s basic telecommunications infrastructure, which makes possible communication between the world’s “many voices”. The Council’s long and complex agenda put the spotlight on ITU reform, its financial standing, and its relationship to the outside world. Councillors went about their work keeping in mind the mission of ITU; which is to bring governments and industry together to coordinate the establishment and operation of global telecommunication networks and services for the benefit of all.

Preparations for the Summit were reported to be well on course, with a first Preparatory Committee meeting planned for 1 to 5 July this year in Geneva. The Council reviewed the resources for the Summit and has taken steps to improve funding to ensure the Summit’s success. In this regard, the Government of Japan announced a donation of CHF 400 000 for Summit preparations, bringing to a total more than CHF 2 million that have been raised to fund this historic event.

The Council was to finalize some important planning documents for the Marrakesh Plenipotentiary Conference prepared by its various groups set up last year. In this regard, the Council reviewed the draft Strategic Plan of the Union for the period 2003–2007 prepared by its Informal Group on the Strategic Plan; proposals for ITU reform — notably from the Group of Experts on ITU reform and the Satellite Backlog Action Group (SAT-BAG) that was to prepare and oversee a coordinated approach to treating the complex issues surrounding the backlog in the processing of satellite network filings; the Working Group on Financial Regulations and the Ad hoc Working Group on human resources management. The Council also reviewed the draft Financial Plan of the Union for the period 2004–2007 and its reports for the Plenipotentiary Conference summarizing the activities and work undertaken by the Union in the last four years.

During the Council, the Government of the United Kingdom announced its intention to increase its level of contribution to the ITU budget to 30 units (measures of financial contributions) in due course. The UK currently pays 15 contributory units. As a first step, it would increase its contribution to 23 units as from the 2003 budget.

The ITU TELECOM AMERICAS 2003 event that was scheduled to take place in Argentina from 25 to 28 February 2003 has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. ITU will issue a call for bids to its Member States in the region to host the event in 2004 or 2005, and will select the best offer according to standard criteria including cost, the active support of the host country, exhibitor interest, accessibility, infrastructure and security.

A special session of the General Assembly of the United Nations will be held in June at which ITU Secretary-General Utsumi has been asked to speak.

The Council has expressed support for ITU involvement with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) reform to ensure worldwide representation of both the public and private sectors directly and indirectly related to Internet names, numbers and addresses.

Mr Utsumi awarded the ITU silver medal to Richard Beaird in recognition of his leadership as Chairman of this year’s session of the Council. The next session of the Council will be held in Geneva from 5 to 16 May 2003.