The twenty-first ITU Plenipotentiary Conference – known as PP-22 –  took place in Bucharest, Romania between 26 September and 14 October. It brought together over 3,000 delegates, including government ministers and officials from 183 of ITU's 193 Member States, as well as international and regional organizations, academia, and private-sector representatives. The Final Acts of PP-22 were signed by 157 Member States.

Key decisions agreed at the conference included resolutions on:

• Applying artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for good
• Confidence-building and sustainable development in outer space
• Empowering women and girls through digital transformation
• Frequency assignments by military radio installations for national defense services
• How new technologies can mitigate, rather than exacerbate, the climate crisis
• How technologies can protect against global pandemics
• The Internet of Things (IoT) for smart and sustainable cities and communities

In addition to setting ITU's priorities, Member States made history with the election of Doreen Bogdan-Martin (United States) as ITU's next Secretary-General and the first woman to lead the organization since it was created in 1865. The Conference also saw an increase in attendance by women. A total of 33% of the delegates at PP-22 were women, compared to 29% at the previous Plenipotentiary Conference held in 2018.

The Conference closed with Member States reaching consensus on actions to ensure that digital technology reaches and benefits people across the world.

This summary includes excerpts from the ITU Press Release dated 14 October 2022. You can view the full press release here.

For more information, visit the Plenipotentiary Conference (Dubai, 2022) web site.