ITU Plenipotentiary 2018 to elect secretary general

ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2018 (PP-18), the highest policy-making body of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) planned from 29 October – 16 November in Dubai will elect Secretary General.

The conference also sets ITU’s financial plan and elects its five top executives – Secretary General, Deputy Secretary General and the Directors of the Radio communication, Telecommunication Standardization and Telecommunication Development Bureaux – who will guide its work over the next four years.

Decisions made at PP-18 are designed to create an enabling ICT environment where the benefits of digital connectivity can reach all people and economies, everywhere. As such, these decisions can have an impact on the telecommunication and technology sectors as well as developed and developing countries alike.

Held every four years, it is the key event at which ITU’s 193 Member States decide on the future role of the organization, thereby determining ITU’s ability to influence and affect the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) worldwide. It is expected to attract around 3,000 participants, including heads of state and an estimated 130 VIPs from more than 193 member states and more than 800 private companies, academic institutions and national, regional and international bodies.

Delegates will tackle a number of pressing issues, from strategies to promote digital inclusion and bridge the digital divide, to ways to leverage such emerging technologies as the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, 5G, and others, to improve the way all of us, everywhere, live and work.