BDT Director's Speeches

Madam Chair, 

Distinguished delegates,

Ladies & gentlemen,

It has been an amazing and inspiring three days; I really want to thank you for your willingness to embrace our innovations and to actively engage with us through dialogue and discussion.

We have had all four seasons in Geneva this week, and you have worked through rain and snow and now we are ending with sun (symbolic), tirelessly and with enormous enthusiasm.

The level of attendance and participation at this 24th TDAG has been very solid. We welcomed Member States, from Sector Members, Associates, Academia and other stakeholders. 

I have also been particularly encouraged by the level of participation in our 8 breakouts – a big thanks to the facilitators of those sessions.  We will pay careful attention to those suggestions and will be attaching a short summary in the final report. 

I was also thrilled to see the engagement in our informal Regional Initiative sessions where we had breakfast with Bruno and Kirill; lunch with Ebrahim and Jaroslaw, and evenings with Andrew and Ioane. All of these sessions have given us the opportunity to hear your views, and also to share with you some of the challenges we face in implementing our projects and programmes.

The fact that we kept running out of time during these sessions shows the strong level of interest, and the real need for greater exchange. Having the chance to listen to you is one of the very best tools we can deploy in developing our actions.

There have been so many great suggestions throughout the entire TDAG. Even this morning we have seen an enormous level of interest in our data and indicators. For me, this is such a vital part of our work, and it was great to have your support on the way forward and suggestions for improvement.

The kind of spirited interaction we have seen this week is so welcomed. In the future, I hope we can always use this meeting as a locus for dialogue.

For me, the real value of this meeting is having you all together in one room. What an amazing opportunity for conversation!

Dear colleagues,

I think we are going to all leave this meeting today on a high. We are energized by our discussions and by the opportunities for great work and increased collaboration.

Let me just reiterate how much, as BDT Director, I appreciate your role as my advisory board, and the good guidance you provide to me and my hard-working team.

I think you have seen this week that the BDT staff are committed to assisting you and to working with you in a very direct and cooperative manner. And I hope you’re as excited as I am about the commitment from ITU’s other two Sectors to closer collaboration.

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We have a lot to do, but we have never been so well equipped to do it. So I thank you all warmly once again for your willingness to work with us, and I look forward very much indeed to continuing the great collaboration we’ve seen this week as we work to implement the Buenos Aires Action Plan.

A very special thank you to you Madam Chair, for your outstanding leadership of this groundbreaking TDAG. 

I would also like to thank my staff for their hard work and dedication, as well as our translators, interpreters, technicians, assistants, captioners and all those who have worked behind the scenes in Geneva and in the field offices to ensure the success of this meeting.

And so it just remains for me to wish you all safe travels home, and I look forward to the next time we meet. 

Thank you.