The World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-17) convened in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 9 to 20 October 2017 following the kind invitation of the Government of Argentina and the approval by the Council with the concurrence of a majority of the Member States of ITU. It was preceded by six regional preparatory meetings, two in the last quarter of 2016 and four in the first quarter of 2017, starting in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), then Africa, Arab States, Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.
World telecommunication development conferences (WTDCs) are convened in the period between two Plenipotentiary Conferences to consider topics, projects and programmes relevant to telecommunication development. WTDCs set the strategies and objectives for the development of telecommunication/ICT, providing future direction and guidance to the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D).
The theme of WTDC-17 was "ICT for Sustainable Development Goals" - ICT④SDGs. The draft agenda of WTDC-17, as approved by the ITU Council with the concurrence of a majority of the Member States, is available here.
Outcomes of WTDC-17 include
a Declaration reinforcing the political support for the mission and strategic objectives of ITU-D;
an ITU-D Contribution to the ITU Strategic Plan for 2020-2023;
and an ITU-D Action Plan comprising regional initiatives, new and revised resolutions and recommendations to support the fulfilment of the Sector’s objectives, and new and revised Questions to be studied by ITU-D study groups.
