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ITU Council meets to review future strategies
ICT and broadband roll out at forefront of global
agenda
Geneva, 4 July 2012 – ITU’s governing body, the Council
began its annual session in Geneva this afternoon, focusing on reviewing recent
milestones and key decisions as a platform to meet forthcoming challenges.
In his opening address to Council, ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré
looked back on recent achievements by ITU and its three sectors. “The work we do
at ITU has the power to improve the lives of each and every person on the
planet,” Dr Touré said. “We are all aware that there is no longer any part of
modern life on planet earth that is not directly impacted by ICTs, and ITU’s
work permeates every business, every government office, every hospital and
school, and every household.”
Dr Touré added that in a world of austerity measures and growing
unemployment, “ICTs are one of the few real beacons of hope for sustainable
growth”.
Following the recognition at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development (Rio+20) of the importance of information and communication
technologies in achieving future sustainable development goals, ITU Council will
decide further strategies to bring ICTs and broadband connectivity to the
forefront of the global agenda.
The year 2012 began with the Radiocommunication Assembly and the World
Radiocommunication Conference which concluded a range of far-reaching decisions,
including the specifications for IMT-Advanced - the next generation mobile
technology, increased efficiency in the use of spectrum and orbit resources,
earth observation and meteorological satellites as well as maritime and
aeronautical services.
Upcoming events include the ITU Connect Americas Summit in Panama City, 17-19
July; the Global Symposium for Regulators in Colombo, 2-4 October; and the sixth
meeting of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development in New York in
September. Dubai will be the venue for a host of key world ICT events: ITU
Telecom World 2012, 14-18 October; the World Telecommunication Standardization
Assembly (WTSA-12), 20-29 November 2012; and the World Conference on
International Telecommunications (WCIT-12), 3-14 December. The World
Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF-13) will take place in Geneva next May.
Concerning WCIT-12, Dr Touré called for openness and transparency, and asked
Council to consider granting open access to the WCIT-12 documents, as well as
agreeing to the holding of an open consultation, accessible to all stakeholders
worldwide, regarding the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs)
which will be reviewed at WCIT-12.
Mr Ahmet Çavuşoğlu, Head of the Department for International Affairs,
Information and Communications Technologies Authority, Turkey, was appointed
Chairman of the 2012 ITU Council. Speaking at the opening he said, “At the 2012
Council session, we will continue to review strengthening the role of ITU in
building confidence and security in the use of ICTs, implementation of the
outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society; international
cooperation in Internet-related activities; and drawing attention to ITU’s
role in child on-line protection, ICTs and climate change, and promoting
accessibility to ICTs for disabled persons.”
Council will also examine in detail the implementation of the strategic and
operational plans for the 2013-2016 period.
Delegates from 48 countries representing the ITU Membership of 193 States
will attend the Council session, which runs until 13 July.
For more information, please contact:
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Sanjay Acharya
Chief, Media Relations
and Public Information
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