Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation

1. Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation Dr David Souter Executive Director

2. CTO mission • The CTO is a partnership between governments, businesses and other organisations which works: • to extend the provision and use of telecommunications and other information and communication services; • to meet the communications needs and aspirations of citizens and consumers; • to support the social and economic development objectives of governments and civil society; • and to facilitate the successful development of telecommunications and other businesses. • Intergovernmental treaty organisation headquartered in the UK

3. Activity strands Telecommunications in Social and economic development Telecommunications Policy and regulation Telecommunications Business development but n.b. Activities extend beyond telecoms into internet and ICTs Activities extend beyond Commonwealth countries – Commonwealth a base not a boundary

4. Core competencies • networking and sharing of experience between different communications environments • A trusted and independent source of information and expertise • Conference and workshop development, implementation and management • Bilateral technical cooperation using a network of established providers • Logistical support for technical assistance activities • Providing a forum for the discussion and development fo new ideas and initiatives in telecommunications and ICTs in development

5. Programme for Development and Training 3000 bilateral projects since 1985 at cost of cUK£50,000,000 200 bilateral projects p.a. in 30 countries: Small scale specialist consultancy Design and development of training courses Access to training courses in other countries Value of approx. $100m since 1985 Over 50% funded by business

6. International conferences and workshops At least 50 days of conference activity p.a. Most activities of five days duration, focused on key issues in policy, management, technology or regulation Recent examples: Development of National and International Regulation Internet in Africa (with ITU/BDT) Telecommunications and Development in the Pacific Application and Development of IP Networks

7. Bridging the Digital Divide Programme in partnership with DFID (UK) and DGIS (Netherlands) for period 2001-2004 CTO work based on capacity building in policy and regulation Includes workshops, courses and other capacity-building / technical cooperation initiatives in (for example): Internet policy Public access E-commerce and e-government/governance Consumer and stakeholder representation

8. Bridging the Digital Divide: e-commerce Includes: Focus on: Small, singleton and medium-sized enterprises Development of an enabling policy and regulatory framework for e-commerce Development of workshop and other materials for enterprise development agencies and individual enterprises Cooperation and support for stakeholder conferences and other initiatives

9. Contact details Dr David Souter, Executive Director, CTO Clareville House 26/27 Oxendon Street London SW1Y 4EL United Kingdom Tel: +44 20 7930 5516 Fax: +44 20 7930 4248 Email: d.souter@cto.int; info@cto.int WWW: http://www.cto.int