International Telecommunication Union

The International Telecommunication Union is an agency of the United Nations which regulates information and communication technology issues. 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, and its membership includes 191 Member States and more than 700 Sector Members and Associates.

ITU sectors

The ITU comprises four sectors, each managing a different aspect of the matters handled by the Union:

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.

The ITU's mission

The ITU's mission is to enable the growth and sustained development of telecommunications and information networks, and to facilitate universal access to the emerging information society and global economy. The ITU assists in mobilizing the technical, financial, and human resources required by such development.

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.

Legal framework of ITU

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.

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 Mr. Hamadoun Touré of Mali as Secretary-General of the Union.

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

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

Membership

International Telecommunication Union member states

Members states of the ITU are 191 of the UN members and the Vatican City.

Observers are: Palestine

Non-members are: Cook Islands, Niue, Palau and the states with limited recognition.

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.

World Summit on the Information Society

Main article: World Summit on the Information Society

The ITU was the lead organizing agency of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS),[3] 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 în 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.

(source:wikipedia)