The 4th Preparatory Meeting of the Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (CITEL) for the ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference 2021 (WTDC 2021) was held October 4-8, 2021 via videoconference. The meeting was attended by around 130 delegates from North and South American countries, international and regional organizations, including the RCC and its member countries such as Russia, as well as the staff and management of the RCC Executive Committee. The meeting reviewed CITEL's preparations for other ITU forums, in particular the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-20).

The meeting was opened by CITEL Executive Director Oscar Leon, who passed the chair to Santiago Reyes-Borda of Canada.

On the first day, participants discussed preparations for WTSA21 in international and regional organizations. Arseniy Plosky briefed delegates on the work within the RCC on this issue.

On the second day, preparations for WTSA-20 were reviewed by Bilèle Jamoussi of the ITU, who noted in particular that the arrangements for the Assembly in Geneva had not been finalized due to the clarifying anti-epidemic requirements of the Swiss authorities.

Interaction between ITU Sectors in preparation for WRC-23 was also addressed, with Mario Manevich, Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau, briefing the participants.

Discussions then continued in the working groups. At the final plenary session, the Policy and Regulation, Technology and Services Development and ITU Conference Preparatory Working Groups presented papers on digital development, cybersecurity, preventing the use of stolen mobile devices and others.

At the end of the meeting, CITEL Executive Director Oscar Leon and Plenary Chair Conatel Martinez (Paraguay) summarized the event and thanked all participants for their constructive and fruitful work.