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PP-14: Official Side Events

PP-14 Official Side Events and Special Events

PP-14 Side Events are open to all participants (including the media). They are designed to give participants an opportunity to engage with leading authorities on key issues of concern across the ICT community.

Monday, 20 October - Thursday, 6 November

Side Event
Description
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​Young ICT Policy Leaders
The ITU Young ICT Policy Leaders (YIPL) programme will provide an opportunity for national country delegations at the 2014 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-14), to include a select group of young professionals in the process of defining the mandate of ITU as well as vision for the ICT sector for the next 4 years. The programme, integrated into the main agenda of the conference, will also provide a platform for young policy makers to network and meet global leaders from the ICT sector.

The overall objective of the YIPL programme is to engage and empower the next generation of ICT policy makers, through knowledge and skills exchange, peer-to-peer mentoring and direct exposure to experienced leaders with a proven record of consensus building and consolidation.

Member State administrations have be invited to nominate two attendees, one male and one female, to participate in the 2014 edition of the ITU Young ICT Policy Leaders programme.

Tuesday, 21 October

Side Event
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​ITU 150th Anniversary Launch Event

Time: 17h00 - 17h30
Room: A
​The year 2015 is a major milestone in the history of the International Telecommunication Union. On 17 May 2015 the world will be celebrating 150 years since the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). ITU’s 150th Anniversary celebration is an opportunity for ITU and its Members to honor the past as well as launch activities for the future. The celebrations will take place between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2015.

ITU’s 150th Anniversary Launch Event will provide an overview of activities scheduled for the Celebration Year 2015. ITU’s Secretariat will provide information how ITU Membership: Member States, Sector Members, Associates and Academia can get involved in the ITU’s 150th Anniversary Celebration. Partnerships will be announced at this event. 

Tuesday, 28 October

Side Event
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​GEM-TECH Awards 2014 Ceremony

Time: 09h00 - 10h00
Room: A
From a shortlist of over 360 nominees, seven winners will receive the inaugural GEM-TECH Award in recognition of their outstanding achievements in mainstreaming gender in technology. Presided over by ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré and special high-level guests, this first-of-its-kind event will put ICTs and gender at the heart of ITU’s future strategy, and acknowledge the considerable achievements of many ITU Member States and Sector Members. The prize giving ceremony will take place in front of 3,000 PP-14 delegates, and will include an exclusive movie showcase of the shortlisted nominees and winners.
GEM-TECH Awards 2014: High-Level Dialogue

Time: 13h00 - 14h00
Room: D
An open invitation is extended to all participants of PP-14 to engage in the GEM-TECH High Level Dialogue.

Join the ITU team for a light lunch just outside Room D, followed by a stimulating debate on ‘gender and ICTs, why gender equality matters and where do we stand today?’ Winners and partners of the prestigious GEM-TECH Award will then have the opportunity to showcase projects and initiatives aimed at promoting gender equality in access to and use of technology.

Wednesday, 29 October

Side Event
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Connect 2020 Roundtable 1: Which technologies will connect the next 1.5 billion users?

Time: 13h00 - 14h00
Room: D
ITU Membership aims to bring 1.5 billion additional users to the information society by 2020, particularly by providing increased access to high-speed broadband networks, services and applications.

This roundtable will analyze which technologies and solutions will enable this growth, identifying the technical, policy and regulatory aspects that need to be addressed to achieve this goal. Discussions will also include the implications on the use of spectrum for 5G mobile broadband.

​ICTs and the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda

Time: 8h00 - 9h30
Room: G

​2015 will be a watershed year at the United Nations. In addition to its 70th anniversary it will be writing a new chapter in development. The post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda (Goals and Targets) will be adopted next September to replace the expiring Millennium Development Goals. 

The MDGs missed the revolutionary potential of ICTs for development and we can't afford to make that mistake again. The important role of ICTs as a cross-cutting enabler for all three pillars of sustainable development – economic growth, social inclusion and environmental sustainability - is reflected in 4 of the 17 proposed Sustainable Development Goals. They are considered essential for Gender Equality (Goal 5), Infrastructure (Goal 9) and Education (Goal 4) and as a necessary means of implementation. However; we would propose that the achievement of at least 10 of the other 14 goals could be significantly enhanced by the catalytic power of ICTs.

