Policy paper

United Kingdom: Candidate for the International Telecommunication Union Council

Updated 20 September 2022

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

The United Kingdom is honoured to present its candidature for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Council. The UK’s election to the ITU Council will help to support strong leadership in the organisation at a time of rapid technological change. The UK is committed to information and communications technology (ICT) innovation, the use of ICTs to address global challenges, and the importance of collaboration and consensus building to find solutions. We have long been involved in and supported a central role for the ITU in the radiocommunications sector, in developing technical standards and in supporting sustainable development through digital connectivity.

Why are we standing for the ITU Council?

The ITU’s mission to “connect the world” has never been more important. Information and communication technology is essential to every aspect of modern life and the development of the digital economy.

The UK strongly supports the international leadership role played by the ITU; coordinating radio spectrum, developing technical standards and helping to bridge the digital divide. We are standing for election to the ITU Council to help promote and strengthen:

a collaborative ITU, which provides a platform for international cooperation and consensus, working with other organisations and stakeholder groups, and sharing best practice and fostering partnerships

an effective ITU, which champions development issues and provides a compelling global voice for the importance of telecommunications/ ICTs to sustainable development

a respected ITU, which is well- managed and delivers for all its members, valued for its expertise, transparency and inclusive participation

Why should you support a UK seat on the ITU Council?

The UK has been a committed member of the ITU for 150 years, bringing together our rich ecosystem of industry, government, and academia to provide technical expertise and unlock the benefits of technical standards for citizens and societies.

The ITU remains an integral platform for governments and other stakeholders to come together and collaborate on a set of common challenges, specifically on its core responsibilities focused on radiocommunication, telecommunications standards and support for developing countries.

The UK has been championing transparency and accountability in the business of the ITU and its commitments and remit as a specialised agency of the UN. We value the openness of the ITU and the many contributions of its varied members and member states in particular.

We remain deeply committed to multilateralism, and prize our membership of many global bodies. Our Presidencies of the G7 and COP26 have demonstrated the UK’s pursuit of a comprehensive, ambitious and balanced set of outcomes; importantly, ensuring no person is left behind.

The UK’s candidature for the ITU Council is an important part of this objective. Working with our international partners, we will protect and promote universal values, recognising that the way in which technical standards are developed and deployed has a real world impact on citizens and societies.

We will continue to work towards realising the value of global standards development. We recognise the significant and positive role that technical standards have played in supporting the global economy and societies.

We also see the pivotal role ITU-R is playing in the dramatic changes underway in the communications sector. From supporting 5G for consumers and businesses, to enabling profound changes in technologies such as satellite communications that can support global connectivity, the ITU’s influence in radiocommunications has never been more crucial.

Nevermore than in the last two years has technology, and telecommunications in particular, been such an integral part of our lives. At the ITU Council, the UK will bring together our prestigious academia with our world-renowned industry to help forge the way ahead, and continue to unlock and promote the benefits of innovation in telecommunications for societies and citizens.

Committed to the ITU

We are proud to have supported Deputy Secretary-General Malcolm Johnson in successive leadership positions within the ITU. Over many years he has made a significant contribution to the work of the ITU, its membership and its staff. He has driven inclusion, a strong development focus and good governance. As a Council member the United Kingdom will continue to assert those values within the ITU.

We are active in all sectors of the ITU. We chair ITU-T Study Group 2 (Numbering, Naming and Addressing) and the Focus Group on AI for Autonomous and Assisted Driving. We chair ITU-R Study Group 5 (Terrestrial Services) and are a vice-chair of Group 3 (Radiowave propagation) and Group 7 (Science Services). We are also vice-chair of two Council Working Groups (Internet and Strategic and Financial Plan). And we are active in the CEPT region, having been vice-chair of CEPT’s Committee on ITU Policy since 2015.

We enthusiastically engage in a variety of study groups across the ITU- Telecommunication Standardization Sector, Development and Radiocommunication sectors and work with our international colleagues to realise the value of global standards development and information sharing within this unique organisation.

Supporting sustainable development

The UK shares the ITU’s ambition of closing the global digital gap, and for this reason the FCDO Digital Access Programme (DAP) team has recently co-designed an exciting collaboration with the ITU, to leverage each other’s expertise and ongoing digital inclusion initiatives. The ITU-FCDO partnership project in five DAP countries is focused on the provision of technical assistance and capacity strengthening in four key areas, building on ongoing work and recent results from the DAP and also leveraging key ITU initiatives (Giga, Decent Jobs for Youth, and Digital Skills for Africa):

• supporting telecom regulators to enhance regulatory frameworks that enable digital inclusion
• promoting a more conducive environment for public and private investment in digital inclusion
• developing sustainable and inclusive technology and business models to expand school connectivity in underserved communities
• advancing digital skills as a means to decent jobs for young people

Our cyber-security capacity building programme has worked with over 100 partner countries and helped train over 70 Cyber Security Incident Response Teams.

The UK Space Agency’s £150 million International Partnership Programme utilises the UK’s capabilities in satellite technology and data services to partner with developing countries to deliver sustainable development. Since 2016 it has grant-funded 43 projects in 47 countries.

Promoting innovation and partnership

We founded the ground-breaking WE Protect global alliance to promote child online protection, making a major contribution to the ITU’s revised Child Online Protection Guidelines.

We are a strong supporter of an ITU that serves all nations. We have a track record of working with our fellow Commonwealth nations, including through the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO). We will continue to work with Commonwealth partners to share information and insights on global ICT developments.

We are committed to working closely with industry and innovators to deliver the ITU’s objectives. UK Sector Members make an active contribution to the ITU, including ARM, Avanti, the BBC, British Telecom, Inmarsat and Vodafone. In total we have over 50 Sector Members, Associates and Academia members.