International Telecommunication Union Union internationale des télécommunications Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones Международный союз электросвязи الاتحاد الدولي للاتصالات 国际电信联盟 |
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Flag of the ITU |
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| Org type | UN agency |
| Acronyms | ITU UIT |
| Head | Hamadoun Touré |
| Status | Active |
| Established | 17 May 1865 |
| Headquarters | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Website | http://www.itu.int/ |
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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The ITU comprises three sectors, each managing a different aspect of the matters handled by the Union, as well as ITU Telecom:
A permanent General Secretariat, headed by the Secretary General, manages the day-to-day work of the Union and its sectors.
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.
The basic texts of the ITU are adopted by the Plenipotentiary Conference. 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.
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.[2] He was re-elected for a second four-year term at the 18th Plenipotentiary Conference (2010) in Guadalajara, Mexico.
| Directors of ITU | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Beginning of Term | End of Term | Country |
| Louis Curchod | 1 January 1869 | 24 May 1872 | |
| Karl Lendi | 24 May 1872 | 12 January 1873 | |
| Louis Curchod | 23 February 1873 | 18 October 1889 | |
| August Frey | 25 February 1890 | 28 June 1890 | |
| Timotheus Rothen | 25 November 1890 | 11 February 1897 | |
| Emil Frey | 11 March 1897 | 1 August 1921 | |
| Henri Étienne | 2 August 1921 | 16 December 1927 | |
| Joseph Räder | 1 February 1928 | 30 October 1934 | |
| Franz von Ernst | 1 January 1935 | 1 January 1949 | |
| Secretaries general | |||
| Léon Mulatier | 1 January 1950 | 1 January 1953 | |
| Marco Aurelio Andrada | 1 January 1954 | 18 June 1958 | |
| Gerald C. Cross | 1 January 1964 | 29 October 1965 | |
| Manohar Balaji Sarwate | 30 October 1965 | 19 February 1967 | |
| Mohamed Ezzedine Mili | 20 October 1967 | 31 December 1982 | |
| Richard E. Butler | 1 January 1983 | 31 October 1989 | |
| Pekka Tarjanne | 1 November 1989 | 31 January 1999 | |
| Yoshio Utsumi | 1 February 1999 | 31 December 2006 | |
| Hamadoun Touré | 1 January 2007 | present | |
Members states of the ITU are 192 of the 193 UN members states and the Vatican City.
Observers are: Palestinian territories[3]
Non-members are: Palau (the only UN member state not to be a member), 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.[4]
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 Sector Members.
Private companies and other organizations may elect to join one or more of the Union’s three Sectors, according to their particular sphere of interest. ITU Sector Members also develop the technical standards which will underpin future telecommunication systems and shape tomorrow’s networks and services.
Finally, Sector Members gain privileged access to restricted first-hand information which can prove highly valuable in their business planning.
The ITU was the lead organizing agency of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS),[5] 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.
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