The 15th ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS-17) will be held 14-16 November at the Medina Convention and Exhibition Centre in Hammamet, Tunisia. The event brings together ICT leaders from around the globe and serves as the main international forum for telecommunication and information society measurements worldwide. A Press Conference will be held on 14 November.
Organized annually by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations' specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), this year's WTIS event is hosted by the Government of the Republic of Tunisia. WTIS is designed to identify and share metrics that measure the economic and social impacts of ICTs in the "information society" – in which society has intensified its use of ICTs for economic, social, cultural and political transformation.
WTIS‐17 will feature a high-level panel bringing together ICT ministers, technology leaders, telecommunication regulators and national statisticians to discuss the formulation and implementation of public policies to foster a healthy investment environment, especially in developing countries.
During WTIS-2017, ITU will release its annual flagship statistics publication, the Measuring the Information Society Report 2017, which features the ICT Development Index (IDI), the global benchmarking tool that tracks countries' progress in the development of their information societies. The IDI 2017 ranks 176 economies globally based on official, internationally comparable statistics.
Other sessions at WTIS-17 will focus on emerging topics such as: new metrics for broadband and cybersecurity, new data needs for the digital economy, ICT skills and e-waste, tracking the adoption of the Internet of Things, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, the use of big data for measuring the information society, and smart data for smart sustainable cities.
The work of the Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators and the Expert Group on Household Indicators will be presented for adoption by WTIS‐17.
The event will close with a multi-stakeholder panel that will discuss how emerging technologies can be transformed into economic opportunities with better data.
Journalists are encouraged to register now to attend this important international event. Please note that for security reasons advance registration is essential to obtain a badge to enter the venue.
What: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium 2017 and Press Conference (WTIS-17) – and launch of Measuring the Information Society Report 2017, which features the ICT Development Index
Why: The chance to hear and interview top international speakers from government, the ICT industry and the global ICT analyst community. Launch of latest IDI figures for global country-by-country ICT rankings.
Who: Experts from the global statistical community, ICT analysts and ICT regulatory agencies, government leaders and policymakers, C-level executives from the private sector, academia; as well as senior figures from United Nations agencies.
When: Press Conference: 14 November at 10:15am
Event: 14-16 November 2017
Where: Medina Convention and Exhibition Centre
Follow the event on Twitter at: #ITUWTIS and #ITUdata
For more information, please visit the event website.
