17 May 2001 - World Telecommunication Day The Internet: challenges, opportunities and prospects

Dear Sir/Madam,

To celebrate this year’s World Telecommunication Day on 17 May 2001, ITU members have selected the theme "The Internet: challenges, opportunities and prospects".

The theme for this year’s day was selected in the light of the extraordinary uptake of the Internet worldwide and its wide-ranging effects on society. The Internet offers great potential to support development activities, but, at the same time, it poses challenges and threats to existing institutions and raises regulatory challenges because of its very nature and ever-growing role. World Telecommunication Day 2001 could be an excellent opportunity to discuss the prospects, challenges and opportunities of the Internet in the national context.

ITU Members are invited to celebrate this year’s World Telecommunication Day by organizing national programmes that would address:

• how can the Internet support development activities, what can be done to foster its development, what problems can it create
• how to promote its use in all segments of society
• how can it facilitate the delivery of basic services, such as health and education
• are the legislative and regulatory frameworks adequate to foster an equitable diffusion of the Internet countrywide
• how can obstacles that are impeding its diffusion and usage be removed while addressing the challenges that it poses to existing institutions.

To foster discussion, Member States and Sector Members may join forces in cooperating towards the preparation and implementation of a national programme that may consist of the launch of Internet-related programmes, adoption of new policy measures to promote Internet diffusion in underserved areas, organization of symposia involving all partners in society or round tables (television/radio, Web chat rooms, Internet cafés, schools), inaugurations of Internet Cafés, publication of press articles and advertising in national and local media.

In accordance with Resolution 68 of the Minneapolis Plenipotentiary Conference, I would appreciate your sending us, by 17 July 2001, your country’s report representing the main conclusions of the discussions you will have organized at the national level to debate the theme.

Because in the past several cassettes have been returned to ITU unclaimed, the video message of the Secretary-General will be sent on request only (please note that only Betacam SP tapes are available). Your order to receive one copy of the videotaped message should be returned by fax to +41 22 730 5939 or e-mail to pressinfo@itu.int. Promotional material (features and the videotape of the Secretary-General’s message, if ordered) will be sent to you as from mid April in a single dispatch. All material – print and video – may be locally reproduced, as needed, for national dissemination.

In the meantime, you will find attached the print version of my message together with the order form for the video message. You will also find herewith an executive summary of ITU’s report "Challenges to the network: Internet for Development", published on the occasion of ITU Telecom 99 which provides excellent background information to help you tackle the issues.

I wish you a very successful World Telecommunication Day.

Yours faithfully,

Yoshio UTSUMI
Secretary-General