Connect Americas Summit Set to open in Panama City

Key announcements slated for rollout of ICT and broadband

Panama City, Panama, July 16, 2012--The Connect Americas Summit is set to open its doors on July 18  to push broadband connectivity in the region, enlisting the support of Heads of State and Government and Ministers along with Chief Executives and top-level management from the ICT industry, heads of United Nations and international development bodies, financial institutions as well as academics, media and industry analysts.

The Summit will commence on 18 July with an opening address by the President of the Republic of Panama, H.E. Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal, which will be followed by a review of the important contribution that broadband connectivity is going to make to the continent’s future development.

The President of Costa Rica H.E. Laura Chinchilla Miranda, patron of ITU’s on Child Online Protection initiative, will deliver a keynote address.

ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré called for political and financial commitment to strengthen ICT connectivity in the Americas. “The dynamic potential of the Americas region is ripe for a leap forward towards a knowledge-based information society,” Dr Touré said. “The Connect Americas Summit in Panama City offers a unique opportunity for leaders from the public and private sectors as well as financial institutions to accelerate the roll out of broadband and ICT connectivity throughout the Americas region.”

A ministerial meeting on 17 July will finalize the draft Summit communiqué. Earlier, a multi-stakeholder group will review the projects and partnership agreements in light of priorities and themes identified for the region. These projects and partnership agreements will be announced at the closure of the Summit on 19 July.

The Connect Americas Summit, hosted by the Government of Panama, is organized by ITU in close collaboration with the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL), the Comisión Técnica Regional de Telecomunicaciones (COMTELCA) and the Caribbean Telecommunication Union (CTU).

The Connect Americas Summit is the culmination of a series of high-level events, such as the recent Rio+20 Earth Summit that draw attention to the power of information and communication technologies (ICT) and broadband connectivity in meeting future goals of sustainable development. The Summit aims to mobilize the required resources to accelerate the roll out of broadband infrastructure and the adoption of ICT applications.

The Connect Americas Summit will create the opportunities to attract commitments and investments in human, financial and technical resources required to connect everyone in the region to information and communication technologies (ICT). The Summit offers a venue for leaders from the public and private sectors as well as international and regional financing and development agencies to network face-to-face and forge new partnerships for the accelerated roll out of broadband connectivity.

The programme is atwww.itu.int/ITU-D/connect/americas/programme.asp?Language=en