INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Symposium on the 20th Anniversary of the Information Technology Agreement

Geneva, WTO Headquarters

The Chairperson of the ITA Committee, Ms Zsofia Tvarusko, will serve as facilitator.

As the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) turns 20, WTO members will look back at the trade liberalization and the evolution of global trade in ICT products and their impact on developing countries. The Symposium on the 20th Anniversary of the Information Technology Agreement will also discuss how ICTs as a development tool present opportunities and challenges for developing countries. Please see the program below.

Purpose

To have an overview of the trade liberalization under the ITA and the evolution
of global trade in ICT products over the past 20 years;
To examine how ICT, as a development tool, can help developing countries and
SMEs in promoting connectivity and achieving sustainable development goals;
and can enable diversification, technology upgrading, and innovation;
To discuss what is next for the ITA and the ICT sector.

On this occasion, a new WTO publication to mark the 20th Anniversary
of the Information Technology Agreement will be launched. The Symposium also serves as an opportunity to help capacity building on ITA for developing Members and LDCs.

 

Programme

Day one Tuesday, 27 June 2017
Morning Session

Welcome Address and launching of the WTO publication:

10.00

Mr Roberto Azevêdo

Director General of the WTO
Speech

Keynote Address:

Mr James Kenneth Lockett

Vice President, Head of Trade Facilitation and Market Access, Huawei

Keynote Address:

Mr John Neuffer

President and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)
Presentation

Keynote Address:

Ambassador Cedeño Molinari

Costa Rica

Trade liberalization under the ITA and evolution of global trade in ICT products over the past 20 years

10:45 - Overview

Mr Andreas Maurer

Economic Research and Statistics Division, WTO
Presentation

How ICT, as a development tool, can help developing countries and SMEs in promoting connectivity and achieving sustainable development goals; and can enable diversification, technology upgrading, and innovation

11:00 - Overview
How ICT as a development tool can help developing countries and SMEs in promoting connectivity and achieving sustainable development goals

Mr Pierre Sauvé

Senior Trade Specialist, World Bank Group
Presentation

Ms. Vanessa Gray

Head of Division for LDCs, SIDS and Emergency Telecommunications, ITU
Presentation

Audio
11:20
Evidence based presentations: ICT as a development tool, benefits, opportunities and challenges to developing countries

Academic views

Mr Stephen Ezell

Vice President of Global Innovation Policy, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF)
Presentation

The experience of developing countries

Mr Gideon Mwangi

Senior Economist, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kenya
Presentation

Mr Kanchana Thudugala

Director Special Projects, ICT Agency of Sri Lanka
Presentation

The experience of developing ITA Participants

Mr Danilo Lachica

President of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines (SEIPI)
Presentation

Mr Sudhir Kumar Marwaha

Director, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, India
Presentation

Mr Suraj Ramgolam

Programme Manager, Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mauritius
Presentation

12:45
Panel discussion and Q&A

Dr Trevor Gunn

Vice President of International Relations, Medtronic
Presentation

Ms Nanjira Sambuli

Digital Equality Advocacy Manager, World Wide Web Foundation

Mr Ulf Pehrsson

Vice President, Government & Industry Relations, Ericsson
Presentation

Audio

13:30–15:00 Lunch Break

Afternoon session

How ICT, as a development tool can enable diversification, technology upgrading, and innovation in particular in the developing world

15:00 - Overview

Mr Torbjörn Fredriksson

Chief, ICT Analysis Section, UNCTAD
Presentation

Mr Martin Labbé

Division of Enterprises and Institutions, Trade and Investment Support Institutions, ITC
Presentation

15:20
Evidence based presentations: ICT as a development tool, benefits, opportunities and challenges to SMEs

Ms Katia Cerwin

Co-Creator and Director, Funsepa/Programa Valentina, Guatemala
Presentation

Ms Sonia Ozoux

eServices Manager, FRCI
Presentation

Mr Csaba Faix

Head of Communications, Prezi
Presentation 16:00 - Q&A

ITA and the ICT sector: What's next?

Existing challenges and opportunities: non tariff barriers to trade in information technology products

16:15

Ms Martina Francesca Ferracane

Research Associate, European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE)

Mr Michikazu Chihara

Chairperson of the Trade Policy Committee, Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA)
Presentation

Mr Peter Kelleher

Product Regulatory Engineer, Dell
Presentation

17:00
Panel discussions and Q&A

Mr Josh Rosenberg

Director of Global Policy, Information Technology Industry Council (ITI)
Presentation

Mr Jay Chavez

Vice President Operations, Ionics Philippines

Mr Pietro di Fiore

Chairman Market Access Group, Digitaleurope
Presentation

Mr Gilles Thonet

Head of ICT Standards Coordination, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
Presentation

18:00 - End of day one Audio

18:15 Cocktail Reception for all participants sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Hungary

Day two Wednesday, 28 June 2017
Morning Session

ITA and the ICT sector: What's next? (cont’d)

10:30
Existing challenges and opportunities (cont'd)

Mr Marc Vancoppenolle

Global Head of Government Relations, Nokia
Presentation

Mr Pascal Dorel

Senior Manager EMEAR region, Global Customs and Trade, Cisco
Presentation

Mr Doug Johnson

Vice President of Technology Policy, Consumer Technology Association (CTA)
Presentation

11:00
Future challenges and opportunities: further expansion of trade in ICT products

Mr Ganesh Kumar Bangah

Deputy Chairman, National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM)
Presentation

Ms To Thi Thu Huong

Deputy Director General, Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam
Presentation

Mr Raymond Pao

Vice President, VR New Technology, HTC
Presentation

11:45
Panel discussions and Q&A

Mr Yoichi Otabe

Special Advisor of Trade Policy and International Cooperation Board, JEITA

Mr Mario Palacios

Global Director of Export and Import Policy, Intel Corporation
Presentation

Mr Hendrik Abma

Director General, European Semiconductor Industry Association
Presentation

Mr Carlos Halasz

Customs Compliance Officer, HP, Inc.
Presentation

Closing session

Closing Remarks

12:45

The facilitator will provide a summary of the Symposium. Participants will then have an opportunity for final discussion and to provide any last comments and feedback.

13:00 - End of Symposium

The Symposium will be followed at 15:30 on day two by a formal meeting of the ITA Committee, which will be open only to WTO Member Government representatives and other international intergovernmental organizations enjoying observer status.

Audio

Operational details:

  • The Symposium will be held in Room W, Centre William Rappard, WTO, Geneva, Switzerland;
  • The Symposium is open to all WTO Members and Observers, to private sector IT industry representatives, to academic experts in IT technologies, to international intergovernmental organizations, to NGOs and journalists, and to the public;
  • Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in the three official WTO languages (English, French, and Spanish);
  • Registration via the WTO website is mandatory in order to gain access to the WTO building and to facilitate seating arrangements, excepting those already in possession of a WTO badge
  • Copies of the presentations will be made available on the WTO website after the Symposium, subject to speaker authorization.
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