ITU-D convenes global and strategic dialogues among ICT regulators on the salient issues facing today’s economies and societies to allow for knowledge exchange and regulatory best practice guidelines so that emerging trends are recognized, understood and integrated into policy and regulation. ITU Members and Sector Members have greatly benefited from these productive dialogues.

Since the year 2000, the annual Global Symposium for Regulators, known as GSR, has continued to grow as the platform for constructive thinking and sharing of best practices in ICT/telecommunication policy, regulation and economic issues. The GSR Best Practice Guidelines are the golden nugget regulators from all regions, shape together every year and establish as international benchmark.

The Chief Regulatory Officers (CROs) meeting held at GSRs since 2012 has been conceptualized to facilitate discussion and information sharing among ICT/telecommunication operators, service providers, and technology companies. Senior industry executives gather regularly to discuss common issues, share best practices and forge industry's perspectives in key areas such as attracting investment, public-private partnerships and regulatory processes.

ITU-D regional economic and financial and other forums around the world have enhanced dialogue and knowledge sharing between national regulators, policy‐makers and other ICT/Telecommunication stakeholders on regulatory, economic and financial issues. The ITU-D Let’s Roam the World, launched in 2013, assists policy makers, national regulatory authorities (NRAs), regional regulatory associations, International Organization, and consumer representatives in the definition and adaptation of best practices and guidelines for all stakeholders around the world on International Mobile Roaming.

ITU-D has been building human and institutional capacity at ICT regulatory authorities across the world through various executive and expert-level training activities as well as through direct technical assistance to ITU Member States.

For over 25 years, ITU-D has designed and made available to ICT regulators important tools to analyze the complex regulatory environment in the digital age and provide advice on the legion of topics and issues in regulators’ purview, ranging from institutional frameworks to licensing to universal service mechanisms to quality of service. The ICT Regulation Toolkit, the ICT Regulatory Tracker, the Trends in Telecommunication Reform report series and the Global ICT Regulatory Outlook Report, among others, provide tools and hands-on materials for ICT/telecommunications regulators to forge regulation that ensure opportunities outweigh challenges. Those knowledge-based tools are, likewise, well-suited to enhance collaboration among the various stakeholders involved in digital policies.

ITU-D has been building a solid evidence base for policy and decision making through the extensive data work on ICT policy, regulation, economics and financial issues.

From data collection to database management to data dissemination on ICT regulation and economic and financial issues, ITU-D’s data work provides a blueprint for regulators in all regions and levels of ICT market maturity and regulation. The ITU’s ICT-Eye data platform is home to some 300 regulatory and economic indicators and over 28 million data points. The ITU Broadband Atlas, an interactive online 3D data visualization tool, allows for a birds-eye view on the development of major policy and regulatory areas globally.

ITU-D has been tracking the evolution of the generations of ICT regulation through the ICT Regulatory Tracker, an evidence-based analytical tool, to guide policy makers and regulators as well as other stakeholders on regulatory and policy issues and provide the basis for human, technical and financial resources.

The ICT Regulatory Tracker, first launched in 2015, is composed of a mix of 50 quantitative and qualitative indicators, ranging from accountability to infrastructure sharing to competition in market segments, across four clusters – regulatory authority, regulatory mandate, regulatory regime and competition framework. The Tracker covers over 185 ITU Member States for the period 2007-2015 The tool enables analysts to understand the rapid evolution and to anticipate future change.

ITU-D has been assisting developing countries with the management of radio frequency to maximize the use of appropriate new technologies for the development of information and communication infrastructures and services.

ITU’s Spectrum Management Software for Developing Countries (SMS4DC), which was first released in 2007 and is now in use in over 40 countries, helps developing countries manage radio frequency more efficiently and transparently at an affordable price. SMS4DC is a harmonized, efficient, automated technical and administrative tool for spectrum management in developing countries. Its functions and features have been upgraded six times over the past 10 years and its most recent version is available in English, French and Spanish. Specialized tools and guidelines for various aspects of spectrum management continue to be developed.

