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ITU Council opens with shared vision for ICTs
Cătălin Marinescu of Romania appointed Chairman of ITU Council
Geneva, 11 June 2013 – ITU’s governing Council began its
annual session today. Among other matters, this session of ITU Council will
examine in detail the strategic and financial plans for the Union for the period
2016-2019 and also consider the bi-annual budget for 2014-2015.
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré set the stage for the session by
noting that the Council provides a tremendous opportunity to develop a shared
vision for the Union.
“ITU will continue to maintain and strengthen its bridge-building role, and
leverage our unique position as a place where our members can come together in a
neutral setting to discuss the most important issues of the day,” Dr Touré
stated in his State of the Union address to Council. “In a world where ICTs have
become fundamental building blocks of social and economic progress, we need to
ensure that all the world’s people have safe, secure and affordable broadband
access, and not just the richest third of humanity. This is the global challenge
we face.”
Secretary-General Touré appealed to all Member States to take necessary
measures to make the online world safe and secure. “As the world comes online,
we need to ensure that we meet the fundamental challenge of our generation,
which is of course cybersecurity – which means protecting both freedom and
privacy,” Dr Touré said, “This is an extraordinary opportunity for ITU to help
make the world a better place for all.”
Mr Cătălin Marinescu, President of the National Authority for Management and
Regulation in Communications of Romania (ANCOM), was appointed Chairman of ITU
Council 2013.
“The future is here,” Mr Marinescu said, addressing the opening of Council
this morning. “Contradictory as it may sound, evolution is the status quo in the
field of telecommunications and IT.”
Mr Marinescu urged cooperation in order to live up to today’s challenges.
“Industries change, new services arise and the world is transcending from one
stage to the other, in years rather than decades,” Mr Marinescu added. “It is
our role to ensure a better life for the citizens of the world through the means
of telecommunications and IT. And that is no small part to play!”
Apart from the strategic and financial plans for ITU, Council will address
several key issues, such as cybersecurity, international public policy related
to the Internet, climate change, ICT accessibility for persons with
disabilities, gender mainstreaming, and preparations for upcoming conferences –
the World Telecommunication Development Conference in 2014 and the World
Radiocommunication Conference in 2015 as well as the Connect Asia-Pacific Summit
on 18 November 2013 followed by ITU Telecom World 2013, 19-22 November in
Bangkok, Thailand.
Delegates from 48 countries representing the ITU Membership of 193 States
will attend the Council session, which runs until 21 June 2013.
For more information, please contact:
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Sanjay Acharya
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information
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