ITU’s 19th Plenipotentiary Conference concluded with delegates from around the world resoundingly reaffirming ITU’s essential role in global ICT development, and extending the Union’s mandate in emerging areas including harnessing ICTs to promote gender empowerment and to help address urgent issues such as youth unemployment, global disease control and aeronautical safety. The conference attracted a record 2,505 delegates from 171 countries. The positive climate of collaboration that pervaded the marathon three-week negotiations was hailed by all delegates as a bright new chapter in ITU’s solid 150-year history as the world’s impartial global steward of shared ICT resources. PP-14 further strengthened ITU’s mandate across existing work areas including bridging the digital divide, strategies to accelerate broadband roll-out, green ICT strategies to help combat climate change, the role of ICTs in disaster response, and the use of ICTs to promote accessibility for persons with disabilities. The conference also agreed new areas of work, including the addition of an agenda item for the forthcoming World Radiocommunication Conference on spectrum allocations for improved flight tracking, and collaborative work to harness the power of ICTs to combat the Ebola epidemic and future global health crises.

Main outcomes and achievements:

• Approval of the Strategic Plan and Financial Plan for 2016-2019, which sets out the Union’s workplan and funding for the coming four-year period.
• A new ‘Connect 2020’ resolution that sets out a clear vision and shared objectives for the future of the ICT sector through measurable new statistical targets.
• Revisions to key resolutions on Internet-related matters (Resolutions 101, 102, 133, and 180) which further enhance ITU’s engagement with all stakeholders. In an important change to previous working methods, ITU’s Council Working Group on International internet-related public policy issues has been empowered by this Plenipotentiary to conduct both physical and online consultations, allowing the group to benefit from perspectives brought by stakeholders from all nations.
• Renewed emphasis on the need for affordable international Internet connectivity for all the world’s people, as well as the importance of nurturing a truly multilingual Internet.
• A decision to open the Working Group on Child Online Protection to all stakeholders, underlining ITU members’ global commitment to ensuring safety and confidence online.
• Agreement to maintain the contributory unit for ITU Member States at CHF 318,000 for the period 2016-2019.

For the first time since 1992, the conference made no amendments to the ITU Constitution and Convention, the global treaty that governs the work of ITU. The 19th Plenipotentiary Conferences closed with the signing of the Final Acts.

This summary includes excerpts from the ITU Press Release dated 7 November 2014. You can view the full press release here.

For more information, visit the Plenipotentiary Conference (Busan, 2014) web site.