International Telecommunication Union Information
The International Telecommunication Union (Union internationale des télécommunications, in French) is the specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for information and communication technologies. ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world and establishes worldwide standards.
ITU also organizes worldwide and regional exhibitions and forums, such as ITU TELECOM WORLD, bringing together representatives of government and the telecommunications and ICT industry to exchange ideas, knowledge and technology.
The ITU is active in areas including broadband Internet, latest-generation wireless technologies, aeronautical and maritime navigation, radio astronomy, satellite-based meteorology, convergence in fixed-mobile phone, Internet access, data, voice, TV broadcasting, and next-generation networks.
ITU is based in Geneva, Switzerland, is a member of the United Nations Development Group[1] and its membership includes 193 Member States and around 700 Sector Members and Associates.
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ITU sectors
The ITU comprises three sectors, each managing a different aspect of the matters handled by the Union, as well as ITU Telecom:
- Radiocommunication (ITU-R)
- Managing the international radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbit resources is at the heart of the work of the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R).
- Standardization (ITU-T)
- ITU's standards-making efforts are its best-known — and oldest — activity; known prior to 1992 as the International Telephone and Telegraph Consultative Committee or CCITT (from its French name "Comité consultatif international téléphonique et télégraphique")
- Development (ITU-D)
- Established to help spread equitable, sustainable and affordable access to information and communication technologies (ICT).
- ITU TELECOM
- ITU Telecom organizes major events for the world's ICT community. ITU Telecom World 2011 is ITU Telecom's 40th Anniversary with the first event in 1971.
A permanent General Secretariat, headed by the Secretary General, manages the day-to-day work of the Union and its sectors.
Mission
The ITU's mission is to enable the growth and sustained development of telecommunications and information networks, and to facilitate universal access so that people everywhere can participate in, and benefit from, the emerging information society and global economy. The ITU assists in mobilizing the technical, financial, and human resources required to make this vision real.
For the last 20 years, ITU has been coordinating efforts of government and industry and private sector in the development of a global broadband multimedia international mobile telecommunication system, known as IMT. Since 2000, the world has seen the introduction of the first family of standards derived from the IMT concept. Since May 2007, there are more than 1 billion IMT-2000 subscribers in the world. IMT-Advanced provides a global platform on which to build the next generations of mobile services - fast data access, unified messaging and broadband multimedia - in the form of exciting new interactive services.
A major priority of the ITU is bridging the so-called "digital divide" by building adequate and safe information and communication infrastructure and developing confidence in the use of cyberspace through enhanced online security.
The ITU also concentrates on strengthening emergency communications for disaster prevention and mitigation, especially in less developed regions.[2]
Legal framework of ITU
The basic texts of the ITU[3] are adopted by the Plenipotentiary Conference.[4] In addition to the Constitution and Convention, the consolidated basic texts include the Optional Protocol on the settlement of disputes, the Decisions, Resolutions and Recommendations in force, as well as the General Rules of Conferences, Assemblies and Meetings of the Union.
Leadership
The ITU is headed by a Secretary-General, who is elected to a four-year term by the member states at the plenipotentiary conference.
At the 17th Plenipotentiary Conference (2006) in Antalya, Turkey, the ITU's member states elected Dr Hamadoun Touré of Mali as Secretary-General of the Union.[5] He was re-elected for a second four-year term at the 18th Plenipotentiary Conference (2010) in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Directors and Secretaries-General of ITU
| Directors of ITU | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Beginning of term | End of term | Country |
| Louis Curchod | 1 January 1869 | 24 May 1872 | Switzerland |
| Karl Lendi | 24 May 1872 | 12 January 1873 | Switzerland |
| Louis Curchod | 23 February 1873 | 18 October 1889 | Switzerland |
| August Frey | 25 February 1890 | 28 June 1890 | Switzerland |
| Timotheus Rothen | 25 November 1890 | 11 February 1897 | Switzerland |
| Emil Frey | 11 March 1897 | 1 August 1921 | Switzerland |
| Henri Étienne | 2 August 1921 | 16 December 1927 | Switzerland |
| Joseph Räder | 1 February 1928 | 30 October 1934 | Switzerland |
| Franz von Ernst | 1 January 1935 | 1 January 1949 | Switzerland |
| Secretaries general | |||
| Léon Mulatier | 1 January 1950 | 1 January 1953 | France |
| Marco Aurelio Andrada | 1 January 1954 | 18 June 1958 | Argentina |
| Gerald C. Cross | 1 January 1964 | 29 October 1965 | United States |
| Manohar Balaji Sarwate | 30 October 1965 | 19 February 1967 | India |
| Mohamed Ezzedine Mili | 20 October 1967 | 31 December 1982 | Tunisia |
| Richard E. Butler | 1 January 1983 | 31 October 1989 | Australia |
| Pekka Tarjanne | 1 November 1989 | 31 January 1999 | Finland |
| Yoshio Utsumi | 1 February 1999 | 31 December 2006 | Japan |
| Hamadoun Touré | 1 January 2007 | present | Mali |
Membership
International Telecommunication Union member statesMembers states of the ITU are 192 of the 193 UN member states and the Vatican City.
