Minister Censu Galea propels CHOGM declaration at ITU conference

Competitiveness and Communications Minister Censu Galea is leading a delegation attending the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference in Antalya, Turkey, which starts tomorrow.

The conference is expected to attract more than 2,000 delegates from 150 countries representing both governments and the private sector, as well as regional and international organisations.

The plenipotentiary conference is the top policy-making body of the ITU and is held every four years. The conference sets the ITU's general policies, adopts four-year strategic and financial plans, and elects the senior management team of the organisation, the members of the council and the members of the Radio Regulations Board.

This is the key event at which ITU member states decide on the organisation's future role, determining its ability to influence and affect the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) worldwide.

Minister Galea, who will be accompanied by his personal assistant, Joe Vella, Anthony De Bono, ITU vice-chairman of the Advisory Board and general manager International Affairs of Maltacom, and officials from the Communications Authority, is expected to address the ITU Assembly.

Speaking to The Sunday Times Mr Galea confirmed that he would be focusing on the close relationship between Malta and the ITU, which spans decades and was instrumental in the development of Malta's communications infrastructure.

His main thrust is expected to be the outcome arising from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Malta, notably the declaration by the Heads of Government on 'Networking the Commonwealth for Development' and the 'Commonwealth Action Programme for the Digital Divide', now renamed 'Commonwealth Connects'.

Mr Galea will be advising the Assembly that, in consonance with his resolution that had been forwarded to the World Telecommunication Development Conference in Doha last March, Malta will be requesting the Plenipotentiary Conference to take into account the will of a substantial number of Commonwealth Countries, 53 of which are members of the ITU, to endorse the CHOGM declaration.

As a result, the ITU will ensure harmonisation and co-ordination between the three sectors of the Union and the Commonwealth which, in synergy, would secure careful rationalisation of resources and avoid duplication of efforts.

Mr Galea will also be having bilateral meetings with other ministerial delegations.

The past four years since the last plenipotentiary conference in Marrakech, Morocco, has been marked by major global events, notably two World Summits on the Information Society (WSIS), the World Radio Conference, the World Telecommunications Development Conference and last November's Malta CHOGM.

The Antalya plenipotentiary conference can be regarded as the climax for the consolidation of the decisions taken by the heads of state during these events.

The WSIS put the ITU in the global spotlight. For the first time, the ITU's leading role in ICTs was recognised at the political and grassroots levels, and it is now generally seen as much more than a purely technical organisation.

This recognition has not only created enormous potential for the ITU but also great expectations of what it can and should do to connect the world by 2015 as prescribed in the WSIS Plan of Action.

The ITU plenipotentiary conference coincides with a time when the telecommunications sector and the ICT industry are coming to grips with new trends in convergence and is expected to provide a new vision and direction to the ITU to facilitate the worldwide growth and development of telecommunications and communication technologies everywhere and for the benefit of all.

The future strategy will be addressing the convergence of technological platforms and the deployment of common network infrastructures for multiple communications services and applications.

The membership will be delving deeply into the merits and demerits of the continued but uneven growth of the Internet and other IP-based platforms and related services, and the deployment of national and regional IP-based backbone networks.

The continuing rapid development of wireless and mobile communications and their convergence with both fixed line and broadcasting services will be one of the major topics to be debated.

The standardisation role of the ITU will be featuring highly on the agenda when the conference will deal with the need for market-driven, high quality international standards, which are developed rapidly, in line with the principles of global connectivity, openness, affordability, reliability, interoperability and security.

Undoubtedly, the importance accorded to Next Generation Networks (NGN) by service providers and equipment manufacturers illustrated by their substantial investment of resources in standard-making activities is expected to be high on the conference's agenda, just as the delivery of audio-visual services and applications over a wide variety of new platforms, including both fixed and mobile networks, resulting in increased competition for media distribution.

An important subject to be analysed is the growing trend to regulate telecommunications with less reliance on sectoral regulation in competitive markets, generating different challenges for policymakers and regulators.

The main decisions will focus on the organisational reform with consideration of a possible review of the ITU's federal structure, the enlargement of participation of new stakeholders in its work, including civil society and the strategic plan for the ITU covering 2008-2011.

However, one of the most important items will be the decision on the ITU's role in implementing the action lines laid out in the outcomes of the WSIS, many of which call for a broader vision on ways that can effectively bridge the digital divide, in a bid to establish a more inclusive, equitable, people-centred information society.

The race for the positions of secretary general, deputy secretary general, the director of standardisation and the director of development has in recent months gathered momentum and there is strong competition for the top seat from Tunisia, Brazil, Mali, Germany, Switzerland and Jordan.

The ITU is the leading United Nations agency addressing information and communication technology issues, and the global focal point for governments and the private sector in developing networks and services.

For more than 140 years, the ITU has co-ordinated shared global use of the radio spectrum, promoted international co-operation in assigning satellite orbits, worked to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world and established the worldwide standards that assure seamless interconnection of a vast range of communications systems.

One of its key mandates is to foster telecommunications development in developing countries through policy advice, provision of technical assistance, mobilisation of resources and initiatives to extend access and bridge the digital divide.

There are currently 190 member countries of the ITU and 636 sector members, which include recognised operating agencies, scientific or industrial organisations, and financial development institutions and organisations of an international character representing them.