World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2023: The role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) played an important role in the continued functioning of societies and minimising inequalities between and within countries, over the years. The need of accelerating digital transformation and advancing the goals and targets of the Connect 2030 Agenda is been highlighted.
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is celebrated every year with a new theme to raise awareness about the importance of communication and focuses on increasing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The day also focuses on how information travels across the world.
Therefore, it is dedicated to the evolution of communication, possibilities of using the internet, and other information to bridge the digital divide. Based on fundamental human rights they build a people-centred, inclusive, and development-oriented information society. The day also highlights how crucial is communication in our lives and stimulates the development of technologies in the field.
What is Telecommunication?
Communication which is done over a distance by cable, telegraph or broadcasting is known as telecommunication. In other words, we can say that it is the transmission of signals, messages, words, writings, images, sounds, or any kind of information. Without technology, the exchange of information between communication participants is not possible.
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World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2023: Theme
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2023 will be celebrated around the theme, "Empowering the least developed countries through information and communication technologies." The day encourages businesses and individuals to support global connections and digital transformation.
The theme of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2021 is "Accelerating digital transformation in challenging times."
The theme of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2020 was “Connect 2030: ICTs for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. The theme focuses on ICT advances necessary for a transition to smart and sustainable development. It also highlights the importance of specific ICT-enabled solutions and the trend that are emerging for enhancing economic, environmental and social sustainability.
The theme of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2019 was "Bridging the standardisation gap". The theme focuses on setting the standards which are a fundamental pillar of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) mission as the specialised agency of the United Nations for information and communication technologies (ICTs). The standards of ITU will help in accelerating ICTs for all Sustainable Development Goals.
The theme of 2019 provides opportunities for:
- Participation of the developing countries in ITU's standards-making process.
- At the national, regional, and international levels, it will empower local experts in the standardization process.
- In developing countries to promote the implementation of international standards.
The theme of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2018 was “Enabling the positive use of Artificial Intelligence for All” focusing on the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to increase the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Artificial Intelligence technology progresses made possible enormous advances in contributing fields like Big Data, machine learning, computing power, storage capacity, and cloud computing etc.
Do you know that nowadays Artificial Intelligence-based technologies are emerging as a key component of proactive tools and applications being used to help people lead better lives by improving healthcare, education, finance, agriculture, transportation, and a wide range of other services?
List of all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2023: History
The Day commemorates the founding of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on 17 May 1865. On 17 May 1969 first time, World Telecommunication Day was celebrated annually, marking the founding of ITU and the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865. It was instituted by the Plenipotentiary Conference in Malaga-Torremolinos in 1973.
In November 2005, The World Summit on the Information Society called upon the UN General Assembly to declare 17 May as World Information Society Day. In March 2006, the General Assembly adopted a resolution that World Information Society Day shall be celebrated every year on 17 May.
In November 2006, the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Antalya, Turkey decided to celebrate together World Telecommunication and Information Society Day on 17 May. The theme was adopted by the Council annually and celebrates it by exchanging ideas and methods for making communication better.
What is the purpose of celebrating World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD)?
The main purpose of celebrating World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is to help in raising awareness in generating possibilities of using the internet, and other information and communication technologies (ICT), bring them to societies and economies and create a way to bridge the digital divide.
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2023: Significance
Every year, World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is observed to promote awareness of the benefits that the usage of the Internet and other ICT may have on society and economies as well as strategies for bridging the digital divide. Some of the key objectives of the event are:
- Increase effectiveness.
- Encourage cooperation.
- Bring flexibility to your place of work.
- Reduce time.
- Stop face-to-face interactions.
- Increase the business's communication expenses.
We can’t ignore the fact that modernisation through the use of telephones, radio and computers has brought people closer. For the development in any field, it is important that information should travel around the globe. Therefore, World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is dedicated to the evolution of communication and how information travels across the world.
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