GENEVA, June 2nd, 2016 – After evaluating the accomplishments achieved since the previous meeting, the ITU’s Board of Directors ended its deliberations today.
International Communications and Information Department, US Department of State. More than 350 delegates representing 47 Member States attended the 2016 session of the Council, including Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Ambassadors. “I am very pleased that you are taking us forward in the 2016 session of the Federation Council,” said the PUIC Secretary General, Mr. Houlin Zhao. “In the march of our collective and unwavering commitment to connecting the world’s people.” He added, “ICTs play a transformative role in achieving the three pillars of sustainable development – economic development, social inclusion and environmental protection”.
On the opening day, the Federation's Deputy and General Wing, Mr. Malcolm Johnson, presented the Federation's "2015 Annual Progress Plan", the Federation's annual plan and activities for the 2015-2016 period supported by a full set of records confirming the commitment of the Federation to be a forward-looking organization in numbers. The 150th Anniversary of the Union’s founding, which took place in 2015, presented a multi-interactive electronic book to the Council Committee and launched the 150th Anniversary to become a window for viewing the celebrations and achievements of the Union.
Council also approved the theme “Big Data to Make a Huge Impact” as the theme for the 2017 World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.
The Secretariat reported to the Council on major events, such as the 2015 World Radio communication Conference and its predecessor, the Radio communication Assembly, and ITU Telecom World, which was held in Budapest in October 2015 and will be held in Bangkok from 17-14 November 2016. The ITU Council confirmed Also, the presence of the Union headquarters buildings in Geneva continued, with a decision to replace a new building. current var ambe. “With this decision, we can embark on a path that will hopefully lead to the handover of a new building to the Federation by 2023,” said ITU Deputy Secretary-General Malcolm Johnson.
Regarding the future, a Host Country Agreement was signed with Tunisia for the future World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (16-WTSA). The Council was also informed that Argentina had offered to host Buenos Aires for the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) from 9-20 October. The proposed theme for the 2017 World Telecommunication Development Conference will be “Information and Communication Technologies for the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals” (“ICT4SDGs”) which sends a clear message to the world about ITU’s alignment with .The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Plan.