doha: Over 1,200 top-ranking delegates from government, the private sector, international and regional organisations are expected to attend the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) to be held in Doha from March 7 to 15

The purpose of the conference is to agree on development priorities in view of the high-level recognition of the digital divide between developing and developed nations created by the rapid but uneven expansion of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Another objective is to promote international cooperation and partnerships that can sustain and strengthen telecommunication infrastructure and institutions in developing countries.

It will take into account the WSIS Geneva Plan of Action and Tunis Agenda, which aim at bridging the digital divide. A key objective is to promote international cooperation, regional initiatives and partnerships that can sustain and strengthen telecommunication infrastructure and institutions in developing countries, said Hamad Al Manni, Director, Organisation and Economic Policies, ictQatar and spokesman for the conference, said here yesterday.

The Doha Action Plan will set out ways to implement these goals over the next four years. Over a thousand policy-makers and practitioners from government, the private sector, international and regional organizations are expected to attend WTDC-06 to fast-track ITU's objectives of bridging the Digital Divide in all its dimensions — technical, societal and economic — and to harness the power of ICTs for socio-economic development of the widest number of people, particularly the world's most deprived.

Following the opening ceremony on March 7, the conference will focus on new action lines for global and regional development of telecommunications and ICT, the role of ITU in the post-WSIS paradigm and promoting new initiatives and partnerships to give concrete shape to the global vision enunciated in the WSIS process.

In addition to the adoption of a comprehensive strategy to achieve balanced telecommunication development worldwide in cooperation with development partners from both governments and private sector, the Conference will consider two new global initiatives benefiting persons with disabilities, and telecommunications for disaster prevention.

Several regional initiatives that have been tabled by countries through a regional preparatory process are also being considered. They focus on, rural connectivity including broadband access, regional internet exchange points, public Internet access in remote areas, internationalisation of domain names, Enhancement of regional roaming capabilities, Financial schemes to achieve universal service objectives, Development of government portals to expand E-government, Security and reliability of information and communication technologies, Development of digital signatures and public keys for E-commerce, E-Health and telemedicine for rural areas.