The Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), at the kind invitation of the Czech Technical University in Prague, is organizing an ITU Academy Event on "Fostering Innovation and Partnerships in Human Capacity Building: Enhanced Engagement of Academia in the International Telecommunication Union", which will take place in the National Library of Technology, Prague, Czech Republic, from 28 to 29 April 2014.

The meeting provides an opportunity for dialogue among the ICT stakeholders on policies and strategies directed towards fostering a mutually beneficial relationship between the Academia and the ITU Academy. This relationship is crucial as the ITU Academy strives to harmonize, integrate and gather under one umbrella all existing ITU training services corresponding to the organization's main areas of activity - radiocommunications, standardization and development - and to extend the current portfolio of training programmes.

This meeting will also facilitate discussions on possible capacity building challenges that might be addressed at the regional and global levels, including:

· ITU Academy: global platform for Human Capacity Building;

· Building win-win partnerships between the ITU Academy and Academia;

· New paradigm for Centres of Excellence as an effective mechanism for training delivery at regional and global levels;

· Fostering the development of training materials through partnerships with Academia and other stakeholders;

· Role of Academia in ITU: opportunities and challenges;

Following Resolution 73 of the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-10), a study of the Centres of Excellence was undertaken and a new Centres of Excellence strategy has been developed by the BDT. Implementation of the new strategy takes effect after WTDC-2014. This event will also be an excellent opportunity to explore the avenues of the new strategy and shed light on ways forward.

This event is open to all academic and research institutions active in the ICT ecosystem, as well as any ITU members involved in the work of the ITU Academy thorough development of training materials or delivery of training programmes. For those unable to attend, remote participation will be provided through Adobe Connect platform.

Furthermore, this event will be followed by an ITU Workshop on Disaster Management (30 April 2014) taking place at the same venue.

For more information please consult the following website: http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Regional-Presence/Europe/Pages/Enhanced-Engagement-of-Academia-in-the-International-Telecommunication-Union-.aspx