The 2017 Session of the Governing Council of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has outlined the important role of ICTs in the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The council meeting held in Geneva from 15-25 May, this year assessed results of last year’s work to shape future actions.

ITU Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao, noted the tremendous progress in the area of information and communication technologies, with more people getting connected and technologies, such as broadband and 4G services, being deployed for e-commerce, e-health, e-money, and many more electronic services reaching more and more people around the world.

Council members engaged in rich debates throughout the meeting, and agreed on several important decisions that serve to strengthen ITU.

Addressing the plenary of the Council, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Communications, said President Nana Addo Dankwa Adufo-Addo believes in the use of ICTs to promote inclusive and sustainable development, as the ITU played a strategic role to facilitate global development and world peace.

She informed the gathering that “as the world community grapples with the challenge to meet the SDGs within the time schedule set by the United Nations, the President sees the ease of access and safe use of ICT, as the promise for the empowerment of our youth to unleash their entrepreneurial energies to create jobs and build a resilient economy”.

The Minister also raised the issue of the recent global ransomware cyber attack in the world and called for ITU support for Ghana’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to protect critical ICT infrastructure at this critical time when the government is employing technology to improve governance and deepen citizen-to-government engagement that will check the abuse of power and corruption.