 Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary-General, Mr. Maria Manevich, Director of the Radio Communication Bureau, esteemed honorary members and guests, your excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the ITU Radio Communication Assembly 2023 and of course to the warm and innovative city of Dubai. As we gather here in this vibrant metropolis, there is no doubt that the rich culture and innovative tradition that defines Dubai will inspire and invigorate our deliberations. Now to initiate our proceedings, it is my pleasure to welcome and introduce as Excellency Mohamed Al-Zarouni, Deputy Director-General of Information and Digital Government Sector of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority of UAE and Dean of the Radio Communication Assembly to formally inaugurate this momentous gathering. Thank you. Peace be upon you. Good morning. May the peace of God be upon you all. And I am very thrilled and honoured to serve you as a Dean of this event and with your support and collaboration, I think we can come up with the best experience that expected. I'll be addressing you in Arabic, so please use the translation facilities that you have here. Sa'adah Doreenbukh. Your Excellency, Mrs. Doreenbukh and Martin, Secretary-General of the ITU, Mr. Mario Manovich, Director of the BR, distinguished heads and members of delegations, may the peace of God be upon you all. I have the pleasure to speak to you at this ceremony in which we launch the Radio Communication Assembly for the year 2023. I seize this opportunity to express how much I am pleased as an Emeriti that my country, the UAE, is hosting the meetings of the Radio Communication Assembly as well as the WRC here in Dubai, Dubai which has always kept its doors and hearts open to receive and welcome their guests. At the outset, I would like to thank those who have organized the meeting, this assembly, and later the World Radio Communication Conference. All those arrangements made have embodied the spirit of one team between the government of the UAE, represented by TDRA, the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, and between the ITU team. They have accompanied all the arrangements and preparations for this major event. Ladies and gentlemen, while the world today is living a delicate historical stage in terms of the speed of changes and developments, your meeting represents a milestone so that we can come up with the outcomes that will represent the interests of everyone in the field of radio communications. This is a field upon which the process of future shaping is based, especially in light of developing technologies known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the global trends today to establish smart cities. Those meetings are important and this importance stems from the vital and central role played by the Radio Communication Assembly in adopting decisions, recommendations, and study questions in the radio sector of the ITU-ITUR. Our discussions and decisions will also form the framework for vital studies that will contribute to developing the radio communication standards and practices, reflecting our commitment to the highest levels of innovation and cooperation. The task that we are dealing with in this forum will be the beginning of a series of actions that will lead to effective outcomes in the upcoming study period, hoping that the study group efforts will be focused on issues that will be most important in the context of our mission. At the end of our sessions, we hope that we will have in hand a specific strategic program with a complete study group program to confront the challenges in the field of telecommunications in this meeting. As in all meetings that will take place within the RA, we play a very important humanitarian role and we embody the concept of an integrated and cooperative humanitarian team where the efforts of countries and sectors are all united in issues related to radio communications. All this will be reflected on our common goals of development, prosperity, and progress for our peoples and humanity, so that we short a path for the future where technology meets the needs of society in harmony with the spectrum that we all share. Ladies and gentlemen, between your previous assembly and this one, the past four years have witnessed major events. They have left consequences and outcomes that are difficult to erase from human history. These events have varied. They have been in the health, climate sector, cyber sector, and also other types of events, but the common denominator among all of them is that they have posed challenges and threats to humans. The world has mobilized its forces to confront those challenges, but the common lesson that we have learned from all those crises is the strategic importance of the telecommunications sector in confronting risk and ensuring the continuation of life in all circumstances. The second lesson, which is no less important, is the urgent need to enhance the spirit of cooperation and human brotherhood. The experiences that we have lived together have shown that risks of all kinds are threats that cross borders and do not distinguish and differentiate between one nation and the other. Any measure will be incomplete unless they are part of a comprehensive strategy based on cooperation and partnership. Accordingly, the agreements and understandings that are expected to be reached in this honorable assembly, they come in the context of all our contributions to shaping the desired reality for humankind or humanity, a reality that is based on the principle of win-win, which is the true meaning of victory in achieving the interests of all parties. I hope that God grant you success and your endeavors to serve humanity and may the peace of God be upon you all. Thank you. It's my pleasure to declare the official opening of the Radio Communication Assembly. Thank you. Okay, so moving ahead with the agenda, so first agenda item will be seeking your approval on the agenda. ADM 2. We'll have one minute for any comments. Thank you. The agenda is approved. So let's move to the agenda item number two, following the successful completion of the consultation among head of delegations. It is proposed that Ms. Carol Wilson should serve as a chair of the assembly. So please join me welcoming Ms. Carol Wilson to the podium. My role is over now, so I leave it to Ms. Carol to take over, and I believe you are at