MULTILINGUAL TERMINOLOGY
ITU's Conferences and Publications Department (C&P) has worked on recording terminology in the information and communication technologies (ICTs) domain for more than 50 years. As part of its mission to ensure multilingual content throughout ITU, C&P also works closely with the ITU Coordination Committee for Terminology (CCT), providing translations into the six official languages of the terms and definitions validated by the Committee.
UNTERM - the UN terminology management tool
C&P initially used TERMITE, an in-house terminology management tool, before transferring to LogiTerm, a commercial tool, in 2015 to facilitate the maintenance process. In 2021, C&P joined UNTERM, a multilingual database for official terminology relevant to the work of the United Nations system.
UNTERM contains terminology entries from entities across the UN system in the six official languages. To ensure consistency throughout the system, the database is managed by UN language staff specialized in each subject (UN duty stations, ICAO, IMO, ITU, WHO, WMO and UNESCO). ITU is responsible for all ICT terms.
UNTERM is a public website used by UN delegates and staff, as well as any other users interested in the work and activities of the UN around the world.
To access the UNTERM portal, visit https://unterm.un.org. If you want to restrict your search to ITU terminology only, click on “Advanced search" and select ITU under “All data sets".
C&P is currently transferring its terminological data into UNTERM; as the process is ongoing, not all of ITU's data appears there. To consult all C&P terminology, you can access the LogiTerm interface at https://www.itu.int/bitexts and click on the button "Public Access to terminology".
Terminology partners
At ITU's Plenipotentiary Conference in 2022 (PP-22), Resolution 154 on the use of the six official languages on an equal footing was modified to instruct the General Secretariat to collaborate with interested Member States to refine the translation of terminology and definitions in all six official languages. Following a call for interest in collaborating on ICT technology issued in 2023, C&P is now working with the following entities:
- Communication, Space and Technology Commission (CST) - Saudi Arabia
- China Institute of Communications (CIC) – China
- M.I. Krivosheev National Research Centre for Telecommunication (NRCT) – Russia
- Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación (COIT) – Spain
If you would like to join C&P in its work on terminology related to ICTs, please contact us at terminology[@]itu.int.
