03 Oct 2022

New ITU leadership team in place

techUK would like to send our wholehearted congratulations to Doreen Bogdan-Martin who, in historic elections, has received the majority of Member State votes and is the new Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union. She is the first woman to lead the ITU in its 157-year history.

The election took place during ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-22) in Bucharest, Romania. She received 139 votes out of 172 cast.

The world is facing significant challenges – escalating conflicts, a climate crisis, food security, gender inequalities, and 2.7 billion people with no access to the Internet. I believe we, the ITU and our members, have an opportunity to make a transformational contribution. Continuous innovation can and will be a key enabler to facilitate resolution of many of these issues.

Doreen Bogdan-Martin

ITU

We look forward to working with the Secretary-General and ITU members in realising the positive outcomes of what digital technology and #MeaningfulConnectivity can achieve.

Tomas Lamanauskas of Lithuania was elected as the next Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and will assist Bogdan-Martin.

ITU Bureau Directors

Mario Maniewicz of Uruguay was re-elected for his second term as Director of ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau, which is responsible for maintaining and implementing the Radio Regulations treaty that harmonizes international spectrum use and satellite orbits, and for developing the related technical standards.

Seizo Onoe of Japan received the majority of Member State votes to become Director of ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau – responsible for developing international technical standards for telecommunication and ICT.

Fianlly, Cosmas Zavazava of Zimbabwe won the race for Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau, which is in charge of connecting the unconnected through promoting equitable and inclusive digital development.

UK wins seat on ITU Council

The UK has also won a Council seat at the ITU as part of the elections.

The UK’s election for the four-year term on the council will build on its commitment to encourage the use of ICTs to address these global challenges, increase prosperity in developing countries by taking steps to boost digital inclusion and skills, and promote collaboration and consensus building among the ITU’s 193 member states.

The UK has been an active member of the ITU for more than 150 years, bringing together industry, government, and academia to provide technical expertise and substantive experience to unlock the benefits of digital technical standards for people and businesses.

Full election results can be found here

Sophie Greaves

Head of Telecoms and Spectrum Policy, techUK

Tales Gaspar

Programme Manager, UK SPF and Satellite, techUK

Matthew Wild

Programme Assistant - Markets, techUK

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