Internet Governance > Our Role at ITU World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly 2024 (WTSA-24)
Our Role at ITU
World Telecommunication
Standardization Assembly 2024 (WTSA-24)
During the next two weeks (15-24 October), the Internet Society delegation will participate in the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly 2024 (WTSA-24) in New Delhi, India.
ITU World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA)
As a primary meeting of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), WTSA-24 will set the course and parameters of ITU-T’s work for the next four years. There is an ongoing discussion on the ITU-T’s role in standardization related to new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Metaverse — efforts that, if not scoped appropriately within the ITU remit, could potentially overlap with the mandate of the technical community organizations.
It is crucial for us to ensure that the negotiations on the WTSA-24 recommendations and resolutions properly evaluate how ITU-T’s activities for the next study period could impact the open and globally connected Internet.
For the past 12 months, we have followed various preparatory processes for WTSA-24 and actively participated in various regional meetings. At these meetings, we engaged with national governments and our community to spot and mitigate the areas of concern as early as possible.
Matrix Highlights Key Concerns
In the last few weeks, we analyzed all the proposals submitted for discussion at WTSA-24 ITU Regional Telecommunication Groups and individual member states. You can see the results of this analysis in our first Draft of the WTSA-24 Issues Matrix, published on 10 October 2024. The Matrix provides information about relevant resolutions, proposed changes, and related concerns.
As shown in the Matrix, we are concerned about both existing, traditionally debated resolutions and proposals for new ones. In particular, we will monitor closely and engage with the national delegations on the amendments to existing resolutions on cybersecurity, deployment of IPv6, WSIS, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which could directly affect the Internet and its governance.
Among the new resolutions, we will be closely following the proposals on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), over-the-top (OTT) services, and also emerging technologies, such as AI and the Metaverse, for the reasons stated above.
Advocating on Behalf of the Community
In addition to releasing the Draft of the WTSA-24 Issues Matrix, we also published the final version of the ITU WTSA-24: Background Paper. Among other changes, we incorporated feedback from our community to reflect the possibilities for engagement in WTSA-24 and updated the list of key topics based on the proposals submitted for discussion.
Our team is attending WTSA-24 to provide technical expertise to decision-makers. While supporting the positive work of the ITU in creating an enabling ICT environment within its mandate, we will advocate for open Internet standards and a clear delineation of the ITU’s role to avoid its expansion and interference with the technical community’s work on standardization.
Internet Society’s delegation members in New Delhi — Sebastian Bellagamba, Adrian Wan, and Tatiana Tropina — are happy to engage with our community onsite.