The area office will work with local stakeholders and develop connectivity in South Asia, ITU’s secretary-general said.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) opened an area office and innovation centre in New Delhi on Wednesday. The facility will be funded by the Union government, and located within the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), a government body for telecom research, the specialised agency of the United Nations said in a press release.

“Meaningful connectivity and innovation are tightly linked, and we will use our new presence in South Asia to expand the benefits of digital technology for everyone, everywhere,” ITU secretary-general Doreen Bogdan-Martin said in a statement.

The Host Country Agreement (HCA) to set up the area office, was signed in March 2022. A brief published by the ITU indicated that the office would work towards introducing advanced technologies, contributing to telecom development in South Asia, and promoting connectivity overall.

The innovation centre would be a test-bed for experimental technology and promote growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the ITU said.

At the launch event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the “6G Vision Statement”, a 34-page document, outlining some ideas for the next generation of telecommunications, even as telcos work to roll out 5G networks in more and more districts.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)