World Telecommunication Day commemorates the founding of International Telecommunications Union (ITU) on 17th May 1865. It was on this day, the first International Telegraph Convention was signed in Paris by the 20 founding members, and the International Telegraph Union (ITU) (then it was known) was established to facilitate subsequent amendments to this initial agreement. India has been the member of ITU since 1869. Presently ITU has 189 member states. This year, World Telecommunication Day carries added significance as the day has been identified by the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society as “World Information Society Day”. Thus the hitherto popularly known World Telecommunication Day will henceforth be known and celebrated as “World Information Society Day”. This year the theme adopted by the ITU is Promoting Global Cybersecurity.
In today’s interconnected and increasingly networked world, societies are vulnerable to a wide variety of threats, including deliberate attacks on critical information infrastructures with debilitating effects on our economies and on our societies. In order to safeguard our systems and infrastructure and in order to instill confidence in online trade, commerce, banking, telemedicine, e-government and a host of other applications, we need to strengthen our collective global cybersecurity. As this depends on the security practices of each and every networked country, business, and citizen, we need to develop a global culture of cybersecurity. That is why, the ITU Council chose to highlight the serious challenges we face in ensuring the safety and security of networked information and communication systems and adopted the theme Promoting Global Cybersecurity for World Telecommunication Day 2006.
The Secretary General ITU, Mr. Yoshio UTSUMI, in his message has said:
“This year, ITU has advocated the development of ICT to assist the disabled and to prepare for emergencies and disasters. And to ensure that the growth of ICT remains sustainable, the theme for World Telecommunication Day 2006 is Promoting Global Cybersecurity.
In an increasingly networked society, safeguarding cyberspace as well as ICT systems and infrastructure has taken on real urgency. It is essential to instill confidence in online trade, commerce, banking, telemedicine, e-government and a host of other applications. It is also critical for the future social and economic development of the world.
Achieving cybersecurity depends on the security practices of each and every networked country, business and citizen. To guard against the sophisticated skills of cybercriminals, we need to develop a global culture of cybersecurity. This will require not only good policing and legislation but also acute threat awareness and development of tough ICT-based countermeasures”.
The Telecommunications Services in India attained 151 years while it was 141 years ago the birth of International Telecommunications Union took place. On 24th May 1844, Samuel Morse sent his first public message over a telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore, and through that simple act, ushered in the telecommunication age. Barely ten years later, telegraphy was available as a service to the general public. In those days, however, telegraph lines did not cross national borders. Because each country used a different system, messages had to be transcribed, translated and handed over at frontiers, then re-transmitted over the telegraph network of the neighbouring country. The continuing rapid expansion of telegraph networks in a growing number of countries finally prompted 20 European States to meet to develop a framework agreement covering international interconnection. At the same time, the group decided on common rules to standardize equipment to facilitate international interconnection, adopted uniform operating instructions which would apply to all countries, and laid down common international tariff and accounting rules.
RM/AMA- 170506 World Telecom Day