Although communication has evolved from the traditional-manual, to the esoteric even if mythical and mystical, the United Nations agency charged with fashioning the tools, policies and means of communication for the world, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), says it remains committed to evolving to meet the needs of its members.
That was how the Secretary-General of the ITU, Mr. Houlin Zhao, summed up his comments at the opening press conference, October 11, 2015, to signal the formal beginning of activities for this year’s ITU Telecom World taking place in Budapest, Hungary.
Running from October 12 through 15, the event indeed underlines the ITU’s 150th anniversary celebrations, the agency having been formed in 1865.
And, it would seem plausible to infer that the ITU as well as host for the momentous event of this year, Hungary, have a common focus when putting together the agenda for the event. For instance, whereas the ITU decided to focus energies and attention on small and media scale enterprises in the information and communications technologies (ICTs) sector as well as young innovators, as focal points for this year’s event, ‘Digital Hungary’ is the focus of the host Government’s theme for the event.
Both the country’s Minister of State for Security Policy and International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr. Istvan Mikola as well as Minister of State for Infocommunication and Consumer Protection, Ministry of National Development, Mr. Akps Kara, in giving the country’s agenda for hosting the event, captured the essence as focusing on youth empowerment, showcasing and motiving the potential of the youth as well as SMEs.
The ITU Telecom World 2015, described by Mr. Zhao as an Exhibition for digital solutions, a Forum for sharing knowledge and a Networking hub for governments, industry and academia, aim to help ideas go further, faster, and to promote the innovative, transformative ICT-enabled solutions that will make the world better, sooner.
By MKPE ABANG, in Budapest, Hungary