This side event will brief Member States on the status of the SDG's –  the next steps in the negotiation process and how Member States might help ensure that ITU's 150 years of experience in 'Connecting the World' can be better reflected in the United Nations post-2015 development agenda.

Thursday, 30 October

Side Event
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​Connect 2020 Roundtable 2: Achieving full digital inclusion: feasible by 2020?

Time: 13h00 - 14h00
Room: D
​Advanced ICT technology promises an "always on" society. But how do we ensure that everyone is part of the technology revolution?  Can we halve the digital divide by 2020 and achieve digital inclusion for all? 

Ensuring ICT inclusiveness requires moving beyond questions of access and affordability to ensuring ICT accessibility for people with specific needs and enabling everyone to play a role in creating the ICT future they want. 

This Connect 2020 round table will explore the different dimensions of ICT inclusiveness, including digital inclusion for people with specific needs and using ICT to empower women and girls, youth and persons with disabilities.

Friday, 31 October

Side Event
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​Connect 2020 Roundtable 3: Ensuring the long term benefits of development: Managing unprecedented growth in a sustainable way

Time: 13h00 - 14h00
Room: D
​Over the last two decades, the global use of ICT-enabled applications has experienced such an amazing growth rate that it has become one of the success stories of industrial development. However, this unprecedented growth has also resulted in a number of challenges that may endanger efforts to sustain the development of the ICT sector. Issues such as building confidence and security in the use of ICTs and the expanding environmental footprint of ICT networks, services and applications are some of the main challenges facing the ICT sector today.

This round table will look at these challenges and reflect on how the main actors in the ICT ecosystem should work together to ensure the sustainability of the sector.

​Meeting of ITU Secretary-General with Civil Society

Time: 08h00 - 09h00
Room: D

​This meeting forms part of regular weekly meetings that the Secretary-General has scheduled in order to meet together with civil society representatives who are present in Busan as part of Member State Delegations, or as observers. For those who are not physically present they can follow by webcast and ask questions via social media using the #Plenipot14 hastag. The purpose of the meetings is to continue to develop constructive and useful dialogue with civil society that ultimately benefits the common goals of bringing more people online and promoting digital inclusion so everyone can benefit from the potential opportunities and benefits of connectivity. It further provides an opportunity for civil society representatives to provide feedback to and to share their insights with ITU executive management and membership on issues relevant to the work of PP-14 and compliments the Public Views section opened up on the ITU website which publishes information to the conference from civil society organizations.

Monday, 3 November

Side Event
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Connect 2020 Roundtable 4: Addressing the emerging innovation challenges in vertical markets

Time: 13h00 - 14h00
Room: D
​Within a relatively short period of time information and communication technologies (ICTs) have transformed our lives. Not only have they radically changed the way we communicate, we rely on them every day to do business, travel, be creative, stay healthy and in shape. The ICT sector has seen a tremendous amount of innovation, and ICTs underpin innovation in principally all areas of life and sectors of the economy, and thereby act as a driver of development, economic growth and prosperity.

Based on examples from different sectors, the round table aims to identify common factors of success as well as challenges faced by organizations when conceiving and rolling out innovative ICT-enabled products and services. Panelists will discuss the role of public-private partnerships across sectors in creating a climate for innovation and how the ITU can help address some of the challenges identified as part of its "Connect 2020" vision.

Tuesday, 4 November

Side Event
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Connect 2020 Roundtable 5: Building a robust monitoring framework for the global ICT agenda

Time: 13h00 - 14h00
Room: D
The Connect 2020 global ICT goals are accompanied by a set of targets which will be expressed through concrete indicators. Assessing progress towards the achievement of the targets requires the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data in countries and a robust international measurement framework.

This round table will review the baseline of the global ICT targets and related indicators, and identify areas where increased efforts will be required to ensure the targets can be assessed. It will provide an overview of existing mechanisms at the national and international levels for tracking ICT progress, including the ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS) and its related Expert Groups. The session will also consider tools that could be used to report on annual progress towards the targets, such as the Measuring the Information Society Report.

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