Archived Newsroom • Media Advisory |
|
ITU celebrates 150th
anniversary on 17 May
Action-packed programme features history and future outlook for ICTs
Geneva, 7 May 2015 – ITU
celebrates its 150th anniversary on Sunday, 17 May. The programme
includes a keynote speech by Ms Doris Leuthard, Minister of
Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications,
Switzerland; panel discussions with eminent laureates of the ITU 150 Award; and
forward-looking movers and shakers in the ICT industry, from DuoLingo, BRCK,
Alibaba, Ericsson and Telecom Italia Group.
The
history of ITU
has been interwoven with landmark inventions and innovations in communications
over the past 150 years. In the 1850s, soon after Samuel Morse started a service
in the United States, telegraph lines crossed national borders and new
international agreements had to be forged. On 17 May 1865, twenty nations
gathered in Paris to sign an international framework, and formed the
International Telegraph Union. See
photos.
The theme for the 150th anniversary “Telecommunications and
ICTs: drivers of innovation” is in line with ITU’s role as the United
Nations specialized agency for ICTs.
Information and communication technologies are recognized as powerful
cross-cutting enablers to achieve an environmentally sound and sustainable
future in the post-2015 era. ICTs can be used effectively as delivery vehicles
for health, education, governance, trade and commerce as well as meet global
challenges, such as combating climate change.
|
What:
|
ITU 150th anniversary celebration
|
|
When:
|
Sunday, 17 May 2015, 13:30-18:00
|
|
Where:
|
CICG, Rue Varembé, Geneva, CH-1211, Switzerland
|
|
Why:
|
17 May marks the 150th anniversary of
the signing of the International Telegraph
Convention in Paris in 1865. 17 May is now
observed annually as World Telecommunication and
Information Society Day.
|
|
Who:
|
Bill Gates, Robert E. Kahn, Thomas Wiegand, Mark
I. Krivocheev, Martin Cooper and Ken Sakamura
will be honoured with ITU’s 150th
Anniversary Award. Recognition will be accorded
to ITU’s Founding Member States and to its
long-standing industry members.
Panel discussion on ICT’s Driving a
Sustainable Future with Luis Von
Ahn, CEO & founder, DuoLingo; Philip Walton,
COO, BRCK; Jian Wang, CTO, Alibaba; Ulf
Ewaldsson, CTO, Ericsson; and Gabriela Styf
Sjöman, CTO, Telecom Italia Group.
|
Media Note:
Media access to CICG is open. ITU Communications team will facilitate
interview requests. UN Press accreditation is valid. Registration is required
for non-UN accredited Media. Please contact
pressreg@itu.int.
For more
information, please see
http://itu150.org/home/
or contact:
Sanjay Acharya
Chief, Media Relations & Public
Information, ITU
|
|
| |
|
|
|
About ITU...