Testimonials

It’s amazing, it’s a wonderful opportunity for the ITU family to come together and learn from each other’s experiences, to know that we are doing the right things and also to borrow from one another to accelerate the pace of our development. Hon. Ursula G. Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications, Ghana

The ITU World conference is really good and very, very worthwhile – we want more people to understand what we are trying to do and work with us! Jack Buechler, Chief Operating Officer, Quika

This is an exceptional opportunity to interact with my peers, with governments and policy makers and all stakeholders in one place, and actually hear their perspectives. Elizabeth Migwalla, Senior Director, Gov. Affairs, Middle East, Qualcomm

I am always very interested to see what new ideas are coming out in different markets, and the event inspires me in terms of thinking of ways of providing new services into the marketplace. Craig Price, SVP, International Projects, Craig Price

It was really great chance to be here and introduce some services and content to other countries. We met many partners here from Africa and we`d like to come again to expand our business again. Helen Lee, Director, Marvus

If we prepare the world through digital education and digital development, we will have a much better world - and for the first time in mankind’s history it is possible to do this in one generation. César Alierta Izuel, Chairman, Foundatión Telefónica

Government leaders from all over the world converge here and have discussions with top industry players and CEOs, sharing their experiences and what they are doing to overcome challenges, helping us to move faster than if you were doing it on your own. HE Siyabonga Cwele, Minister of DTPS, South Africa

The innovations and companies exhibiting have been great, and the networking amongst the different organisations has been phenomenal. Ashraf Patel, Digital Economy Associate, IGD, University of South Africa

The main value is knowing the new ideas and sharing knowledge with people coming from all over the world. We are talking about new topics such as agriculture, new concerns in the market, sharing knowledge and getting in touch with the regulators who are setting the laws to create more flexibility for businesses. Mohamad Damush, Group CEO, Telecel Global

You see so many types of different people, you have so much valuable exchange between governments, telecom executives and the like, and fundamentally it is a great place to see a vibrant part of the global economy. Jacques Bughin, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company

The value comes for me and for the young people who attend, who share what they have here and what they learn. Many young people come here with innovations, they exchange ideas and see how to create SMEs. There are many things we are here to learn, and we go back to our countries we try to implement these ideas. Abdoulkarim Soumaila, Secretary General, African Telecommunication Union

We take it as a learning platform, an opportunity to see new technologies and learn a lot from our colleagues who are ahead of us and to develop the ICT sector in Malawi. Ben Chitsonga, Director of Finance, MACRA, Malawi

It is great value, the only downside is that I am being overworked! It is a great networking platform from the private sector to government, ministers, regulators. The biggest value is the working group sessions, the great conversations happening there – I look forward to it every year. Patrick Nyirishema, Director General, RURA, Rwanda

We will not be connected as a country or a village but we will be connected as a globe; so it is more than sharing best practices, it is really collaborating and coordinating - and this is an excellent venue for that. André Borges, Secretary of Telecommunications, Brazil

You bring international expertise from all over the world to one single event, there is a lot of showcasing of products and solutions but more importantly it is an opportunity to engage with people from all over the world, you are meeting with policy makers, with international players, finding areas of cooperation Shameel Joosub, CEO, Vodacom

It is an international showcase where we are able to show to the world what we are doing but also it is a good learning process for us to learn a lot and move forward as a nation. Ben Chitsonga, Finanical Director, MACRA, Malawi

We learn many things in terms of applications and innovation, in terms of changing and learning, it is always a platform for us to come and exchange with the world. Abdoulkarim Soumaila, Secretary General, African Telecommunications Union

ITU Telecom is the very best platform for the stakeholders for future smart cities from different backgrounds to hold common visions and communicate freely. Idonae Lovetrue, CEO, Demiurge Technologies

It is a great opportunity for us to take our ideas and innovations to a global market. This is a unique event for bringing together such a wide selection of countries to one site. Tomomi Takagi, CFO, Melody International

It is very important to attend events like ITU Telecom World. We attach great importance to attendance at this event to be able to learn from global best practices in a way and a manner that we can bring this to bear in our country to solve contentious problems. We can also learn from what policies other countries have in place which we think we can either implement in our country or modify to adopt to our country. We bring our SMEs, whose innovative ideas have attracted a lot of attention and generated a lot of interest. So the benefits are immense. Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission

The biggest take away for me is that we could see the evidence that the digital transformation of our lives is accelerating. The event is an opportunity for us to share our experience and learn from others’ experience, to network with companies in the private sector and with other organisations that share the goal of applying digital technologies to improve the lives of people. Dinh-Huy Banh, Chief of Enterprise Application Centre, United Nations

For us the value is that we can contribute and cooperate with all of the players to identify common opportunities, and how we can collaborate together to define the new future for our country and for all of the world. Rasoul Saraeian, CEO, Telecommunications Company of Iran

Being at the ITU conference has been extremely mind blowing for me, I have learnt so much in terms of SME programmes, technology and awareness of what other countries are doing, it has been a really great platform. Temitope Awosika, MEDSAF, Global SME Award Greatest Social Impact Winner, Nigeria

