Washington, DC, 28 July 2023 – International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary-General was in Washington, DC, this week, for the first time since taking office in January 2023, to conduct meetings with relevant US counterparts at the White House, the State Department, the Commerce Department, Congress, the private sector and other organizations.
The UN’s digital agency, the is the oldest agency in the UN system, dating back to the first telegraph in 1865, and works to facilitate international connectivity in communications networks. It allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develops the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies seamlessly interconnect, and strives to improve access to information and communications technologies (ICTs) to underserved communities worldwide. (Every time you make a mobile phone call, access the Internet or send an email, you are benefitting from the work of ITU.)
With an extensive background in telecommunication policy, including in the United States, Secretary-General Bogdan-Martin provided an overview of the work of ITU -- particularly in the area of digital transformation efforts to help “connect the unconnected,” in order to enhance economic prosperity, job creation, skills development, gender equality, and socio-economic inclusion – and noted her desire to bring fresh ideas and energy to the agency. Discussions also pointed to the fast-moving nature of artificial intelligence (AI) and the need for proper regulation. She recalled the AI for Good held in early July in Geneva. In most meetings, she noted UN Secretary-General Antonio remarks to the Security Council on 18 July 2023 emphasizing the potential of AI to accelerate human development while cautioning against its malicious use and highlighting the need for a universal approach to AI governance.
Meetings on Capitol Hill included Representatives Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Washington) and Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey), Chair and Ranking Member respectively of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, together with its Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Chairman, Representative Bob Latta (R-Ohio). This Committee, similarly, the oldest continuous standing committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, has one of the broadest jurisdictions, which includes electronic communications and the internet; broadcast and cable television; privacy, cybersecurity and data security. She also separately briefed senior staff of that Committee. She also met with Representative Sara Jacobs (D-California), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee.
In addition, she met with Senator Todd Young (R-Indiana), who was among those recently tapped by the Senate Majority Leader to explore avenues for regulating AI. While on Capitol Hill for meetings, she observed the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee’s on Principles of Artificial Intelligence, which also examined what AI regulation might need to look like, and she introduced herself to Subcommittee Chairman Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) upon conclusion of the hearing.
