Membership

Membership

The CTO is above all else a membership organisation committed to supporting its members across the Commonwealth and beyond in using ICTs in their development efforts. The CTO’s 2016 – 2020 Strategic Plan puts emphasis on enhancing membership value for all members.

The CTO has four broad categories of members: Full Member Countries, Affiliate Members, ICT Sector Members and Academia.

Full Member Countries are member states of the Commonwealth that have given an undertaking to make an annual financial contribution to the CTO; other Commonwealth countries, simply referred to as Member Countries, are all other member states of the Commonwealth not currently contributing financially to the CTO; they can take part in CTO activities, but they have no voting right within the CTO Council.

Affiliate Members are self-governing territories linked to Commonwealth states that join the membership of the CTO in order to benefit from the Organisation’s programmes. In addition, they have observer status at the CTO Council. (Prior to 2016, self-governing territories were admitted as ICT Sector Members as described below).

ICT Sector Members include the following:

  • Governments of non-Commonwealth countries;
  • Regulatory agencies (telecommunication and broadcasting regulatory agencies and commissions);
  • Specialised national agencies (universal access, IT, and cybersecurity agencies);
  • International organisations;
  • Industry (carriers, fixed/mobile/data network operators, manufacturers, service providers);
  • Industry associations;
  • Civil society (professional membership bodies, advocacy groups);

Introduced in 2016, Academia Membership is open to universities and tertiary educational institutions from any country. Academia Members are admitted just as ICT Sector Members are, but with a lower annual financial contribution. Prior to 2016, academic institutions were admitted as ICT Sector Members.

Further Information:

For more information on member benefits please contact:
CTO Membership Division
+44 (0) 208 600 3800
+44 (0) 208 600 3819