Observers are: the Palestinian territories.[6]
Non-members are: Palau (the only UN member state not to be a member), the Republic of China (Taiwan) which was blocked from membership by the People's Republic of China but finally was given a country code listing it as "Taiwan, China",[7] Cook Islands, Niue, and the states with limited recognition.
The most recent member to join is South Sudan, which became a member on 14 July 2011.[8]
Membership of ITU is open to governments, which may join the Union as Member States, as well as to private organizations like carriers, equipment manufacturers, funding bodies, research and development organizations and international and regional telecommunication organizations, which can join ITU as non-voting Sector Members.
World Summit on the Information Society
Main article: World Summit on the Information SocietyThe ITU was the lead organizing agency of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS),[9] a United Nations summit aiming at bridging the digital divide and turning it into digital opportunity for all. WSIS provided a global forum on the theme of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) for development. WSIS was a pledge for building a people-centered development-oriented Information Society. Other big themes of the Summit were Internet governance and Financial mechanisms for meeting the challenges of ICTs for development.
The idea of holding WSIS came from the Tunisian President Ben Ali on the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Minneapolis in 1998. The process was launched late in 2002 on the initiative of Kofi Annan. The first phase of the WSIS summit took place in December 2003 in Geneva and the second and final phase took place in Tunis in November 2005.
WSIS Stocktaking Process was initiated in 2004. The WSIS Stocktaking Process is a follow-up to WSIS. Its purpose is to provide a register of activities carried out by governments, international organizations, the business sector, civil society and other entities, in order to highlight the progress made since that landmark event. Following § 120 of TAIS, ITU has been maintaining the WSIS Stocktaking database as a publicly accessible system providing information on ICT-related initiatives and projects with reference to the 11 WSIS Action Lines.
See also
ITU headquarters, Geneva- Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA)
- H.331
- Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL)
- ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R)
- ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D)
- ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T)
- ITU-R Recommendations
- ITU-T Recommendations
- Telephone numbers in the European Union
- X.509
- Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG)
- WSIS Stocktaking Platform
Notes
ITU headquarters, Geneva- ^ http://www.undg.org/index.cfm?P=13
- ^ "About ITU". International Telecommunications Union. http://www.itu.int/net/about/mission.aspx. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
- ^ Basic texts of the International Telecommunication Union
- ^ http://www.itu.int/plenipotentiary/2010/index.html 2010 Plenipotentiary Conference]
- ^ Report on election of Toure
- ^ Palestine ITU status
- ^ ITU-T : International Numbering Resources : National Numbering Plans : Taiwan, China
- ^ New Country, New Number - Country code 211 officially assigned to South Sudan ITU Pressroom, 14 July 2011
- ^ World Summit on the Information Society: Redirect
External links
- ITU official site
- History of ITU Portal (official site)
- ITU Telecom World 2011
- ITU defines the future of mobile communications
- U.N. Summit to Focus on Internet – Washington Post article about ICANN and the United Nations' ITU relationship
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Categories:
- International Telecommunication Union
- Organizations established in 1865
- Digital divide
- Organisations based in Geneva
- Telecommunications for development
- United Nations Development Group
- United Nations specialized agencies
- Radio organizations
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