2006 World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) of the International Telecommunication Union

The World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) is the highest-level telecommunication development authority of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The fourth such Conference will be held in Doha, Qatar, March 7-15, 2006, and will be chaired by His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani. The Conference will bring together the 189 ITU Member States and the nearly 290 Telecommunication Development Sector members in a forum that will examine projects and programs for the development of information and communication technologies.

The purpose of the WTDC is to serve as a forum for open discussion among all interested parties and the Development Sector, and to examine the programs and projects of the Sector and the Telecommunication Development Bureau, and report the results of established projects and launch new projects and guidelines for the next four-year cycle.

It is important for our Region to participate actively and consistently in this meeting as it affords an opportunity to present to a forum of such magnitude regional projects and initiatives for inclusion in the corresponding action plan and to obtain ITU support for the implementation thereof through its different programmes and actions, such as direct assistance, resource development and mobilization, partnerships, and information exchange.

In that connection, it is important to recall that resolution CITEL/RES. 46 (III-02), adopted at the Third Regular Meeting of the Assembly of CITEL, established the Conference Preparatory Working Group (CPWG), and stipulated that that Group would have responsibility for all preparatory activities related to world and regional telecommunication conferences, with the exception of those addressed within the mandates of the Permanent Consultative Committees.

The mandate of the CPWG focuses mainly on coordination of regional preparations for the Plenipotentiary Conferences and the World Telecommunication Development Conferences, including the preparation of views, common positions, and Inter-American Proposals (IAPs).

It is appropriate, as background for CITEL’s efforts in this connection, to refer to the results achieved by CITEL’s Inter-American Proposals at the last WTDC, held in March 2002, in Istanbul, Turkey, where, through the Working Group for regional preparations, a total of 8 IAPs were presented on topics that included, inter alia, the Agenda for Connectivity in the Americas, the Telecommunication Development Plan for Indigenous Peoples, tele-health, and distance education, proposals that were adopted in specific Resolutions and in the Istanbul Action Plan programmes.

Based specifically on the results achieved at that meeting, the Assembly of CITEL resolved to establish a Group with the structure, resources, and planning necessary to achieve still better results at upcoming ITU meetings and world conferences, taking into account in addition the experience gained by CITEL in earlier preparatory processes.

The 2006 World Telecommunication Development Conference is particularly relevant, as its final report will constitute guidelines for telecommunication development and the activities to be carried out by the ITU Development Sector in the next four-year period.

To be underscored therefore is the importance of active participation by the different Member States of CITEL and, in general, the countries of the Region, in the preparations for WTDC-4. Accordingly, we wish to advise that, in addition to the meetings of the Conference Preparatory Working Group scheduled during the meetings of the Steering Committee and the Permanent Executive Committee, a Regional Preparatory meeting sponsored by the ITU will be held in Lima, August 9-11, 2005, with a view to achieving a common position regarding ICT development priorities and Americas Region initiatives for presentation to the Conference for its consideration and, ultimately, incorporation in such Resolutions and Decisions as the Conference may adopt.

The priority topics identified by each Region will be discussed at the Conference with a view to incorporating those priorities in the 2007-2010 action plan of the ITU Development Bureau, which is to cover technical and operational topics, finance and investment, human resource development, development of the network and new technologies, policy and regulation, universal access and ICTs, and special programmes for least developed countries.

The different Regions are collaborating very closely in their respective preparations for the said Conference. Accordingly, the Americas Region should, at this stage of preparation and even during the Conference itself, continue and step up the joint work normally carried out through CITEL, with a view to achieving results benefiting the Region.

From the above, it was also resolved that the ITU Regional Office, in close coordination with the Working Group, would conduct consultations with a view to identifying regional initiatives and projects, as well as any other priority related to the agenda of the 2006 World Telecommunication Development Conference.

Also, we wish to inform the establishment of a discussion group in the CITEL Electronic Forum to be used by the countries of the region for presentation of contributions and positions for the Regional Preparatory Meeting. Details of the Forum will be provided shortly by the CITEL Secretariat.

The countries are therefore urged to participate fully in these preparatory activities, which will unquestionably result in better planning and a more consolidated regional position, thereby resulting in benefit for telecommunication development among our peoples.

Héctor Huerta
ViceChair
Conference Preparatory
Working Group