the good hand. Ms. Carol, thank you so much. Excellencies, Secretary General of the ITU, Director of the Radio Communication Bureau, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. It is an honor for my administration, Australia, and our regional organization, the Asia Pacific telecommunity, as well as a great privilege for me to have been chosen as chair of the Radio Communication Assembly for 2023. This assembly is of great importance for ITUR, for all who are involved in the development of radio technology, as well as all those around the world who benefit from radio services, including broadcasting, terrestrial and space communications, radio navigation, radio location and radio astronomy. With this assembly, we finalized the study period that started in 2019, and will commence a new study cycle for the next four years. We all recognize that shortly after the assembly in 2019, the COVID pandemic swept the world, and among other things created challenges in conducting working party and study group meetings, as well as the research necessary to predict guest studies. Nevertheless, the study groups have been successful under difficult circumstances in carrying out their assigned work, including the studies for WRC 23, and in developing technical standards for emerging radio technologies. Some ITUR recommendations developed during this study cycle need to be considered by the assembly purely for formal approval as they are incorporated by reference. We will also appoint new chairs and vice chairs for study groups, the RAG, the CPM and CCV, as well as review the working methods of the sector. There has been significant effort within the RAG regarding proposals to improve working methods, and these proposals are ready for consideration at this meeting with contributions submitted from administrations. There are also other ITUR resolutions to be updated, and proposals for new resolutions to address the rapid changes in the global telecommunication environment. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a lot of work to do during the next five days to complete all these tasks. I would encourage everyone to approach the discussion in a cooperative manner so that consensus can be reached for all the issues we have on the table. I would also ask that you work efficiently, keeping interventions short and making your proposals very clear. Finally, I promise to do my best as chair so that together we can make the necessary decisions to set a bright future for the next four years of the ITUR. Thank you very much for your attention. I now invite the secretary general to address the assembly. Thank you. Good morning. Your Excellency, TDRA, Director General Majed Al-Mesmar, Your Excellency, Mohammed Al-Zaruni, Dean of the 2023 Radio Communication Assembly, Madam Carol Wilson, Chair of the 2023 Radio Communication Assembly, Mr. Mario Manevich, Director of the ITU Radio Communication Bureau. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is such a great honor to address this Radio Communication Assembly for the first time as ITU Secretary General. I want to express my sincerest thanks to the UAE, to the United Arab Emirates for hosting this assembly here in Dubai ahead of the World Radio Communication Conference. It's another show of strong support from the UAE to the ITU's mission. Let me also congratulate our chair who is the first woman to lead these proceedings in ITU history. This is a note of optimism, I would say, in an otherwise sea of alarming developments, including the dire situation in Gaza and in Israel, where thousands of innocent lives have been lost, including lives of United Nations colleagues and countless others have been shattered, and where civilians and civilian infrastructure, like telecommunications, are under constant threat. As this assembly starts its important work, I would ask you to join me for a moment of silence to reflect and to mourn all those that have lost their lives. Ladies and gentlemen, I would invite you to please rise. Thank you. Thank you. Let's always remember the positive role that radio communications can play in fostering lasting peace. Delegates, our work is technical, but the impact on human lives is profound. Never before has the digital landscape been so complex and never before has the need for reconciling the slow progress of digital inclusion with the breakneck pace of digital transformation been so evident. There's so much untapped potential in supporting human development and rescuing our planet. The Assembly in the World Radio Communication Conference offer us an unmissable opportunity to meet this moment. And to help us to deliver on the universal connectivity and the sustainable digital transformation objectives that the Member States gave to this great union at the last Plenty Potentiary Conference. PP 22 adopted resolutions related to the crucial work of this assembly, not just for our strategic goals, but also for the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We see it, for example, in the new resolution highlighting the importance of long-term sustainability when it comes to spectrum and satellite resources used by satellite services and space services. Put simply the vital work of the ITUR study groups helps to propel the ITU forward, making us both fit for purpose and fit for the future. And it's getting global recognition as we saw this year when ITU received an Emmy Award and congratulations to Study Group Six for winning a third Emmy for ITUR. You've made the entire ITU family very, very proud. Ladies and gentlemen, this moment has been four years in the making and it's about shaping our digital future with the needed working methods and procedures of the radio communication sector, the recommendations and our future work program and activities. It's about tackling some of the world's biggest challenges when it comes to radio. I know that we can count on your spirit of cooperation, of collaboration and unity, the spirit inherent to ITUR study groups, bringing engineers, manufacturers, service providers, regulators, academics, policymakers, all together. We need this more than ever. To meet the rapid needs, the rapidly changing needs I should emphasize in our increasingly digital world, to accelerate progress on the SDGs and to ensure that everyone, everywhere has meaningful access to life-changing, to the life-changing potential of digital technologies. I thank you very much. Thank