The Secretary-General of the ITU in recent years created the Strategic Policy Unit.

As described on the ITU website: "The ITU Strategy and Policy Unit (SPU) supports the Secretary-General by, inter alia; identifying emerging trends in the telecommunications environment and analysing their implications for ITU and its membership; promoting the growth and expansion of advanced infocommunications networks; organizing strategic planning workshops and symposia; conducting telecommunication and Internet country case studies; producing reports on telecommunications and Internet policy trends (e.g. the ITU Internet Reports series); organizing World Telecommunication Policy Forums; and maintaining sound relations with industry, research institutions, the media and the general public. "A number of these activities, in particular the workshops and case studies, are carried out under the aegis of the ITU New Initiatives Programme..."