 Welcome to the ITU studio here at the ITU Plenty Potentiary Conference 2018 here in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates where I'm very pleased to be joining the studio today Mr. Mario Manovich, who is the director-elect for the Radio Communication Bureau, BR for the ITU. Mario, welcome to the studio and congratulations on your election. Thank you, thanks very much. So I'd like to start off by asking you, from where you're sitting now, how should ITU evolve to maintain relevance in today's world? Well, in my view, for the ITU in general and the ITUR in particular, to maintain and increase its relevance in the telecommunication ecosystem, it must evolve in three fronts, on three fronts. Firstly, we must focus on our core competencies. As you know, for over 110 years the ITUR has been producing global regulations and harmonized standards on the use of frequency spectrum and satellite orbits through the updating of the radio regulations at world radio communication conferences, as well as the constant work of the ITUR study groups on globally harmonized standards that have shaped the radio communications ecosystems and allowed its sustainable development. So ITUR is a global platform that allows governments and industry to come together and find solutions that will make this happen. Secondly, I think we should increase the effectiveness of the organization by better adapting to the changing needs of its members and increasing our responsiveness to them. And thirdly, we should increase or improve or unite. It's a better word, the efforts of the three sectors, the radio communication, the standardization and the development sectors, in order to avoid duplication of work and to increase the synergies among the three sectors. So by increasing focus and efficiency, the ITUR will be better equipped to tackle the main challenges that lie ahead, notably by increasing the broadband penetration and reducing the digital divide. To do so by simultaneously catering for new services and technologies while striking the right balance between protecting investment and fostering innovation and of course ensuring the timely availability of spectrum and orbit resources. Now you're no stranger to the work of the radio communication bureau you've been around for many years. I wanted to ask you in that time, obviously you must have been developing a number of priorities that you wanted to address. What are your top three priorities and how do you plan to achieve them? Yes, if I had to choose three, I would say that I would focus on increasing efficiency, transparency and inclusiveness in the activities of the radio communication sector. So I would firstly promote digital transformation in order to increase the agility of the ITUR's processes, in particular by modernizing its databases and practices in order to have better response times and to achieve consistent compliance with the regulatory deadlines. Then secondly, I will ensure that the provisions of the radio regulations are applied in a fair and transparent manner. And thirdly, I would foster more receptiveness of the bureau to the needs of its members by attracting more developing, least developed and small island developing states to the work of the ITUR and by providing a neutral platform for countries to collaborate. And next year we've got the big world radio communication conference there, so... Absolutely, so that's the first big step to do so. And in terms of this particular planning potential conference is the first one since the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals and the World, in fact. I wanted to ask you, what do you see as ITU's unique role in accelerating progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals? Sure. Well, today it's widely accepted that the telecommunication and ICTs are key enablers to achieving each and every sustainable development goal. However, the SDGs will not be achieved unless we have all the relevant players and stakeholders working jointly and in a coordinated manner. So the ITU as the primary UN agency for telecommunications and ICTs is called to play a leading role in coordinating this work. And we have to do that by promoting projects and initiatives, by organizing fora to discuss and agree on policies and strategies and by advocating at the highest levels that all resources necessary to achieve the SDGs be allocated by the relevant players. Finally, is there anything that you would like to add that we haven't covered here? I would just like to thank all the member states for their support for the election. I was really moved not only by the result of the election after all the suspense and second round and these things, but mainly for the kind words that I had from all regions after my acceptance speech. And those reflect the results of a lifetime career at the ITU and in the telecommunications sector. So I've been really touched by them and I hope this motivates me additionally to deliver and to meet the expectation of the member states. I hope I would be able to do that in the coming four years. I'm sure you will and we wish you the very best and congratulations once again in your new position. And we look forward to catching up with you again over the next four years at least. Absolutely. Thank you very much. Thank you.