Since 2009, ITU-D has assisted more than 40 countries with the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, bring new opportunities to all stakeholders, from manufacturers, to broadcasters and end-users.

Guidelines for the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting were published in 2010 to provide information and recommendations on policy, regulation, technologies, network planning, customer awareness and business planning. The work done in this area has enabled developing countries to achieve smooth migration from analogue to digital broadcasting including terrestrial TV, mobile TV and sound broadcasting. ITU-D also assists countries in the post-transition activities.

ITU-D has developed masterplans for broadband networks to allow for high-speed transmission of voice, video and data.

Since 2011 ITU-D has been developing developed reports, case studies and masterplans for broadband networks for eight countries in Africa and in the Asia and the Pacific regions. It is important to provide developing countries with an understanding of the different technologies available for broadband using both wired and wireless technologies for terrestrial and satellite telecommunications.

ITU continues to implement and update the ITU Interactive Terrestrial Transmission Maps online. The Maps, first released in 2013, are a cutting-edge ICT-data mapping platform that features national backbone connectivity (optical fibres, microwave links and satellite earth stations) as well as other key metrics of the ICT sector. In 2013, ground-breaking new maps of the Global Information Superhighway were released by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and ITU. For the first time ever, the ITU Interactive Terrestrial Transmission/ESCAP Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway Maps showed policy makers and investors where the missing links in terrestrial transmission are across the Asia and the Pacific region, assisting ESCAP in its efforts to bring affordable ICT and broadband connectivity for all.

As of May 2017, the Maps contains information on 17.953 nodes interconnecting 2.48 billion kilometres of transmission links from 394 high-speed network providers in 184 countries.

Since 2014, the ITU-D Innovation Platform has helped to strengthen Members’ capacity to integrate ICT innovation in their national development agenda and to promote a culture of innovation.

Innovation was identified as a priority for development at the World Telecommunication Development Conference in 2014.

The ITU-D Innovation platform offers a comprehensive knowledge-sharing and networking platform for key stakeholders. Since its creation the platform has engaged more than 300 stakeholders in over 100 entities in six countries worldwide. The platform features outcomes and results of national workshops held during ICT centric country assessments, regional innovation forums and innovation dialogues aimed at fostering advocacy, awareness and resource mobilization.

ITU-D conducts ICT Centric Innovation Reviews to help develop digital innovation ecosystems, accelerate digital transformation, catalyze ICT entrepreneurship, and enhance ICT sector competitiveness.

ITU-D country based reviews of ICT-centric innovation ecosystems bring together six key stakeholders groups representing the complex ICT Innovation ecosystem. The reviews foster both grassroots and top down approaches to building policies and programs that strengthen the ICT start-up ecosystem, accelerate public services transformation, and help develop a private sector led ICT enabled segment of the economy fostering inclusive development.

In 2016, ITU-D published the first ICT Centric Innovation Ecosystem Country Review for Albania. The review examines the dynamics of the ICT centric innovation ecosystem in Albania, and makes recommendations to strengthen the country’s ability to integrate ICT innovation in its national development agenda. Similar reviews are underway for Rwanda, Kenya, and Thailand.

ITU-D is helping to build digital innovation frameworks and roadmaps with a toolkit fostering digital transformation.

The first Digital innovation framework toolkit was launched in June 2017.

With this toolkit, countries are empowered to diagnose and develop projects and policies to strengthen ICT entrepreneurship, integration of ICT innovation into other sectors, and foster the expansion of small ICT firms such as SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises).

ITU-D continues to promote and enhance partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders. More than 900 agreements have been signed with a great variety of stakeholders from the public and private sector, regional and international organizations, UN Agencies, financial institutions, academia, and foundations.

The agreements signed support the implementation of global, regional and national projects, initiatives and activities for promoting and expanding the benefits of telecommunications/ICTs as drivers of development, innovation, well-being, growth and productivity through various innovative resoure mobilization tools and services such as sponsorship opportunities.

