A/HRC/26/19 communication in the framework of provisions on the right to freedom of expression and related rights. He stated that more work was needed to examine the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a means of supporting and enabling the implementation of human rights treaties, as such technologies had a unique ability to expand access to basic public services such as health and education. That issue had been discussed extensively during the negotiations leading to the adoption of the Constitution and Convention of the International Telecommunication Union, which recognized the right of the public to use the international telecommunications service. In the context of the rights of persons with disabilities, the use of ICTs could be useful in reinforcing the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, particularly articles 9 (accessibility), 24 (education) and 25 (health), and in promoting the development of a society in which persons with disabilities were both beneficiaries and agents of social change. The ITU played an important role in developing the technical standards and recommendations that ensured that ICTs were fully accessible to persons with disabilities and that those technologies would evolve in line with the principle of universal design. 23. During the discussion following the presentations, several participants referred to funding for research and development. One participant noted that investment in medical research was extremely costly, requiring clinical trials over a lengthy period of time. Consequently, investors had an essential role to play and open-access innovations were unlikely to result in the development of new vaccines, for instance. Obliging private entities to share information and data would discourage spending on research, which would have a negative overall impact on innovation. On the other hand, it was important to acknowledge that the end product was often unaffordable for many people. 24. The discussion also covered conflicts of interest, particularly in relation to the promotion of special interests in the dissemination of scientific information and the funding of research institutions by private actors, as well as the implications for the integrity of the research. One delegation expressed a keen interest in the preservation of traditional knowledge, and several participants noted that the protection of traditional knowledge in the area of agriculture was an important building block of the right to food in many communities, as was food sovereignty. 25. The Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights cautioned against limiting the ambit of the right to science to recent innovations, as many societies were yet to benefit from earlier advances, such as electricity. Moreover, implementing the right to science also involved the use of knowledge which was already in existence and which should be conserved even as new progress was registered. Similar considerations applied in the case of medicines, as drugs that were already available were frequently as effective as newlymarketed drugs. 26. Mr. Batanero indicated that, following an extensive expert consultation, ITU had recently completed a report on barriers, challenges and opportunities in ICTs, which highlighted that, as of April 2013, 15 per cent of the world’s population (one billion people) had a disability that affected their access to modern communications.6 In addition to being rights holders, that population was also a lucrative source of potential customers for both the public and private sectors, and that was one way of motivating action for the removal of barriers to access. One participant expressed the view that technology should be used to 6 8 The ICT Opportunity for a Disability-Inclusive Development Framework, Synthesis report of the ICT Consultation in support of the High-Level Meeting on Disability and Development of the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 2013, available from http://www.itu.int/en/action/accessibility/Documents/The%20ICT%20Opportunity%20for%20a%20 Disability_Inclusive%20Development%20Framework.pdf.