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ITU and Busan City unveil Busan Initiative
Partnership will use ICTs to tackle challenges faced by young people
Busan, 27 October 2014 – A high-level commitment between ITU
and the Busan Metropolitan City addressing issues related to greater
participation of youth in the digital economy, including tackling youth
unemployment and access to ICTs, was signed today. It acts on the need for
stronger international collaboration to realize the full potential of ICTs in
youth development.
Defined by three purposes – promoting the engagement of youth in the field of
information and communication technologies (ICT); decreasing the digital divide;
and promoting research on emerging ICT technologies, particularly Internet of
Things (IoT) – the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recognizes the role of ICTs
in effectively addressing the concerns of young people around the world.
75 million young people (15 – 24 year olds) are unemployed globally (ILO,
2012) and 64 per cent of under 25 year olds – a total of 1.73 billion – are not
yet online. ICTs are proven to enhance access to information, knowledge, and
skills development, and are critical if young people are to succeed in the
modern workplace.
Activities to facilitate this will include educational outreach programmes,
capacity building and knowledge sharing, and the crowdsourcing of the views of
youth to international ICT forums, including the facilitation of participation
in IoT activities organized by ITU.
Signing the MoU, ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré said, “ICTs play an
integral role in addressing the problems that youth face today and they have the
power to create a more stable and prosperous world for our children. As both a
father and Secretary-General of ITU, I am excited about the future that we are
committing to here in Busan.”
The MOU also builds on Busan City’s active championship of engaging young
people in the ICT sector. In addition to funding the Young ICT Policy Leaders
programme at PP-14, Busan City promotes technical programmes and academic
institutions specializing in technology skills.
Busan City Mayor Byung-soo SUH said, “This commitment will ensure that the
ITU Plenipotentiary Conference has a positive and lasting impact on Busan City,
and by extension, the youth of the Republic of Korea.”
Follow @ITU and the hashtag #Plenipot14 for the latest updates. Go to
www.itu.int/pp14/social to access all PP-14 social media
channels.
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Read the PP-14 Special Edition of ITU’s bimonthly magazine, ITU News,
here.
Find more information on the
PP-14 Newsroom
Information about ITU’s previous Plenipotentiary Conference, PP-10,
can be found on the
PP-10
Newsroom.
For more information, please contact:
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Paul
Conneally Head, ITU Corporate
Communications , ITU
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For Korean-speaking journalists:
Hayoung KIM
Korean Media Liaison, MSIP
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+82
10 8710 7393 |
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