ITU-D has been harnessing the power of mobiles phones and mobile applications to deliver a wide range of services and information to the public and especially to people living in rural and remote areas.

In 2012, ITU and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Be He@lthy Be Mobile initiative, which aims to assist governments in the use of mobile technology to improve their existing national health activities to prevent, manage and treat non-communicable diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke, lung disease, diabetes and their risk factors. Since its launch the initiative has been established in several countries, including Costa Rica, Senegal, United Kingdom, Tunisia, Norway, India, Zambia, Egypt, the Philippines and Burkina Faso.

In 2016, ITU and WHO achieved a historic milestone by bringing together ministers of telecommunication/ICT and ministers of health for the first time at an inter-ministerial round table to discuss opportunities for the full adoption of ICTs to attain Universal Health Coverage.

In the same year, ITU worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to develop an e-Agriculture Strategy Guide to help Member States to adopt a strategic approach in making the best use of ICT developments in agriculture.

In 2016 and 2017, ITU and the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) organized two policy forums that brought together ministers of telecommunication/ICT and ministers of education to examine the role that policies and cross sectoral collaboration can play on fostering the use of mobile technology to improve the quality, equity and accessibility of education.

ITU-D has also developed a National eHealth Strategy toolkit in collaboration with WHO to help countries to develop national eHealth strategies. Furthermore, a joint ITU-WHO-EU mHealth Innovation and Knowledge Hub for Europe has also been established to facilitate knowledge exchange and the upscale of digital innovations for health in Europe.

ITU-D Study Groups are a unique neutral contribution-driven platform where experts gather to produce relevant tools, useful guidelines and resources for our Membership on development issues.

ITU-D Study Group 1 & 2 were established by the WTDC-94 held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For 25 years, the Study Groups have provided a platform for exchange and consensus building, generating 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.

Through the Study Groups ITU-D Membership has together developed informative Reports, Guidelines and Recommendations. As of 2017, the Study Groups have published over 100 publications in all the six UN official languages. 18 more publications with informative guidelines will be shared with WTDC-17 this year.

ITU-D has been working with partners from public, private sector, academia, international organizations and civil society to support ITU Members in building trust and confidence in the use of ICTs.

ITU helps countries to establish National Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT), which serves as a national focus point for coordinating cybersecurity incident response to cyber-attacks in the country. The first CIRT was established in 2012. A CIRT assessment defines the readiness to implement a national CIRT. As of 2017, ITU-D has completed CIRT assessments in 68 countries, and assisted 15 countries in establishing National CIRTs.

In partnership with a number of organizations, ITU-D continues to conduct Cyber Drills worldwide. During a Cyber Drill CIRT teams study and evaluate the core functions of established CIRTs, to verify that they are effective in managing incidents as well as ensuring proper inter-CIRT cooperation, consistent with international standards and good practice.

In partnership with 15 entities, spanning from international governmental organizations, private sectors and academia, ITU is facilitating the elaboration of a publication related to National Cybersecurity Strategies, which will soon be made available to Member States. The publication aims at providing a collection of good practices on establishing national strategies in order to assist countries in their efforts toward improving cybersecurity at the national level.

In 2014, ITU-D presented the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), a unique initiative to measure the levels of cybersecurity in countries. The initiative underlies ITU’s commitment to strengthening cybersecurity and plugging the gaps worldwide while building capacity at the national level, particularly in developing countries. The work on the GCI has resulted in helping countries identify areas for improvement, motivating action to improve cybersecurity, raising the level of cybersecurity worldwide, helping to identify and promote best practices, and has fostered a global culture of cybersecurity. A 2017 edition of the GCI will be launched at the WSIS Forum 2017.

In 2008, ITU and the European Union launched a multi country project, entitled "Support for the Establishment of Harmonized Policies for the ICT Market in the ACP States" to develop and promote harmonized policies and guidelines for the ICT sector as well as human and institutional capacity building in the field of ICT through training, education, and knowledge sharing measures.

