Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
TDAG Chair, Roxanne McElvane Webber
TDAG Vice Chairs,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to TDAG-24.
As you already know, the Telecommunication Development Advisory Group (TDAG), reviews priorities, strategies, operations, and financial matters of the Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D). It means in the interval between World Telecommunication Development Conferences (WTDCs) to advise the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) on the implementation of the Kigali Action Plan, including issues relating to the budget and the operational plan of the Sector.
At this TDAG, we will have the pleasure of reporting to you the results of our implementation of the Kigali Action Plan guided by the BDT4Impact 90 day and beyond plan and Results Based Management principles. As we will have the next three days together and will be reporting in detail, let me give you a bird's eye view of what lies before us:
- We have mobilized a record value of resources reaching CH27.8 million since January 2023. This is unprecedented. We owe it to our dependable, supporting, and trusted partners.
- We have a great project portfolio and large-scale in size resulting in real impact. In 2023 alone, BDT implemented 87 projects valued at CH106.4 million.
- We have grown our ITU-D membership to unprecedented numbers – we have not only experienced rapid growth but solid retention. Since January 2023 we have gained 63 new members including academia. 33 new ITU-D members, 8 new Associates and 22 Academia.
- We have directed our efforts and resources to human impact areas such as e-waste management, early warnings4all, broadband infrastructure mapping, national emergency telecommunications plans, improving government services, innovation and entrepreneurship, and capacity building in building trust and confidence in ICTs. We thank the United Arab Emirates Cybersecurity Council for their support. Together, in 2023 and 2024, we broke six Guiness Book World Records in this area. We have a dedicated web page on our Impact Stories.
- We have lived to our promise to publish the ICT Development Index (IDI) after a 6-year hiatus. Our expert groups deserve credit. We also started measuring universal meaningful connectivity. Our gratitude goes to European Union for their financial support to make this possible.
- We intensified efforts to bridge the digital skills gap through our ITU Academy, Digital Skills development project, and the Academy Training Centers initiative. Here we recognize a host of partners including NORAD, and CISCO.
- We have registered growth in the number of participants and contributions at our two Study Groups. This in part is thanks to our innovation to integrate our programmes with the Study Group work. We have done this through phenomenally successful workshops held within the Study Groups. I thank the two Chairs for their leadership.
- To ensure that we speak the same language, we have developed solid aggregated key performance indicators at both output and outcome levels.
Now to the rest of 2024:
- We will continue to implement projects and Operational Plan activities in an accountable, responsive, efficient, transparent, and forward-looking manner.
- We plan to release this year's IDI at the end of June, and later the Cybersecurity Index.
- We plan to hold an exciting Global Symposium for Regulators in Uganda in early July.
- We will hold the Global Digital Skills in Bahrain in September.
- At the of October we will hold the Global Innovation Forum in Malta.
- We also plan to hold a Youth Summit with an output document.
Next Year:
- 2025 will be a busy year for us with all the Regional Preparatory Meetings which will take place, back-to-back with Regional Development Forums. This is already planned for the first four months of 2025.
- The World Telecommunication Development Conference will be held in November 2025, the host country will be confirmed after ITU Council discussions and Member States Consultations.
- Subject to the agreement of the TDAG-24, and agreement of the WTDC Host Country, we hope to organize a celebratory event for the Youth and by the Youth. This will include key training sessions on emerging technologies and topical sectoral issues.
Finally, I would like to thank all the Member States who took the time to submit contributions to this TDAG. Rest assured, I read all the contributions and found all of them very constructive. Through the dialogue at TDAG, we will impact millions, if not billions of the people across the globe and have influence in their lives. I thank Director of the Radiocommunications Bureau (BR), Director of Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), Deputy Secretary General and the Secretary-General for their support in the work of the BDT. Our staff in the BDT remain a great asset. When we met at TDAG-23, I said that we had all agreed on observing a work-life balance approach. This is an area we need to improve on.
I am indebted to all my colleagues in the field and at the Head Quarters who are working hard with smiles on their faces despite carrying a heavy load on their shoulders. In our work with the other Sectors, we look to avoid duplication. This is why we have commenced work on streamlining resolutions which we will take to WTDC-25. We look forward to this approach to be adopted at WTSA-24.
I want to wish you all a great TDAG-24.
