ITU celebrates 150th anniversary, sets May 17 as WTIS Day

ITRealms

International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in line with its role as the United Nations specialized agency for ICTs, celebrates its 150^th anniversary award on 17 May in Geneva, Switzerland, with the theme “Telecommunications and ICTs: drivers of innovation”, and sets to annually observed May 17 as World Telecommunication and Information Society (WTIS) Day, ITRealms reports.

ITRealms gathered that forward-looking movers and shakers in the ICT industry, like Bill Gates, Robert E. Kahn, Thomas Wiegand, Mark I. Krivocheev, Martin Cooper and Ken Sakamura amongst others, would be honoured by  will be honoured with ITU’s 150^th Anniversary Award. As well recognition will be accorded to ITU’s Founding Member States and to its long-standing industry members.

The event is also to feature Panel discussion on “ICT’s Driving a Sustainable Future” with Luis Von Ahn, CEO & founder, DuoLingo; Philip Walton, COO, BRCK; Jian Wang, CTO, Alibaba; Ulf Ewaldsson, CTO, Ericsson; and Gabriela Styf Sjöman, CTO, Telecom Italia Group.

ITU has been interwoven with landmark inventions and innovations in communications over the past 150 years. In the 1850s, soon after Samuel Morse started a service in the United States, ITRealms learnt that telegraph lines crossed national borders and new international agreements had to be forged.

On 17 May 1865, twenty nations gathered in Paris to sign an international framework and formed the International Telegraph Union; the signing of the International Telegraph Convention in Paris in 1865 today culminates into a memorable day, as ITU annually marks May 17 as World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

Daniel Nsolibe/Ed, Ops.

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