The periodic review of International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) and Internet governance were two of the resolutions adopted on the penultimate day of the Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) organized in Bucharest, an event that ended on October 14, according to Agerpres.

Thus, the revised Resolution 146 on the periodic review of the International Telecommunication Regulations calls to continue consideration of issues relating to the ITRs, including their review.

The ITU Council is instructed to review and revise the terms of reference for the Expert Group on ITRs (EG-ITR) at its 2023 session, review EG-ITR reports at its annual sessions, and submit the final report of the EG-ITR to the 2026 Plenipotentiary Conference with the Council’s comments.

According to an official statement from the organizers of PP-22, the final days of PP-22 saw delegates reach consensus on a number of resolutions on Internet governance following a series of long and complex discussions.

„Delegates agreed to update Resolution 102 on ITU’s role in international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet, which says that ITU may assist member states to identify and access advice and support from other relevant entities and organizations, which include the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the regional Internet registries (RIRs), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet Society (ISOC) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), among others. Member states also resolved to strengthen the work of the ITU Council Working Group on Internet (CWG-Internet), so it can continue addressing international Internet-related public policy issues. CWG-Internet is tasked with contributing actively to implement the resolution and related international initiatives within the mandate of ITU,” notes the cited source.

In addition, revised Resolution 102 instructs the ITU Secretary-General to participate in international discussions on the management of Internet domain names, addresses, and other Internet resources, taking the impact of new and emerging telecommunications/ICTs into account. The ITU SG is also tasked with the continued promotion of Internet connectivity for sustainable development, and to engage in other relevant UN activities on international Internet related public policy issues and to promote the work of ITU and its members.

Revised Resolution 133, which was also adopted in Bucharest, refers to the role of members states in managing internationalized (multilingual) domain names..

„A multilingual Internet can help build digital skills and literacy, especially for people in developing countries who have yet to be connected. In this context, internationalized domain names (IDNs) promote greater Internet use by all, and can contribute to sustainable development by promoting Internet accessibility and use in local languages. Member states and Sector members are invited to exchange information on IDN development, work on the further deployment and implementation of IDNs; to promote capacity building, information sharing, and the exchange of best practices among all stakeholders in IDN implementation and deployment; and to consider how to further promote the adoption of universal acceptance in respect of IDNs and to collaborate and coordinate with relevant organizations and stakeholders in enabling the use of IDNs in the Internet,” the organizers said.

Romania organized between September 26 and October 14, at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, the 21st Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (PP-22), with more than 3,000 leaders and delegates from 193 countries attending.

Alongside the National Communications Administration and Regulation Authority (ANCOM) and the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism, partners in organizing the conference were: the Senate of Romania, the Chamber of Deputies, the government’s Secretariat General, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Transformation, the Health Ministry, the Ministry of Culture, the Bucharest City Hall, the Special Telecommunications Service, the Protection and Security Service, and the Romanian TV Broadcaster.

The National News Agency AGERPRES was media partner of the event.

The next Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union will take place in 2026 in Doha – Qatar, a country that has previously hosted ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Conference (2006), the Connect Arab Summit (2012) and ITU Telecom World (2014).

The International Telecommunication Union is the United Nations’ specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), which promotes innovation in this field, together with its 193 member states and over 900 members from companies, universities and international and regional organizations.

Founded 157 years ago, the ITU is an intergovernmental organization whose main task is to coordinate the safe use of the global radio spectrum, promote international cooperation on the assignment of satellite orbits, improve communications infrastructure in developing countries and establish worldwide standards to encourage the seamless interconnection of a wide range of communications systems.

Agerpres