Since 2011, ITU and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime have collaborated globally to assist Member States in mitigating the risks posed by cybercrime with the objective of ensuring secure use of information and Communication Technologies. Workshops and seminars were jointly organized in the Asia and Pacific and Africa regions and in-country assistance continues to be provided to Member States.

During the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2014, a letter of agreement was signed between ITU and The Internet Society on joint activities related to combat the proliferation of SPAM.

Through the Centers of Excellence ITU-D has helped to build the skills needed in the digital area and has responded to the high demand for training for policy makers, regulators and executives.

In 2000, ITU-D established Centres of Excellence (CoEs) across the globe to respond to the high demand for training for policy makers, regulators and executives. The number of centers grew from only two in Africa (2001) to a global network of 66 by the end of the first decade in 2010. The Centers of Excellence managed to meet the most pressing needs of the Membership for skills and competencies. By the end of 2010, the CoEs were running over 130 training activities and training over 3000 professionals worldwide.

At the World Telecommunication Development Conference in 2010 (WTCD-10), a new strategy was adopted to renew and revitalize the CoEs. Under the new strategy, which came into effect in 2015, the CoE network was streamlined from 66 to 32 Centers across the six regions, with each Centre focusing on specific priority areas, and operating within the lifespan of a WTDC cycle. The development and successful implementation of the new Centres of Excellence strategy was another major milestone in the capacity building field.

The ITU Academy works to harmonize, integrate and bring all training activities within ITU under one roof.

The ITU Academy, created in 2012, has been involved in the development of standardised training material as well as in the delivery of training. The delivery is conducted both through the Centres of Excellence, as well as on the ITU Academy online learning platform. Training services under the ITU Academy cover the organization's main areas of activity – radio communications, standardization and development. Since the establishment of the ITU Academy, comprehensive training programmes have been developed in the areas of Spectrum Management, Quality of Service, and ICT and Climate Change. Work is ongoing in the area of Internet of Things and in Internet governance. The ITU Academy is now a respected capacity building brand that works with several institutions, including Universities, to run programs and even jointly offer degrees in specialised areas.

ITU-D works with more than 20 partners from within its Membership, leveraging on their unique expertise in developing human and institutional capacity for the Membership.

The first major call for partners was in 2001 when the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) launched the ITU Internet Training Centre Initiative.

In response to the call, the private company CISCO signed an agreement with ITU-D to establish 50 Internet Training Centres around the world to deliver training in IP networking. As of 2015, the number of ITU-supported CISCO Internet Training Centres is 71 in 59 countries, with more than 51 000 students trained. Most of the graduates were able to secure jobs, and some have established their own start-ups as a result of the training.

In 2002, ITU-D and the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) signed an agreement to train policymakers and regulators from developing countries in the areas of telecommunications management and regulation. As of 2017, 189 officials from 53 countries have been trained under this partnership.

Other partners from the private sector, development agencies, international organizations, and academia have since come on board. Partnerships with academia were strengthened and collaboration has focused on the development of training materials and the delivery of training programmes. Currently, ITU-D is offering an online Master’s degree programme using the ITU Academy platform, thanks to its partnership with the United Kingdom Telecommunications Academy (UKTA), which started in 2014.

Global benchmarking tools produced by ITU-D are widely-used by governments to monitor their policy achievements.

Since 2009, ITU-D has published the ICT Development Index (IDI), the leading global benchmark which tracks progress on ICT access, use and skills for about 175 economies.

ITU-D has also regularly published the ICT Price Basket, the only truly global benchmark on the affordability of key ICT services, based on consumer prices for both mobile and fixed services, for more than 184 economies.

Developments on the spread and affordability of ICTs, as well as on the adoption of emerging innovations, are analyzed and disseminated worldwide through the annual Measuring the Information Society Report and the ICT Facts and Figures newsletter.

The work on measuring the information society has raised global awareness of the digital divide and spurred action towards bringing more people, especially from least developed countries, to join and benefit from the information society.

