Dubai: The Dubai Action Plan, adopted on Thursday by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) sixth World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-14), sets the agenda for telecommunication, information and communication technology development over the next four years.
Under the theme ‘Broadband for Sustainable Development’, the conference, held from March 30 to April 10 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, focused on development priorities and agreed on the programmes, projects and initiatives to implement them.
The theme underlines ITU’s commitment to leverage broadband as a catalyst to meet the goals of sustainable development.
“The event approved 45 resolutions out of the 74 put on the table, including resolutions from the 2010 conference held in Hyderabad, India. Out of the 74, there were some resolutions that have been addressed at the conference, some have been modified or deleted and some have entered the Telecommunications Development Bureau (BDT) as new resolutions,” Nasser A. Bin Hammad, senior manager for international affairs at Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of the UAE, told Gulf News.
Broadband growth
The Dubai Declaration states that universal and affordable access to telecommunications and information and communication technologies is essential for the world’s economic, social and cultural development, and contributes to building a global economy and information society.
“With the adoption of the Dubai Declaration, we declare our commitment to accelerate the expansion and use of ICTs, and in particular broadband, to achieve economic growth,” said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré.
“Access to affordable and reliable ICTs, including broadband, can facilitate economic, social and cultural development and achieve digital inclusion for all.”
Touré said that ITU’s aim is that everyone should have broadband connectivity by 2020 and to make the world a better place through ICT.
The Dubai Action Plan is a comprehensive package that promotes the equitable, affordable, inclusive and sustainable development of telecommunications/ICT networks, applications and services.
The output of the conference will be fed into the ITU strategic plan which will be endorsed at the upcoming ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in October (the Radio Regulations Board and the ITU Council) in South Korea from October 20 to November 7.
Mohammad Nasser Al Ganem, Director General of the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of the UAE and Head of the UAE delegation, said the delegates have worked very positively to approve the resolutions and finish ahead of time.
Toure called upon the member states, sector members, associates, academia and all other partners and stakeholders to contribute towards the successful implementation of the Dubai Action Plan.
“Widespread access to and accessibility of telecommunications and information and communication technologies applications and services provide new socio-economic opportunities for all people,” Hammad said.
Hammad is also a candidacy for the Radio Regulations Board for the period of 2014 to 2018.
“One of the essential outcomes of the conference is basically the BDT plan for four years (2014-2018) from now. The plan has set the clear path and strategic goals for what is intended to be done by the BDT,” he said.
He said that all the developing and least developing countries are going to benefit from the outcome of the conference.
The event attracted 1,311 delegates from 137 member-states and 82 sector members, including 52 VIPs.
