ITU to Celebrate 150th anniversary on 17 May

Geneva, May 7, 2015 – ITU celebrates its 150^th anniversary on Sunday, 17 May. The program 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 150^th 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.