ITU International Telecommunications Union [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/index.aspx?lang=en#.VF8FYcl4WF8

International community commits to Global ICT Agenda for 2020
Connect 2020 Agenda sets out vision, goals and specific targets for future development of ICT sector
Busan, 6 November 2014 – A global agenda to shape the future of the ICT sector has been unanimously adopted at the ITU 2014 Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-14). Resolution WG-PL/9 ‘Connect 2020 Agenda for Global Telecommunication/ICT Development’ sets out the shared vision, goals and targets that Member States have committed to achieve by 2020 in collaboration with all stakeholders across the ICT ecosystem. ITU will contribute to Connect 2020 Agenda through its 2016-2019 Strategic Plan, which has also been adopted at PP-14.
Through the Connect 2020 Agenda ITU Member States committed to work towards “an information society, empowered by the interconnected world, where telecommunication/ICT enables and accelerates socially, economically and environmentally sustainable growth and development for everyone.”
The four pillars of the agenda – growth, inclusiveness, sustainability, and innovation and partnership – represent an invitation to all stakeholders, including the private sector, civil society and academia, to work together towards achieving agreed, quantifiable and specific targets. Building on the UN’s previous commitments to sustainable development as defined in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the work of the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development, and the on-going discussions on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Connect 2020 goals aim to ensure that telecommunications and ICTs act as key enablers of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development…

ITU and Internet Society collaborate to combat spam
Spam accounts for 80 per cent of global e-mail traffic
Busan, 06 November 2014 – ITU and the Internet Society today signed a letter of agreement to collaborate on combating the global problem of spam. Spam now accounts for a significant amount of all global e-mail traffic and presents particular difficulties in areas where bandwidth is insufficient to handle the congestion that spam creates.
…Under the new agreement, the Internet Society and the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) will identify the best ways to build long-term capacity for addressing spam in developing countries. This collaborative partnership will explore and identify potential joint cooperative activities to address the growing need for information on how to address the issue of spam…

ITU, GSMA and Internet Society unite in fight against Ebola
Busan, 3 November 2014 – At the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the GSMA and the Internet Society (ISOC), announced that they are joining forces in the fight against Ebola. The three organizations will bring together the global telecommunications and Internet communities, leveraging their extensive reach, capacity and respective memberships to increase the effectiveness of information and communications technologies (ICT), especially mobile communication and the Internet, for better preparedness, early warning and response.
ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I. Touré convened a special session with ITU membership during the Plenipotentiary Conference currently underway in Busan, Republic of Korea, to identify recommendations for a more effective use of ICTs in the fight against Ebola.
Dr Touré stated: “The ICT Sector is critical in dealing with the Ebola threat. ICTs are already being used by ITU and its partners to support awareness raising and emergency communications, and our immediate challenge is to ensure regulatory barriers are removed to facilitate deployment and use of telecommunications applications for the purpose of saving lives. We will focus on innovative measures to increase the effective use of communications systems and applications. Human life has to be preserved and protected.” …