ITU-D leads the global monitoring of the information society and offers the main global platform for standard-setting of telecommunication and information society measurements.

ITU-D has enhanced the quality and comparability of ICT statistics worldwide through the development of manuals and the provision of training and technical workshops. Since 2004, more than 85 developing countries have benefited from training courses on the production of ICT statistics through national household surveys. In addition, ITU-D has helped numerous countries through its regional and national workshops to enhance data collection in the area of ICT infrastructure and access indicators from administrative data sources. The training courses and workshops are based on methodologies developed through two expert groups: Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI) and the Expert Group on ICT Household Indicators (EGH).

Conducted since 1996, the annual event - World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS) - has brought together Ministers and business leaders along with experts from regulators, national statistical offices and academia to provide strategic guidance to the international community on emerging trends and future monitoring of the information society.

The successful collaboration on ICT Measurements has led to the inclusion of the ICT indicators in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators framework, which serves as a basis for data production and monitoring of key development aspects until 2030.

In order to increase the availability, quality, and comparability of ICT statistics worldwide, ITU collaborates closely with other international bodies. Since 2004, ITU-D has led and participated actively in the work of the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development. The Partnership, through its 14 international and regional member organizations, coordinates effort and resources, to define core indicators, publish harmonized methodologies, and build capacity for measuring the information society, especially in less-developed countries. The success of this work has been reflected in the ICT indicators included in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator framework, which serves as a basis for data production and monitoring of key development aspects until 2030.

The international Girls in ICT Day campaign is a driving force that encourages and empowers girls and young women to prepare for and take up ICT careers as well as to raise awareness among decision makers on the need to attract more women to ICT jobs.

ITU-D leads the International Girls in ICT Day campaign to encourage girls and young women before they make their career and educational choices to study STEM subjects and learn digital skills.

From 2011-2017, 300,000 girls in 166 countries were encouraged and empowered to pursue ICT studies and careers through events organized as part of the International Girls in ICT Day Campaign.

Half a billion decision makers, stakeholders, young women and girls have had their awareness raised through our related Girls in ICT social media campaign using the #GirlsinICT Twitter hashtag.

The Girls in ICT Portal, with over 480,000 views, is an effective communications tool to share the latest related trends, best practices and a toolkit for Girls in ICT Day organizers and also links to the Girls in ICT Facebook page.

ICT policy makers, regulators and private sector stakeholders have at their disposal a powerful tool to create their own policy and regulatory framework on ICT accessibility for persons with disabilities.

The Model ICT Accessibility Policy report, a tool, launched in 2014, for national policy-makers and regulators to create their own ICT accessibility policy frameworks, is available in ITU’s six official languages.

ITU-D also provides technical assistance to ITU Member States to support development of their own national ICT accessibility policies, based on the Model ICT Accessibility Policy.

ICT policy makers, regulators and private sector stakeholders have benefitted from extensive training to build their capacity to design and implement a range of policies regulations and practices to ensure ICTs are accessible for persons with disabilities.

ICT accessibility policy frameworks are required to ensure persons with disabilities can participate equally in society. ITU-D developed an extensive set of training materials and conducted numerous training sessions for ITU members.

1000 ITU members and stakeholders have been trained on ICT accessibility policies, regulations and practices in ITU Study Groups, Regional Initiatives and other ITU meetings.

Training addresses mobile, web and TV accessibility, the accessibility of services in public ICT access centers, changes to national ICT laws to promote accessibility as well as public procurement of accessible ICTs which enables governments to leverage their tremendous purchasing power to drive innovation and lower costs for accessible ICTs.

Trusted ITU research has built a solid evidence base for policy and decision-making on digital skills to increase youth employment. This research is enhanced by related training programmes and awareness raising on digital skills for youth employment.

Over 1,500 digital inclusion best practices have been shared with ITU members on the Digital Inclusion Newslog.

