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03 September 2010 - Media Advisory: ITU shares latest optical fibre know-how with Africa
Geneva: Sep 03, 2010 - Expert tutorial will provide state-of-the-art information on the new optical fibre systems and standards that will bring broadband to Africa...
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01 September 2010 - 3rd Meeting of the Dynamic Coalition on Internet and Climate Change (DCICC)
The next Meeting of the Dynamic Coalition on Internet and Climate Change (DCICC) will be held on 16 September from 16.30 to 18.30 hours, in Vilnius, Lithuania during the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
ITU launched the Dynamic Coalition on Internet and Climate Change (DCICC) in 2007
as an open body committed to moderating the environmental impact of the Internet,
to seeking new ways to embrace the power of the Internet for reducing greenhouse gas
emissions worldwide, and to enabling transformation in line with the objectives set
and to be set under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Additional information on DCICC can be found at:
http://www.itu.int/themes/climate/dc/index.html
And the IGF:
http://www.igf2010.lt/index.php/en/welcome/index
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01 September 2010 - ITU Symposium on ICTs, The Environment and Climate Change
ITU is organizing its Fifth Symposium on ICTs, The Environment and Climate Change, in cooperation with and under the auspices of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs (MSEA), Egypt.
The Symposium will be held 2-3 November 2010 at the Smart Village Convention Center
in Cairo, Egypt. It will bring together leading specialists in the field, from top
policy-makers to engineers, designers, planners, government officials, regulators,
standards experts and others.
Participants will focus on the issue of ICTs, the environment and climate change in
Africa and the needs of developing countries.
The main purpose is to raise awareness of the importance and opportunities for using
ICTs to monitor climate change, to mitigate and adapt to its effects and, in this
light, to identify future requirements for ITUs related work.
Topics to be discussed will include adaptation to climate change, e-waste, cost-effective
ICT technologies, methodology of environmental impact assessment of ICT and financing
of climate change solutions.
An output of the Symposium is expected to be the Cairo Road Map, a set of recommendations
for action in relation to ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change.
This event is particularly timely, as it will take place less than a month before
the opening of the 16th UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP 16), which will take
place in November 2010 in Cancun, Mexico and will aim at producing a new global agreement
on climate change.
Additional information can be found at: http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/climatechange/201011/index.html
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01 September 2010 - ITUs role in ICT and road safety
A new ITU-T Technology Watch Report provides an overview of technology-caused driver distraction and surveys standards, guidelines and initiatives aiming at making the use of in-vehicle information and communication systems less distracting.
Texting, making calls, and other interaction with in-vehicle information and communication
systems while driving is a serious source of driver distraction and increases the
risk of traffic accidents. Technology-caused driver distraction is a global problem
and has its stake in the more
than 1.2 million people dying in road crashes each year. These numbers are more
than reason enough for the United Nations
Road Safety Collaboration to launch a Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020)
to halt or reverse the increasing trend in road traffic deaths and injuries around
the world.
In April 2010, ITU Council adopted a Resolution on ITUs role in ICTs and improving
Road Safety, instructing the Director of ITUs Telecommunication Standardization
Bureau (TSB) to bring this matter to the attention of the relevant groups in ITU-T,
such as Study Group 12 and
the Focus
Group on Car Communication. The annual Fully Networked Car workshop, jointly organized
by ISO, IEC and ITU at the Geneva International Motor Show, will also contribute to
raising awareness on this important issue.
Dialing a hand-held device increases a drivers chance of being involved in a vehicle
crash by three times and talking while driving increases the crash risk by 1.3 times.
When composing or reading text messages (SMS) drivers spend up to 400 per cent more
time with their eyes off the road than they do when not texting. Mobile broadband
enables drivers and passengers to benefit from innovative applications and
location-based services, but used at the wheel, smartphones contribute to inattention.
By implementing standardized human-machine interfaces in their devices and applications,
manufacturers can make their use less distracting. Advanced speech recognition and
text-to-speech features, and ensured Quality of Service of in-vehicle hands-free systems
may minimize driver distraction. Future safety technologies may temporarily or permanently
disable certain features of information and communication technologies used by the
driver, based on constantly updated status information provided by sensors inside
and outside the vehicle.
These and other approaches to reduce technology-based driver distraction and to increase
road safety are discussed in a number of standardization bodies, including ITU-T and
ISO. The Technology Watch Report highlights their work and points out options for
ITUs role in ICT and road safety.
A dedicated
website provides additional sources of information and an overview of ITU-T Study
Groups with work items related to driver distraction.
Download Report Go
to Driver Distraction Website
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25 August 2010 - Press Release: ITU welcomes Timor-Leste as 192nd Member State
Geneva: Aug 25, 2010 - Young island nation adds its voice to the world’s most enduring ICT institution ...
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24 August 2010 - Press Release: ITU Plenipotentiary Conference begins in Mexico on 4 October
Geneva: Aug 24, 2010 - ITU’s 18th Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-10) is expected to attract around 2000 participants
...
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23 August 2010 - Press Release: ITU appeals for global monetary assistance for flood-affected Pakistan
Geneva: Aug 23, 2010 - ITU offers assistance in rehabilitation of telecommunication infrastructure...
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10 August 2010 - Tutorial on Optical Fibres Cables and Systems
ITU will be organizing a Tutorial on Optical Fibre Cables and Systems Recommendations in Rwanda from 6 to 17 September 2010. Leading experts will provide an in-depth insight into the ITU-T Recommendations that shape the optical transport networks of the world.
The tutorial is co-organized by ITU-T and the Ministry in Charge of Information and
Communications Technology of Rwanda, in cooperation with ITU-D. Based on the ITU-T
handbook Optical fibres, cables and systems, the tutorial is intended to assist
engineers, technicians, technologists, mid-level management and regulators in the
implementation of optical-fibre-based systems.
Participants will gain a better understanding of the ITU-T standards, how to design
and implement projects and how to make the best choices in the various elements of
an optical link. They will learn how to prepare a power budget and how to establish
parameters for interfaces and accessories to prepare technical specifications for
supply contracts. The tutors are leading experts in the field from industry and either
participated in the writing of the handbook or contributed to the development of the
referenced standards. (Contact: tsbworkshops@itu.int) more.
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09 August 2010 - ITU is to start work on standards providing interoperability for telepresence systems
Telepresence is broadly speaking next generation videoconferencing that also takes into account users' position, actions and voice to render as close as possible a representation of a real life meeting.
Many products exist today that, although they are based on established protocols including
ITU-T H.323, lack interoperability due to proprietary extensions.
Telepresence represents an important evolution of the videoconferencing market. Standards
fuelled interoperability between systems is seen as a key way to drive the market.
The trend is expected to accelerate, as mainstream video applications begin to offer
telepresence features.
Malcolm Johnson, Director, ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, said: "We
don't expect each end of a phone call to be dependent on the manufacturer of the phone
being the same. The same should be true for telepresence. Anyone who has used a telepresence
system will testify to its remarkable quality, it truly is the next best thing to
a face to face meeting. However proprietary solutions have stifled the market. ITU's
standards initiative will allow us all to profit from this remarkable technology."
Specifically the new work will focus on standardizing full interoperability between
telepresence systems, including facilitating the coherent presentation of multiple
audio and video streams so that participants show correct eye contact, gestures etc,
to give a more real life like experience.
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05 August 2010 - Communique: ITU Regional Forum on Digital Inclusion boosts regional cooperation
Geneva: Aug 05, 2010 - Ministers of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal commit to increased regional cooperation...
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