you, Secretary General. And I will now invite the Director of the Radio Communication Bureau to address the assembly. Thank you, Director. Thank you very much. His Excellency Majed Al Mesmar, Director General of TDRA, His Excellency Mohamed Al Zaruni, Dean of the RA-23, Ms. Carol Wilson, Chair of the RA-23, Ms. Turin Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary General, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to the 2023 Radio Communication Assembly. Let me first thank our host in my turn, the United Arab Emirates for their warm reception are for the excellent facilities provided for our event. It is always a pleasure to be back in the UAE. Dear delegates, the Radio Communication Assembly marks the end of a study period. This study cycle has been a particularly challenging one. We have had to overcome the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic that forced us to hold virtual study group and working party meetings and rely more heavily on progressing the work via correspondence groups. However, this experience has deepened our appreciation for the value of meeting in person, benefiting from the mutual respect and long-lasting friendships that we develop when we come together. While the use of virtual meetings made it more difficult to find consensus in the discussions, it also allowed more people to attend and participate in the meetings. As compared to the previous study period, the overall level of participation in all study groups and working parties together increased on an average by approximately 25%. Despite these challenges, we had some notable achievements. First and foremost, we continued to progress our work program and completed the preparatory process for the WRC-23 on schedule. The text of the draft CPM report to the WRC-23 was submitted on schedule, allowing the CPM to be held in the early spring, meeting the requirement that it occur no less than five months prior to the start of the WRC. Despite the impact of the pandemic, ITUR study groups continue to effectively treat their areas of work, approving 152 recommendations and finalizing the work on 123 ITUR reports and two handbooks, including the highly anticipated handbook on small satellites. The Small Satellites Handbook was produced in response to resolution ITUR-68 to promote the development of small satellites and better serve the needs of the membership and the entire satellite industry. ITU also published the match-awaited recommendation on detailed specification of the radio interfaces of IMT-2020, also known as the 5G specifications, and work has already begun on IMT-2030 and beyond, which will correspond to the sixth generation of mobile communications. As you can see, huge amounts of work have been undertaken within the study groups and there is more required in the next study period as the need for propagation modeling and evolution of technology is ongoing. The value of the work carried out in the ITUR study groups did not go unnoticed to the external world. As the Secretary General just mentioned, this year, ITUR study group six won the Engineering, Science and Technology Emmy Award for the development of a radio communication standard for High Dynamic Range Television, or HDR TV. The award given by the Television Academy recognizes the work done by engineers and other experts within ITUR to develop a global HDR TV standard that provides viewers with an enhanced visual experience. As we look into the future work of the ITUR radio communication study groups, we need to keep in mind the opportunities that new technologies bring to deliver capacity and coverage everywhere, bridging the digital divide, as well as the challenges and impacts they will have on our lives. Our planet is also definitely in need of our attention. In the next study cycle, our work in the area of science services will most likely gain an enhanced level of prominence and visibility in the broader public sphere as the world collectively addresses the challenge of climate change and the spectrum needs for future space economy. Ladies and gentlemen, during the next five days, you will have the opportunity to consider a number of draft recommendations developed by the study groups that will require your attention. I'm confident that you will find the appropriate solutions to complete the task successfully. The array will also provide a suitable occasion to look ahead and define how we will conduct the next study period and the structure in which it shall be undertaken. The assembly is also the moment to review the ITUR resolutions that provide guidance to the activities of the study groups and the conference preparatory meeting. Of particular importance is to successfully conclude the work that was conducted by the RAG correspondence groups on the revision of the text of resolution ITUR 1-8 and the development of a working document towards a preliminary draft new resolution or promoting gender equality, equity and parity in the ITUR. Dear colleagues, the radio communication assembly will have the delicate task of electing chairs and vice chairs to the study groups and to the CCV, CPM and RAG. In this respect, due attention will need to be taken to the guidance provided in resolution 208, revised Dubai 2018. The time available for each item of business is short and as always, you can rely on the staff of Radio Communication Bureau to provide any assistance and support that you may need. I'm confident that with the goodwill that prevails at events such as this, together with the sound leadership of your chair, we can look forward to a rewarding assembly and to a fruitful outcome. Thank you very much for your attention. Thank you, director. And with that, we conclude the opening ceremony and I will close the session. The plenary will start at 10.45 in this room. Thank you very much. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, as the chair said, we have just come to the end of the RA opening ceremony and now, as they say, the real work begins. As you set forth in seeking agreements on the various matters on the agenda of the RA 23. The first plenary meeting of the RA 23 will open in this very room has just been pointed out at 10.45 a.m., so please don't stray too far. We wish you all the best for your discussions and decisions that will define the work, program and activities of the ITUR for the next four years and undoubtedly shape the future of radio communication. Thank you.