ITU Telecom World 2009 In Review 2009 Geneva 5-9 October The timeliness of this is sadly emphasized recent events in East-Asia which underline the importance of ICT’s contribution in mitigating the effects of some of these disasters that will continue to strike us. Our world is getting more and more connected- a theme echoing throughout this Forum-, we are seeing something of a broadband revolution, a mobile revolution; as the world gets smaller and more connected. Of course the downside of this is that the impact when these systems are taken out is that much more severe. And so the im-pact on a personal level, on a business level, on a government level, at a social level becomes increasingly dramatic in a disaster situation, as these systems are taken out of action. The players in this field vary from ITU to the national and regional governments to very local governments, to non-governmental organizations and to compa-nies; this creates a very complicated web of participants. How we ensure that this community, this ecosystem of suppliers, works together more effectively in order to do a better job of filling in these gaps when they happen? Summary of closing comments A continual development in products and services is likely, indeed one panelist outlined the possibilities of running automated alarm systems, smart ideas, etc. All these kinds of innovations will help on a ground level, on a very pragmatic basis, and make systems more efficient in the future. Panelists stressed the fact that there are still major logistical and organizational issues in getting ICT devices where they need to be: that is into the hands of those who need to use them, with well trained local field workers, in order that they can obtain the maximum benefits that these tools can provide. These issues can comprise everything from customs to type approvals, to licens-ing. Hopefully, a desire to solve some of these key issues will mean that more countries will join and ratify a temporary convention. Another key concern voiced at the session was the need for data to be ac-cessed by users who really need it. And whether this is data controlled by someone else for security reasons or it is data which is available commercially, 136 Forum Summary Report