The 19th Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-14), the highest body of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is taking place in Busan (South Korea).
This event, which began on 20 October 2014 and ends on 7 November, will be attended by about 3,000 participants representing over 150 ITU member states.
The PP-14 will be marked by the election of a new ITU Secretary-General, China's Houlin Zhao, who is the only candidate for the post, taking over from the outgoing Secretary-General, Hamadoun Touré from 1 January 2015.
In addition to elections for top posts of the ITU Council and the Radio Regulations Board (RRB), the PP-14 will also discuss issues of relevance to the ITU's organisation and management, including its budget. Additionally, topics such as cybersecurity, Internet governance and the scheduling of a new World Conference on International Telecommunications will likely take on particular significance.
As usual, the structure and functioning of the PP-14 were established at its first plenary meeting. The structure adopted was as follows:
- Committee 1 - Steering Committee
- Committee 2 - Credentials Committee
- Committee 3 - Budget Control Committee
- Committee 4 - Editorial Committee
- Committee 5 - Policy and Legal Matters
- Committee 6 - Administration and Management
- Plenary Working Group on matters related to public policy, including the Internet.