ITU brings in many leaders at different levels of the value chain representing different bodies in the industry ecosystem, if you couple that with good topics such as emerging markets or how telcos can reinvent themselves, this kind of mix brings value not only for Huawei but also for the whole industry. Mohamed Madkour, VP of GWNM, Huawei

The sessions are interesting as they are more international, with people from different parts of the world with different attitudes to telecoms, to policy and governance, and sometimes it throws up some of the tensions as well as some of the agreements, which is important to understand for network developers and also for analysts and consultants such as myself. Dean Bubley, Founder & Director, Disruptive Analysis

There are a number of benefits. The networking opportunity, making sure we are in line with the new technologies being discussed and are connected to the right organizations, the right people, and making sure our SMEs can engage with other potential businesses. It is an opportunity to learn from other countries, to ask the right questions and set up the right meetings. And it is a great visibility opportunity to show what we capable of doing and what we are doing in the country. Nenyi George Andah, Deputy Minister for ICT, Ghana

It is very valuable. We have to learn what the advanced countries do, how they develop their digital economy, how they can maximise digital technology to the economic or social benefit of the people - that is our main objective at this conference. H.E. Rudiantara, Minister of ICT, Indonesia

It is so exciting to be here, it is a great, great, great conference and exhibition! All these different experts from around the world come together to share ideas, collaborate and evolve the discussion, all these stakeholders come together to further science and innovation. No other entity can do that in the same fashion worldwide. Stephen Ibaraki, Founding Chair, Global Industry Council, Founder of AI for Good Global Summit

We are targeting global markets here. RJ Choi, CFO, Moneybrain

This event is an opportunity to meet all the actors in the international ecosystem. It was superb, really different visions from Asia and Africa, we met old partners and new, shard good practice, seen the enormous opportunities with SMEs in Iran and in South Africa – it was a really rich experience. Sabrina Mendes, International Market Intelligene, Softex, Brazil

We show our latest equipment and introduce it to people we don’t know; we generate business, and we give technology, know-how, to people attending the seminars. It’s a win-win. Dietmar Vahldiek, Executive Vice President of Radiomonitoring und Radiolocating, Rohde & Schwarz

It’s exciting to meet all the different stakeholders from different sectors - digital is impacting in so many different industries and fields that is good to bring us all together to look at the possible solutions. Lawrence Yanovitch, President, GSMA Foundation

I see a lot of value in attending this event, meeting and networking with the regulators, the telcos, with all the industry players here and the potential partnerships and collaboration that we can look forward to. Yvette Oh, Group Executive, Market Development, APMEA, International Markets (IMK), MasterCard Worldwide

This is a very, very collaborative facilitation where we can learn from global best practices and continue to make the telecoms sector more vibrant, more resilient. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission

There is a huge benefit of being here, this is a great place to meet both telecom operators and regulators from around the world, a great opportunity to meet with government officials in developing countries, to be enthused by our efforts to bridge the digital divide; and it’s a very relaxed environment in which to do it.   Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO, Datawind

The ITU is a leading light in setting international standards for evolving technologies and putting in place the rules of engagement for companies in mobile communications, so it is very important to have a presence here. David Harmon, VP, Huawei Global Government Affairs

It’s extremely valuable, this is the place to meet the right people, have the right discussions, bring attention to important issues and have very valuable bilateral meeting with industry colleagues and regulators, to address new challenges in this co-creative way.   Tomas Lamanauskas, Group Director Public Policy, Vimpelcom

It is extremely important to come to this event, to see what actually happens in the rest of the world, to have a vision, to make contacts and re-establish relationships. Allyson Maynard Gibson, Minister of Legal Affairs, The Bahamas

Collaboration is not an option, it is a must for our industry – we compete and collaborate to make sure the benefits of our technology are reaped by humanity as a whole. Our industry is a shining example of how much good can come from collaboration. Hossein Moin, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Nokia Mobile Networks

I want to introduce our solution to telecom companies or IOT platform companies so this event is a special time for me.   Park Eunmin, , AMADAS Co., Ltd

A small company like us doesn’t usually have the opportunity to come to this event, but by participating we can meet the right people, announce and advertise our technologies, which is very helpful for the growth of our business. Hiroshi Tominaga, General Manager, Japan Battery Regeneration, Inc.

It has been of great value, we have had so much good contact, so many follow ups that we have do here, for us the value has been tremendous. Henrik Moelgaard, VP Global Sales, Bluetown

We are facing the same challenges, looking for broadband connectivity and to avoid the digital divide, just the scale of the problem is so different, comparing for example what I am facing in Portugal to what the Indian regulator is facing. But our concerns are the same and we can learn from each other and this is amazing. Fatima Barros, Chair, ANACOM Board of Directors

I think it is a very important platform because it brings together a Forum, a place for regulators, officials and industry players to get together to share experiences and exchange views about ICT issues, and the exhibition is very important to showcase what is available and what is coming up in terms of trends for the ICT and telecom sector. Leong Keng Thai, Member of the Broadband commission, Deputy Chief Executive and Director General, Infocomm Development Authority, Singapore

It is a very good platform to meet people not only from our sector but from other sectors, SMEs and start-ups. Bringing all these people together as new value chains are being created is absolutely critical.   Marc Vancoppenolle, Global Head, Nokia Government Relations