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19 March 2024

Dubai to host global telecom conference

Published
By Wam

The UAE, represented by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, TRA, has been selected, with the consent of all ITU member states, to host the sixth International Telecommunication Union, ITU, World Telecommunication Development Conference, 2014 (WTDC).

The event, which is held once every four years, will take place in the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Dubai World Trade Centre, from 30th March to 10th April 2014. The UAE has been selected to host WTDC 2014 as the result of a consultation process with all 192 UN Member States of the ITU and in accordance with the ITU’s constitution and convention.

"The UAE assigns a great deal of value to its ITU membership since joining it in 1972. It is a great honour for the UAE to be selected as hosts for this significant event and is testament to the level of success achieved during 2012 after hosting the UN specialised agency’s largest events, these being the World Conference on International Telecommunications in December, the World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly in November and the World Telecommunication in October. The previous edition of the WTDC event was held in India," said Mohamad Ahmad Al-Qamzi, Chairman of the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.

"Chairing an event of this magnitude signifies the confidence that our ITU contemporaries have in the UAE’s ability to facilitate industry defining events with a global reach. WTDC-14 will be the perfect precursor to the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2014 to be held in October and will witness a nomination campaign for UAE’s membership in the ITU Council and Radio Regulation council. We look forward to our involvement in both events with great promise," he added.

"Adding an extra level of importance to proceedings, the conference will issue a document that will confirm the UAE as the hosting country for the next four years. It will also create a consolidated and internationally agreed action plan by all member states participating in the conference that will include the outcomes from the conference in addition to the resolutions and objectives set for the ITU efforts towards the development of the ICT sector over the next four years. We are more than confident that the preparations already underway by the TRA and concerned parties in the country and our partners will deliver an event that matches the significance of the occasion," he added.

“Broadband for Sustainable Development” is the theme for WTDC-14 and will focus on the key development priorities in the global information and communication technologies, ICT, sector. “The Dubai Action Plan” will be the outcome of WTDC-14 and will set the agenda for continued telecommunication and ICT development over the next four years.

"Work and coordination is already underway with the Dubai World Trade Centre on one hand and the International Telecommunication Union on the other in order to complete all regulatory procedures and protocols according to the hosting contract signed between the Government and the ITU," he concluded.