ITU-D STUDY GROUP 2 PLENARY SESSION 2015
MONDAY 7 SEPTEMBER 2015, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
OPENING SPEECH
BRAHIMA SANOU
DIRECTOR, ITU TELECOMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT BUREAU
Prof Ahmad Sharafat
Ms. Roxanne McElvane, Chairman of Study Group 1
Vice-Chairmen of Study Group 2,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to this meeting of ITU-D Study Group 2. I would like to particularly welcome Professor Sharafat, the Chairman of Study Group 2, all vice-chairmen, rapporteurs, co-rapporteurs and vice-rapporteurs and all participants, including those who are attending the meeting remotely.
Distinguished delegates,
My vision of the ITU-D Study Groups is now well-known: Study Groups are the knowledge centre of ITU-D and they represent a unique neutral platform where experts gather to produce relevant, useful guidelines and resources for our Membership. They generate innovative ideas and good practices for the benefit of all. Furthermore, engaging in the work of ITU-D Study Groups gives access to a global pool of expertise and resources from which every country can benefit, regardless of the level of development and income.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Last year we embarked on a wonderful journey and we are now on the road to WTDC-17, using the Dubai Action Plan as our roadmap. I am pleased to note that progress has already been made in drafting some reports and guidelines. I would like to thank all of you for the large number of excellent contributions received: I have no doubt that they will lead to high-quality outputs.
This year we will let the Study Group meetings inspire you. Innovation is one of the key pillars of our work. Let’s innovate together!
For the first time, some of our Members have organized exhibits to showcase their solutions, mostly innovative applications that can improve everyone’s lives. The exhibits will take place in front of this room starting this week. This is a great opportunity to showcase the practicality of the studies conducted and of the guidelines and resources produced.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Among the many interesting issues we will discuss this week, I would like to highlight two events. The first event is the cybersecurity workshop planned for Tuesday. The workshop will share best practices on international, regional and national level approaches for enhancing cybersecurity capacity. The second event will on Friday. We will host the first ITU-D Academia network meeting. This will provide ITU Academia members and other stakeholders with an interactive forum to discuss specific goals, objectives, projects and issues. We should address in particular the creation of the ITU Journal, our new scientific and academic publication, the development of a platform for faculty exchange and curriculum harmonization, as well as innovative funding mechanisms for research.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all our Academia members who are participating in this meeting, and the first ITU-D Academia Network meeting. I hope you will enjoy this week and find all conversations and interactions useful and exciting.
I am also pleased to inform you that we now have an improved version of the ITU-D events mobile application. I invite you to download it on your smartphones and tablets.
Before I conclude, I would like to reiterate that, in order to achieve overall synergies, it is crucial that the work of the Study Groups and the implementation of programmes and regional initiatives are coherent and interrelated. I will make that we continue to improve this interrelation.
I would like to thank Prof Sharafat for his leadership and stewardship before I leave you in his abled hands.
I wish you a wonderful week.
I thank you very much.
