PP-10 Newsroom: PP-10 Fact Sheet
|
What it is...
The International Telecommunication Union Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-10) is
the top policy making body of the ITU. Held every four years, it sets the
policy, financial planning and strategic goals of the Union. PP-10 will be
convened in Guadalajara, Mexico, from 4 to 22 October 2010.
The Plenipotentiary represents the key opportunity for Member States of the ITU
to decide on, and influence, its future strategic direction, with implications
for future information and communications technology (ICT) policies throughout
the world.
In addition to this, PP-10 also elects the senior management team of the ITU1,
the members of the ITU Council2, and the
members of the Radio Regulations Board3.
The outcome of these elections is determined through voting.
The Conference is open to all Member States of the ITU, as well as observer
organizations and entities. Only accredited delegations of Member States have
the right to vote and sign the Final Acts of the Conference. PP-10 is expected
to gather some 2000 delegates together, representing 160 countries and 40
organizations.
1 These are the Secretary General, the Deputy
Secretary General, the Directors of the Bureaux for the Sectors:
Radiocommunication (BR); Telecommunication Standardization (TSB); and
Telecommunication Development (BDT).
2 There are currently 46 members of the
Council.
3 There are 12 Members of the Radio
Regulations Board, performing duties on an independent and part-time basis. |
|
|
|
What it debates and decides…
A Steering Committee coordinates the work of the
PP-10
agenda which is decided by the Conference and reflected in
Article 8 of
the Constitution.
In addition to steering the strategic direction and priorities of the Union,
including upcoming conferences and the way forward for
ITU Telecom, PP-10 will provide
delegates with the opportunity to discuss key topics related to the future of
the Information society. Topics such as:
-
Cybersecurity: The global proliferation of ICT has brought
many welcome developments. However, it has – inadvertently –
allowed a worldwide upsurge in online abuse ranging from spam to
cybercrime, identity theft, the exposure of vulnerable groups
such as children to online harm, and even the possibility of
cyber-terrorism and cyber-warfare.
Under its responsibilities to the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS), ITU has responsibility for three
Action Lines, and particularly for Action Line C5 – building
confidence and security in ICTs. ITU was tasked by the last
Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-06) to take all necessary and
concrete steps to curb security problems in cyberspace to
satisfy these Action Lines. It subsequently developed the Global
Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA), an international framework for
co-operation. It then extended this by partnering with IMPACT,
the International Partnership Against Cyber Threats, to create
an initiative supplying technical and information resources and
toolkits for more than 60 countries. ITU has also developed the
Child Online Protection (COP) initiative as part of the GCA.
PP-10 will examine the desirability of further international
consensus to fight cybercrime.
-
Internet addressing: As the
explosion in online connectivity continues, the internet
community is rapidly running out of address space. IPv6 is an
initiative designed to replace the current, but now, limited,
IPv4 addressing system. However, the rate of IPv6 adoption is
causing concern among many in the worldwide ICT community, who
fear that if it is not implemented in a timely and effective
fashion, some users may potentially lose internet connectivity,
or experience network disruption. PP-10 will examine how this
transition should be managed and accelerated for the benefit of
all, and the role of ITU in the transition.
-
International Telecommunication
Regulations (ITR): The ITRs represent the key framework
of international telecommunications regulation. Among other
issues, they represent provisions for how interconnecting
service providers in different countries should relate to each
other in terms of traffic, accounting and billing, and other key
policies. Since the last revision of the ITRs in Melbourne,
Australia in 1988, market deregulation has allowed many new
service providers, while mobile communications and internet
connectivity has exploded globally. PP-10 will continue the
debate on the possible revision of the ITRs to take account of
these developments in preparation for the ITU’s upcoming World
Conference on International Telecommunications in 2012.
-
Digital Divide: In the first
decade of the new millennium, ICT growth – especially in the
developing world – has been phenomenal. In just ten years the
number of mobile cellular subscriptions has grown from 500
million to over five billion. And by the end of 2010, the number
of Internet users will be nearing two billion. Because
technology is vital to socio-economic development, ITU continues
to focus on strategies to further shrink the digital divide. The
next challenge is broadband. As high-speed networks become the
rule in advanced markets, those without broadband will quickly
find themselves just as marginalized as those who lacked basic
phone service 20 years ago. PP-10 will look at ways of bringing
equitable and affordable broadband access to all, so that
everyone is empowered to create information, use information,
and share information freely, for the betterment of humanity.
|
|