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Uruguay hosts regional preparatory meeting for 2014 ITU World
Telecommunication Development Conference
Policy-makers and industry leaders in Americas push ICTs as catalyst for
development
Geneva, 20 August 2013 – The Regional Preparatory Meeting
for the Americas, ahead of ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Conference
2014, opened today in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Conference will assess the
ongoing implementation of the Hyderabad Plan of Action agreed at the last
edition of the Conference in 2010 and the identification of priority areas for
the Americas region.
ITU’s sixth World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-14) will
take place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, 31 March – 11 April 2014. The gathering of
policy makers, regulators and experts from around the world will forge a plan of
action for telecommunication and ICT development over the next four years.
The preparatory meeting will address key areas of interest for the Americas
Region, such as future networks; broadband rollout with emphasis on reduction of
Internet access costs; use of e-applications for socio-economic development,
particularly in rural and underserved urban areas with special emphasis on
indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities; security of networks and
safety of use of applications and services; and emergency telecommunications,
including disaster preparedness and response.
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré said the Americas is a dynamic region
full of potential to achieve regional inter-connectivity and reach the benefits
of ICTs to everyone even in the remotest communities and under-served urban
areas.
“The Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Americas will help us identify
priority areas, develop linkages between topics, study group questions and
regional initiatives to be considered by the upcoming WTDC-14,” said Brahima
Sanou, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau.
Mobile cellular penetration is estimated to reach almost 120% in Latin
America and the Caribbean by end 2013. The percentage of households with
Internet access also continues to increase, reaching 40 per cent by end 2013. In
the Americas region, 61% households have Internet access at home. With 48%
mobile-broadband penetration and 17% fixed-broadband penetration, this is well
above the global average and the second highest after Europe.
The Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining of Uruguay, Mr Roberto Kreimerman,
who was elected Chairman of the Regional Preparatory Meeting (RPM), highlighted
the importance of the ITU meeting in Montevideo since it represents a unique
opportunity for countries from the Americas Region to interact and strengthen
the spirit of cooperation towards WTDC-14.
The RPM was preceded by the Regional Development Forum (RDF) for the ITU
Americas region. Hosted by the
Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining of the Government of Uruguay in
cooperation with ANTEL, the Forum provided a platform for open dialogue,
cooperation and partnerships among telecommunication/ICT policy makers,
regulators, industry, academia, regional and international development agencies.
The theme for the Development Forum, Building Knowledge for the Development
of Inclusive Societies, focused on the importance of creating quality content
that meets the wide range of needs of people in every corner of the world and to
facilitate real-time interaction between the users of the Internet to share
knowledge in an inclusive environment.
The Forum was opened by Minister Kreimerman and Ms Carolina Cosse, President
of ANTEL.
“Through the use of different types of social networking platforms we have
the opportunity to share experiences and knowledge from one part of the world to
another,” said Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development
Bureau. “We need to promote the generation of local content, which meets the
needs of the productive sectors such as agriculture, fishing, small industry,
import and export of products, financing and education.”
Mr Sanou highlighted ITU initiatives on ‘m-Powering Development’ that seeks
to build partnerships to deliver ICT applications in education, health,
government, banking, environment, and business amongst others; and ‘Smart
Sustainable Development Model’ (SSDM) that aims to link emergency
telecommunication and sustainable development in order to optimize the use of
resources in the ICT sector. Noting that capacity building is one of the key
elements of work in ITU’s Telecommunication Development Sector, Mr Sanou said
that the ITU Academy is yet another initiative to work with academic
institutions to serve as a platform for sharing training modules and tool kits
around the world.
Countries of the region welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the
preparations for the upcoming world conference. A series of regional meetings
will take place around the world this year to provide inputs to WTDC-14.
For more information, please see
www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Conferences/WTDC/WTDC14/Pages/default.aspx
or contact:
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Sanjay Acharya
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information
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Bruno Ramos
Regional Director ITU Regional Office for the Americas
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