ITU-D research on digital skills for youth employment is published in the Digital Opportunities: Innovative ICT solutions for youth employment and Coding Bootcamps: a strategy for Youth Employment reports.

ITU-D also offers a coding bootcamp training programme to support stakeholders to launch their own bootcamps to support job creation.

The ICT Resources for Youth on Employment and Entrepreneurship database shares training opportunities to learn digital skills, links to online mentoring networks and other resources to support youth employment and entrepreneurship.

ITU is leading the digital skills thematic work of the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth, a multi-stakeholder partnership to address the global youth unemployment crisis, including a joint ITU-ILO global campaign to train 5 million youth with job-ready digital skills.

One million women at the bottom of the development pyramid were trained to be digitally literate through the joint ITU-Telecentre.org Foundation Women’s Digital Literacy campaign and over 3,000 Indigenous Leaders in the Americas have been empowered through online training delivered on ITU Academy in partnership with Fondo Indigena from 2005-2017.

ITU-D has facilitated emergency disaster response by deploying emergency telecommunication equipment when disasters strike and preparing countries for disasters, including through the use of new technologies and tools

Disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and flooding, affect all regions and income groups, but hit the most vulnerable hardest in terms of human and economic loss. The work in the area of emergency telecommunications has helped to save many lives threatened by disasters.

In December 2004 the first emergency telecommunication equipment following the South East Asia earthquake and tsunami was deployed.

ITU-D uses big data to fight epidemics

In 2014, when the Ebola virus disease continued to spread in Western Africa, ITU-D launched the ‘big data for epidemics’ project. Through this project, ITU-D helped governments and aid agencies to use official data from mobile network operators to track the outbreak of diseases while safeguarding individual privacy.

In December 2004 the first emergency telecommunication equipment following the South East Asia earthquake and tsunami was deployed.In 2015 a project was officially launched in Freetown, Sierra Leone on the use of Call Data Records (CDR) for mitigating the transmission of Ebola to benefit Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea as part of the implementation of ITU 2014 Plenipotentiary Resolution 202 on the use of telecommunications/ICT to mitigate the impact of epidemics. The results of this project are outlined in the first set of reports that have just been released on Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Global, national and regional workshops and trainings have helped to increase awareness, provide guidance and build capacity of policy makers and governments in the area of ICTs for disaster management and to strengthen human and institutional capacity.

In 2001 the first Handbook on Disaster Communications was launched. The handbook has helped to evaluate, plan and conduct communications in case of disaster and provided an overview of the field of disaster communications.

The Global Emergency Forum on Telecommunications (GET), held every two years, serves as an international platform to discuss international emergency telecommunication policy and disaster risk reduction topics and facilitate discussion and information sharing.

Public-private partnerships and synergies have helped to amplify the effectiveness of disaster management.

To coordinate response efforts, the ITU Framework for Cooperation in Emergencies (IFCE), launched in 2002, brings together key players from technology, logistics and finance. Many public and private sector partners, including satellite and mobile-cellular operators, but also transportation companies and public stakeholders, have provided financial and in-kind support to ITU’s work.

Disaster management efforts are coordinated at the international level to work with governments, related UN agencies but also humanitarian organizations and other players, and to implement international treaties, and to develop, promote and implement standards. Through its work, Members States and other stakeholders are informed and guided in the area of emergency telecommunications to fulfill the objectives of the Tampere Convention - adopted by the international community in 1998 - a life-saving international treaty to facilitate the import and deployment of emergency telecommunicaton equipment in countries hit by disasters.

ICT opportunities have been created to leapfrog development challenges and ensure that the most vulnerable are not left behind.

The least developed countries (LDCs), small island developing states (SIDS), landlocked developing countries (LLDC) and countries with economies in transition face a set of challenges that make them particularly vulnerable. We makes sure that these countries can take advantage of the opportunities of ICTs.

Since 2002, when the World Telecommunication Development Conference held in Istanbul set up the special programme for least developed countries, ITU-D has helped to accelerate the pace of telecommunication and ICT developments in LDCs. This includes specific projects on the LDCs to drive infrastructure developments and to promote public-private co-financing of telecommunication infrastructure.

