Re-election to ITU Council creates new opportunities for Azerbaijan

The 20th Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has concluded in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

The conference brought together more than 2,500 ICT executives and specialists under the motto “Technology for Development”.

The ITU is the United Nations’ specialized agency for information and communication technologies; it currently has a membership of 193 countries, more than 700 private-sector entities, and over 150 academic institutions.  

The ITU performs such functions as coordinating the global use of the radio frequency spectrum, encouraging international cooperation in determining satellite orbits, developing communications infrastructure and digital capabilities, creating world standards for a wide range of communication systems, developing modern communications and information technologies in accordance with increasing requirements and development of society.

The Plenipotentiary Conference, held every four years, is the highest institution of the ITU that adopts common strategic and financial plans, principal decisions defining the areas of activity, and conducts elections for elected positions in the organization.

The Council is the supreme governing body for the period between plenipotentiary conferences, and its main function is to review issues related to the telecommunications sector and ensure full compliance of the ITU’s activities, policies and strategies with the requirements of today's rapidly changing telecommunications environment.

To this end, meetings are held annually for a four-year term ,at which the adoption of reports on current activities and finances, coordination of work programs, approval of budgets, and monitoring of financial expenses are ensured, and measures are taken to implement the decisions taken.

The opening ceremony of this year’s  conference, held from October 29 to November 16, was attended by the Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates, Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao, ministers of the member states in this area, and other officials.

Azerbaijan was represented at this prestigious international event by a delegation led by Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade.

ITU Secretary-General H. Zhao, in his speech, noted that 4 billion people in the world still do not have access to the Internet.

Therefore, in the framework of the plenipotentiary conference, the results of the work on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals until 2020 will be analyzed.

According to him, the ITU encourages the creation of equal conditions for the public and private sectors and civil society among member states, ensuring the development of the ICT sector, achieving goals within a short time, and creating gender equality in the relevant field.

“The introduction of ICT in education, healthcare, e-government and mobile banking creates great opportunities for billions of people around the world. New technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, big data and the Internet of Things will change our opportunities in life, work and education. Today, ICT is a force uniting the whole world,” the Secretary General said.

In a video message to the conference participants, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that in some cases we are forced to defend ourselves against the risks resulting from the misuse of new technologies. Nevertheless, digital technologies play an important role in accelerating the work carried out to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

He also added that the UN recently created a high-level working group to promote digital collaboration. The goal of the group is to develop safe and profitable digital technologies for all.

The following days of the first week of the conference were remembered by the elections for the elected ITU leadership positions - the secretary general, his deputy and 3 bureau heads.

According to the results of the elections held during the Plenipotentiary Conference, the ITU will be led by the representative of China, Houlin Zhao, in the next 4 years.

The new secretary general scored 176 votes from 178 member states. As of January 1, 2019, he will begin the execution of his powers in the new term. 

Recall that Houlin Zhao, who has been elected to the position of ITU Secretary General for the second time in a row, is an ICT engineer.

Prior to his election as ITU Secretary General in 2014, Houlin Zhao held positions of Deputy Secretary General of ITU, Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, which develops technical standards for the ICT Union; he has been working in this organization since 1986.  

In the elections held for other positions, the representative of the UK Malcolm Johnson was elected Deputy Secretary General of ITU, the representative of Korea Chaesub Lee - Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, the representative of the United States Doreen Bogdan-Martin - Director of the ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau.

In the second round of elections, the representative of Uruguay Mario Maniewicz was elected Director of the ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau.

Doreen Bogdan-Martin became the first woman to be elected to a leadership position in the 153-year history of the organization.

After that, on November 5, elections to the ITU Council and the Radio Regulations Board were held.

The 20th Plenipotentiary Conference, which was held on the same day in Dubai, went down in history as a significant event for our country and its telecommunications sector.

Thus, Azerbaijan, elected to the International Telecommunication Union by 119 votes, has become one of the 48 countries represented in the ITU Council.

The election of our country for the second time to the Council is a great achievement.

In addition, a candidate from our country in the elections to the ITU Radio Regulations Board, Sahiba Hasanova, won the victory by 115 affirmative votes and became the first representative of Azerbaijan elected to this committee.

Sahiba Hasanova, an employee of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, who was elected as a member of the Radio Regulations Board, is a radio engineer by specialty.

