The Regional Development Forum was held last 27-28 September in Budva, Montenegro, where the discussion focused on regional initiatives for Europe. This event was jointly organised by the ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) and the Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (EKIP), Montenegro’s national regulatory authority.
The Regional Development Forum aims to create a platform for dialogue between the ITU BDT, governments, regulators and operators vis-à-vis priority issues between World Telecommunications Development Conferences (WTDC).
In accordance with the last WTDC in 2014, the following areas were considered priorities for Europe:
- spectrum management and transition to digital broadcasting;
- broadband access and take-up;
- access to telecommunications/information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially by people with special needs;
- trust and security in use of telecommunications/ICTs;
- entrepreneurship, innovation and youth.
As chair of the Committee for ITU Policy (Com-ITU) of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT), ANACOM’s Manuel da Costa Cabral took part in the opening ceremony of this forum, which promoted participation by the region’s countries in the work of Com-ITU.
Before the Forum, EKIP held on 26 September a Regional Conference whose theme was ''regulation of the communications market''; Portugal was also among those attending.