A number of resolutions on special actions and measures for the LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS and countries with economies in transition ensure that special attention is given to use ICTs to drive developments amongst the most vulnerable states and population groups. Since the year 2000, when Cambodia, Chad and Comoros were the first 3 countries to benefit from ITU’s special assistance to LDCs, close to a third of LDCs are identified every year to receive assistance.

Specific policy guidance is provided to the LDCs and reports are produced to identify key challenges and opportunities. Their progress is benchmarked and the Connect 2020 Agenda includes several targets specifically addressed to the LDCs.

ITU-D tackles the challenges of climate change and e-waste by providing ITU Member States with concrete solutions.

ITU-D tackles the challenges of climate change by providing ITU Member States with concrete solutions and projects, including through the establishment of early warning systems (EWS). EWS provide timely and live-saving alerts in case of floods, mudslides, and other disasters caused and aggravated by climate change.

ITU-D works towards the environmentally sound management of e-waste and tackles the e-waste problem by quantifying it.

The global e-waste challenge is addressed on several fronts: guidelines on model policies for ICTs generated e-waste management are developed to guide countries on the administrative, technical, social and economic aspects to be included in a legal framework. The guidelines also refer to minimum standards required for specific regulations, and important first step towards the environmentally sound management of e-waste.

In cooperation with the United Nations University and the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), ITU-D provides a clearer picture of the e-waste challenge through better data and information, and the production of the global e-waste monitor. Data on e-waste are required to evaluate developments over time, elaborate national and international policies and to limit its generation, prevent illegal dumping, promote recycling, and to create jobs in the recycling sectors. Quantifying the e-waste problem is an important step towards solving the global e-waste issue.

ITU-D is developing a pilot project to establish an e-waste plant that will develop guidelines and processes to recycle and refurbish e-waste, and that will be replicated to other countries.

ITU-D brings together ITU Member States, Telecommunication companies, Academia and other stakeholders in the ICT sector to share knowledge, experience and best practices.

Since 1992, ITU-D Membership has greatly evolved in numbers and industry representation as a reflection of the fast-paced ICT sector itself. From 27 private sector members in 1994, today ITU-D has over 300 leading ICT companies and other stakeholders and continues to embrace new players in the ICT-converged ecosystem. This evolving community of sector members, together with ITU’s 193 Member States, is a successful model of public-private collaboration. The Academia Membership has grown to over 150 universities and other higher learning institutions socio-economic and scientific knowledge to our work. In a networked society and throughout the last 25 years, ITU-D Membership has proven its unique strength in terms of networking and knowledge sharing platform where governments, industries, academia and many stakeholders have a common and trusted playing field to set the ICT development agenda and partner for a connected, smart society.

Projects implemented by ITU-D have been making a difference in the lives of people and have offered sustainable and innovative solutions around the world to achieve development through ICT.

For the last 25 years, ITU projects have been making a difference in the lives of people and have offered sustainable and innovative solutions around the world to achieve development through ICT.

Over 350 ICT related projects have been developed and implemented, at the national, regional and global level, benefiting over 132 countries.

ITU-D has offered tailor-made projects for multi-stakeholder needs, with recognized long-standing technical expertise in the ICT field and comprehensive project management experience. Through projects, Member States have greatly benefitted from assistance of ITU in various areas of action. Most the implemented projects were in the areas of: Technology and network development; Capacity building; Regulatory & Market Environment; Digital inclusion.

Over the years, ITU-D has strengthened its project execution role to better support developing countries around the world.

ITU-D has taken the necessary steps to strengthen its project execution role, based on accountability, transparency and fostering learning, by developing and refining the necessary tools, methodologies, guidelines and standards related to projects and project management.

The ongoing application of a results-based management approach has resulted in improved management, enhanced monitoring and implementation of the planned results and objectives of ICT related projects, enabling ITU to better support developing countries around the world.