Note that the ITU Radio Regulations Board is the global responsibility body for the management of the spectrum of radio frequencies and satellite orbit resources. This body approves the procedural rules for the application of the Regulation “On Radio” and fulfils instructions on the use of radio frequencies and satellite orbits.

Only 12 of the 193 member states are members of the Committee, including Azerbaijan.

Thus, our country, which has been a member of the ITU since 1992, has achieved double success, being elected a member of one of its main bodies.

The rise of the international prestige of Azerbaijan in recent years, the success of the state policy pursued in the country is the main reason for such high achievements.

The informative speech of Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ramin Guluzade at the plenary session of the Plenipotentiary Conference of the ITU played a positive role in creating a positive impression of the participants about our country.

Speaking about the development of the ICT sector in Azerbaijan, state care for this area, strengthening cooperation with the ITU, as well as active participation in the activity of the Council, the Minister emphasized Azerbaijan’s active support for Connect 2020 Agenda for Global Telecommunication and ICT Development.

Ramin Guluzade said that a number of important political documents have been adopted in this direction in the country, strategic infrastructure projects are being implemented, cooperation with international stakeholders is expanding, in short, the necessary measures are being taken to achieve the goals of the Agenda.

The Minister noted that Azerbaijan’s strategic vision on the Development of ICT by the year 2020 has found its reflection in the National Strategy for Development of Information Society in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

“In this regard, we are introducing modern technologies in the country for widespread use of telecommunications and ICT, increasing the number of Internet users, developing the information society and ensuring the digital economy. During the membership of Azerbaijan to the ITU Council, all ICT indicators in the country have constantly developed. Today more than 80 percent of Azerbaijani population are Internet users, 64 percent of households have computers. Number of mobile subscribers in Azerbaijan is about 106 for every 100 people.

We are facilitating the deployment of 4G technologies, increasing the number of users of broadband services, including mobile broadband. Investments in the development of our country’s infrastructure bring major results. Thus, in 2016 we launched a Data Center, which is the first TIER III certified center in the South Caucasus region. In order to strengthen the capabilities of small and medium business and startup ecosystem, we are planning to establish Innovation Center in Baku. The Center will become the place of promotion of innovative ideas of young entrepreneurs”, Ramin Guluzade stressed.

Speaking about the ongoing work on the project Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM) supported by ITU, the Minister noted that its goal is to build the shortest transnational fiber-optic line that will connect East with West. Ramin Guluzade said that this project will help to eliminate the digital gap and open up new economic opportunities for landlocked counties of Eurasia.

The Minister expressed the hope that the Plenipotentiary Conference would identify new trends in the development of information and communication technologies in the world and stressed Azerbaijan’s readiness to continue active cooperation within the framework of the ITU’s activities.

ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao appraised highly Azerbaijan’s participation in the Plenipotentiary Conference and the success of our country in the elections. He said that he has been closely following the activities carried out in the ICT field in Azerbaijan.

“Your country has made numerous achievements in this area and has contributed to the development of ICT at the international level with the initiative of creating the Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway. Azerbaijan is doing useful work to support the development of ICT in the Eurasian region as well as in other parts of the world. We highly appreciate the very active participation of Azerbaijan in ITU's activities and know that Azerbaijan as a member of the ITU Council actively cooperates with Council members in order to eliminate some problems.

At the same time, Azerbaijan actively participates in ICT events in recent years, and hosts major events in this area. We hope that Azerbaijan will be re-elected to the ITU Council. Additionally, Azerbaijan has presented its highly qualified experts for election to the ITU Radio Regulation Board. In addition to above said, I would like to emphasize that we appreciate the great support of the President of Azerbaijan in achieving such great achievements,” Houlin Zhao said.

During the conference, the Azerbaijani delegation established close ties with representatives of many countries, carried out propaganda work to identify new areas of cooperation and increase sympathy for our country.

Even at a reception organized on behalf of the country, one could witness a high interest in the national cuisine of Azerbaijan.

Along with the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Azerbaijan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Azerbaijan’s embassy and consulate in the UAE played an important role in the achievement of high results by our country in the conference.

The re-election of Azerbaijan as a member of this prestigious international organization and the support of many countries has created the basis for the sustainable and successful continuation of large-scale work in the telecommunications sphere, and has enhanced our country's prestige in the international arena.