An agenda for change
Opening remarks

by Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General International Telecommunication Union

Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It was with great pleasure that ITU accepted the kind invitation from the Government of Morocco to hold our 16th Plenipotentiary Conference in the historic city of Marrakesh. This city has long been a forum for the sharing of ideas, and has always been at the leading edge of change.

What better place, therefore, to discuss the future of ITU. Our industry is undergoing a period of rapid change and ITU itself must reform. We must rethink our role, and ensure that the ITU continues to be relevant and to provide value for money for our membership.

The first concrete steps towards defining a new ITU were taken by the Geneva Additional Plenipotentiary Conference, ten years ago. Since then, the pace of reform has accelerated, with the establishment of ITU-2000, the Reform Advisory Panel and the Working Group on Reform (WGR). Over the next four weeks, we must build on the excellent work done by these different groups. We must work towards creating a responsive, customer-focused organization that has a high degree of flexibility to address the evolving needs of all our different Members, as well as the wider telecommunication community.

Reform can only proceed where there is consensus. Fortunately, we are already seeing the first fruits of that consensus. Since the last Plenipotentiary Conference, we have:

• Substantially overhauled and simplified many internal processes including the holding of "virtual" electronic meetings. We have established a new fast-track approval procedure for technical standards, which now takes as little as two months.
• We have implemented cost-recovery measures in satellite filings, allowing for a substantial reduction in the value of the contributory unit since 1998.
• Furthermore, we have saved some 32 million Swiss Francs since 2000 through cost-reduction measures, in the areas of publication production, electronic working methods, and increased productivity in document production.

We have also successfully refocused ITU as a policy-oriented organization, notably through the World Telecommunication Policy Forum and the New Initiatives Programme. These events bring together experts from industry and government to develop policy positions in areas of high current interest, such as IP telephony, the licensing of third-generation mobile or fixed-to-mobile interconnection.

Our in-house research capabilities have been substantially strengthened to support new areas of policy analysis. In the past four years, ITU has assumed a stronger role in international regulatory affairs through the hosting of regulatory workshops and our annual Global Symposium for Regulators, as well as commissioning in-depth country case study research.

Through the stronger role of the Sector Advisory groups, the private sector has also been more directly involved in planning and governance of ITU work. In these groups, Member States and Sector Members participate on an equal footing. Sector Members are given the right to approve study group work programmes and to adopt standards along with Member States. Today, private sector representatives chair most of the study groups.

We have also opened up participation in the work of ITU to the new category of Associates, which includes smaller companies, universities and organizations with highly focused areas of activity. This enables them to bring their knowledge and expertise to the specific work of individual study groups.

These major strides are already having a positive impact, but there is still much work to be done:

• We need to further improve our processes, to make them even more efficient and transparent.
• True partnership needs to be fostered among all ITU stakeholders.
• To this end, the private sector must be given a greater voice in ITU affairs in line with its considerable contribution to the Union's technical work.
• We must overhaul the way the spectrum is shared and satellites are filed to better serve our membership.
• We must be able to secure adequate funding for our activities around agreed core competencies, recognizing that not everything can be done at the same time.
• We also need to ensure that work in standards-setting focuses on areas where ITU has a leadership position and can add value to national or regional-level activities.
• Finally, the Union's financial base needs to be strengthened by broadening our membership, as well as by continuing to tackle inefficiencies.

These actions will not only help ITU to maintain its relevance to the industry, but also to remain competitive with similar organizations: We should always remain mindful of the fact that our members have a choice of how and where they work together. I am personally committed to making sure that ITU is the first place they choose.

My hope is that ITU will move forward in a new spirit of cooperation on the basis of partnership, as we embrace the many exciting opportunities ahead. We have many interesting proposals for reform before us, based on the work of the WGR, and proposals from regions and Member States. Reform is essential if ITU is to help shape this increasingly crucial industry and build a better, brighter, information-rich society for future generations.

Let us begin that work without delay.

Thank you.