Recognizing WSIS Impacts

WTDC RESOLUTION 54 (Rev. Dubai, 2014)

Information and communication technology applications

The World Telecommunication Development Conference (Dubai, 2014),

• recalling
  • a) Resolution 54 (Rev. Hyderabad, 2010) of the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC);
  • b) Resolution 65 (Rev. Hyderabad, 2010) of WTDC;
  • c) Resolution 74 (Rev. Hyderabad, 2010) of WTDC;
  • d) Action Line C7 of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, covering the following ICT applications:
    • • e‑government
    • • e‑business
    • • e‑learning
    • • e‑health
    • • e‑employment
    • • e‑environment
    • • e‑agriculture
    • • e‑science,
• considering
  • a) the lessons learned from the implementation of Action Line C7 of the Tunis Agenda;
  • b) that the goal of using and disseminating information and communication technology (ICT) is to bring benefits in all aspects of our daily life, and that ICTs are enormously important in facilitating citizens’ access to these applications;
  • c) that the sharing of infrastructure, when employed to support these applications, will lead to considerable savings in the cost of provision;
  • d) that the dissemination of these applications must give due regard to local needs in terms of language, culture and sustainable development;
  • e) that one of the principal advantages of satellite is access to remote, local communities without increased connection costs due to distance or to the geographical features of the areas in which the societies are located;
  • f) that the security and privacy of these applications require the building of confidence in the use of ICT for this purpose;
  • g) that as ICT is being continuously integrated into all sectors of society, the applications referred to in Action Line C7 of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) are triggering profound changes in social productivity and hastening a major leap forward in industrial productivity, thus creating a good opportunity for developing countries to raise their level of industrial development and improve social and economic growth;
  • h) that sharing of experiences and best practices among ITU members will help to facilitate deployment of these applications,
• noting
  • a) that digital literacy is a requirement for closing the digital divide;
  • b) that developing countries benefit from integrating ICTs into educational systems, by providing a more effective education experience and ensuring that all students obtain the skills necessary to succeed in a knowledge‑based economy and society;
  • c) that the benefits extend beyond the students:
    • – to their families, who may benefit from access to ICTs;
    • – to the local community, by leveraging schools transformed into the digital literacy training centres for all citizens; and
    • – to the broader community, by significantly increasing broadband and ICT penetration;
  • d) that such a transformation will improve education, assist in connecting all citizens globally, and facilitate the effective use of national resources for the future of children and society;
  • e) that countries and communities have limited education budgets which have to be apportioned among many different needs, and so studies on the relative benefits of ICTs in educational systems will help countries and communities make informed decisions,
• resolves to instruct the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau
  • 1 to continue to conduct detailed studies on ICT applications, focusing on the eight areas referred to in Action Line C7 of the WSIS Geneva Action Plan, and ICT applications for industry, as well as studies on the requirements for sustainable management and investment in telecommunications that enable access to these applications and services, relying upon the expertise acquired in the implementation of that action line, and taking into consideration the means available for implementation (whether wireline, wireless, terrestrial, satellite, fixed, mobile, narrowband or broadband);
  • 2 to facilitate discussion and exchange of best practices regarding the challenges and benefits of implementing projects or activities relating to e‑applications referred to in WSIS Action Line C7 through strategic partnerships;
  • 3 to take into consideration the importance of the security and confidentiality of the ICT applications highlighted in WSIS Action Line C7 and of protection of privacy, in order to facilitate discussions regarding guidelines, tools, strategies and mechanisms; improve collaboration between government authorities; implement user-friendly government services, potentially including integration and personalization of services; improve the quality of e‑government services; and increase awareness of such services;
  • 4 to promote the sharing of Member States’ strategies, best practices and technological platforms, increased technical support and training for these various WSIS Action Line C7 applications,and the sharing of guidelines and best practices for these applications with the developing countries, inter alia through a regional and/or global collaborative network based on the creation and/or strengthening of ICT applications referred to in WSIS Action Line C7;
  • 5 to work with respective sectors and other partners related to their ICT applications referred to in WSIS Action Line C7, with emphasis on services for remote and rural areas of developing countries, using all available means as indicated in resolves 1;
  • 6 to continue to promote the development of telecommunication standards for e‑health network solutions and interconnection with medical devices in the developing-country environment of, in conjunction with the ITU Radiocommunication Sector and the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector in particular;
  • 7 to continue to make these applications a major strand for the activities of the relevant BDT programme, focusing on its key role for the implementation of study Questions related to ICT applications for the previous and forthcoming study periods;
  • 8 to circulate the outputs of these activities on applications to all Member States on a regular basis;
  • 9 to continue to inform forthcoming WTDCs of the lessons learned and of any amendments the Director may propose with a view to updating this resolution;
  • 10 to ensure that the necessary resources within the budgetary limits are allocated to the above actions,
• invites
  • international financial institutions, donor agencies and private‑sector entities to assist and to develop different business models in developing ICT applications referred to in WSIS Action Line C7, including public-private partnership projects and programmes in developing countries,
• invites Member States and Sector Members
  • 1 to incorporate, in their e‑government strategies and programmes, actions to encourage the use of ICTs to improve collaboration between government authorities, actions to encourage the implementation of user-friendly services, potentially including integration and personalization of services to improve the quality of e‑government services, and actions to increase awareness of such services;
  • 2 to provide the Telecommunication Development Bureau with details of work relating to monitoring and evaluation of the status, usage, quality and impact of e‑government;
  • 3 to participate actively in regional and global collaborative forums dealing with experiences and best practices in the implementation of e‑government strategies and programmes,
• encourages Member States and Sector Members
  • 1 to participate in the study of the role of ICTs in educational systems, by contributing their own experiences regarding the implementation of ICTs for achieving universal education worldwide;
  • 2 to support the collection and analysis of data and statistics on e‑applications services, such as ICT applications in industry, e‑government and e‑health and ICT in education, that will contribute to public policy design and implementation as well as enabling cross-country comparisons.