Overview
ITU opened an Area Office for South Asia and global Innovation Centre in New Delhi last year. The office was inaugurated at the highest level by the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi and ITU Elected Officials on 22 March 2023. The ITU Area Office and Innovation Centre brings together government, industry, academia and others in an entrepreneurial environment so that digital technology advancements in sectors such as agriculture, health, and education can reach the communities that need them most. The Area Office covers seven countries in the region including India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Iran.
The Innovation Centre brings together the main stakeholders of the digital innovation ecosystem (entrepreneurs, finance, support networks, public sector, academia and private sector) and serves as a global center to reduce technological inequities. It will also allow spotlighting of the Indian innovation ecosystem through South-South and Triangular cooperation, while supporting ITU's mission with new capabilities and accelerating digital development.
2023 was an impactful year for the Area Office where a number of activities were conducted in partnership with the Department of Telecommunication (DoT), inviting participation from countries in the region. Given below is the overview of engagements from 2023 until now:
- Regional Innovation Forum in March
- South Asia Information Session: Green Digital Transformation and a Circular Economy for Electronics in June
- Digital Health Joint Workshop and Symposium with Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) Lucknow in August
- Safe and Secure School Connectivity Sensitization Meetings in August
- ITU Senior Executive Capacity Building Workshop on WoG and GovStack in September
- Side event on Innovation & Entrepreneurship for SDG's during IMC in October
- Visit of UNCT to ITU in October
- Stakeholder consultations with the Government of Maharashtra in November
- SMS4DC Training for DoT officials conducted in December
- Bridging the Standardization Group (BSG) workshop at NICF in February
- Workshop on BSG & IPR, SEPs at NTIPRIT in May
- Girls in ICT India Launch in May
The Area Office is gearing up for an even more eventful year in 2024 with deepened engagement with all stakeholders including the countries from the region. After being operational for more than a year, the Area Office would like to take the opportunity to recognize the support extended by the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, and plan the way forward with member states in the region.
More concretely, the event aims to invite technical level government representatives of member states from South Asia, introduce the Area Office and Innovation Centre to them, review the 2023 activities, plan targeted 2024 activities, and discuss partnerships/membership and concrete plan of actions.
Following the consultations on 31 July, the Area Office is organising a study tour and workshop on the topic Common Alert Protocol (CAP) and Cell Broadcasting for Early Warning from 1-2 August, in partnership with the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT).
