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The 2026 Conference of Plenipotentiaries (PP-26) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will take place in Qatar, in Doha, the delegations of the ITU member states unanimously decided at the conference taking place these days in Bucharest, told Agerpres.
"I applaud the decision to hold the next ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Qatar, a country with significant success in terms of past hosting events. PP-26 - which marks less than four years until 2030 - will support digital acceleration, essential to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals to ensure everyone is connected by the end of the decade," said ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao.
Qatar also hosted the ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference in 2006, the Connect Arab Summit (2012) and ITU Telecom World (2014).
The decision regarding the organization of PP-26 in Doha was unanimously adopted by the member states of the ITU during the second week of the Conference of Plenipotentiaries of the International Telecommunication Union, underway in Bucharest.
The ITU reunions, organized every four years, serve as benchmarks for the global digital transformation, which the organization aims to align with the priorities of the United Nations in terms of sustainable development.
Qatar's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mohamed bin Ali Al Mannai, characterized the ITU plenipotentiary conferences as the main event where ITU member states define the role of the Union in boosting the development of telecommunications and information and communication technologies. He added that the state of Qatar has a strong ICT infrastructure, in accordance with international standards, which makes it one of the leading countries in the world in this regard.
The ITU member states recently elected Doreen Bogdan-Martin, who is currently the director of the organization's Telecommunications Development Office, as secretary general of the Union for the period 2023-2026.
Romania is the first EU country to organize the Conference of Plenipotentiaries of the International Telecommunications Union, an event during which the general policies of the organization are established, as well as the strategic and financial plans for the period 2024 - 2027, which cover the entire activity of the organization, but primarily key issues related to digital inclusion and closing the digital divide, how best to leverage artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G and future 6G networks, along with other new and emerging technologies.
The conference takes place between September 26 and October 14, at the Palace of the Parliament, and brings together over 3,000 leaders and delegates from 193 countries.
Along with the National Authority for Communications Administration and Regulation (ANCOM) and the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism (MAT), partners in organizing the conference are: the Senate of Romania, the Chamber of Deputies, the General Secretariat of the Government, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Culture, the City Hall of Bucharest, the Special Telecommunications Service, the Protection and Security Service and the Romanian Television Company.
AGERPRES National News Agency is media partner of the event.
The International Telecommunication Union is the international organization within the United Nations system specialized for information and communication technologies, which promotes innovation in this field, together with the 193 member states and with over 900 members from among international and regional companies, universities and organizations.
Established 157 years ago, the ITU is an intergovernmental organization whose main objective is to coordinate the safe use of the radio spectrum at the global level, promote international cooperation in the assignment of satellite orbits, improve communications infrastructure in developing countries and establish of worldwide standards to encourage the ceaseless interconnection of a wide range of communications systems.
