The Secretary-General
Geneva, 10 February 2009
To ITU Sector Members
Reference
DM-09/1003
Contact:
Alexander Ntoko/Beatrice Pluchon
Telephone:
+41 22 730 62 66
Telefax:
+41 22 730 58 81
E-mail:
Wtpf2009@itu.int
Subject:
Invitation to the Fourth World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF-09), in
Lisbon from 21 to 24 April 2009
Dear Sir/Madam,
I have great pleasure in inviting your representatives to the fourth World
Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF-09), to be held at the Lisbon Congress Centre, in
Portugal, from 21 to 24 April 2009 at the kind invitation of the Government of Portugal.
As you are aware, the Plenipotentiary Conference, in Resolution 2 (Rev, Marrakesh,
2002), decided to establish and maintain the World Telecommunication Policy Forum
(WTPF) as a venue for discussing strategies and policies of high current policy interest in
the changing telecommunication environment. The Forum is expected to adopt “opinions”
illustrating a shared vision among policy-makers worldwide on the future of the
telecommunications and ICTs.
Pursuant to Decision 9 (Antalya, 2006), WTPF-09 will address the following themes:
-
Convergence, including Internet-related public policy matters;
Next Generation Networks (NGNs);
Emerging telecommunication policy and regulatory issues;
The review of the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs).
Discussions during the Forum will be based on the Report of the Secretary-General
prepared with the assistance of an Informal Expert Group representing the ITU
Membership.
More information on the Forum is available at: http://www.itu.int/wtpf2009/
During the Forum, Heads of Delegations will be invited to present their comments on the
Report of the Secretary-General, with a view towards the general adoption of the
opinions.
Given the time constraints imposed by the need for translation into six languages, we
would request that those comments be sent to the Secretariat no later than 1 April
2009.
I am also pleased to inform you that in the wake of the unprecedented economic crisis
affecting all industry sectors, this year’s WTPF will incorporate a special Strategic
International Telecommunication Union y Place des Nations y CH-1211 Geneva y Switzerland
www.itu.int
Dialogue on ICTs, to be held on 21 April. More information on the Strategic Dialogue is
available on the Forum website.
Lastly, since the issues at this year’s Forum touch on the future of ICTs, ITU is launching
a video contest asking young people from around the world to share their visions on the
future of information and communication technologies. Selected videos will be screened
at the WTPF and winning entrants will be invited to attend the event.
More information on this contest will soon be available on ITU’s YouTube channel:
www.youtube.com/user/itutelecommunication.
The presence of young ideas will bring a fresh and invigorating dimension to this year’s
WTPF, which can only assist us in our important work. I therefore invite Sector Members
to include, to the extent possible, some young people from the ages of 18-26 in their
delegation.
I look forward to welcoming you to Lisbon,
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Hamadoun. I. Touré
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