Context

• India has been elected as a member of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Council for another 4-year term (2019-2022) from Asia-Australia region.
• The elections to the Council were held during the ongoing ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2018 at Dubai, UAE.

About

International Telecommunication Union:

• ITU is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) for information, communication and technologies (ICTs).
• Originally founded in 1865, as the International Telegraph Union, it is the oldest existing international organization.
• It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• India has been a regular member of the ITU Council since 1952.

Membership:

• An organization based on public-private partnership since its inception, ITU currently has a membership of 193 countries (all UN members except Republic of Palau and Vatican City) and almost 800 private-sector entities and academic institutions (non-voting members).
• All 193 member states elect representative to the council.

Functions:

The ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world, and assists in the development and coordination of worldwide technical standards.

Sectors of ITU:

Plenipotentiary Conference

• The ITU is governed by the Plenipotentiary Conference which is its highest decision-making and electing body.
• It elects ITU’s senior officials, 48 Members of Council and 12 members of the Radio Regulations Board.
• It also determines the activities and its directions to be untaken by the Union.
• During the most recent 20th Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-18) in Dubai, it has made a global call to act as one by connecting the world's nearly four billion people who remain unconnected to the Internet.

 

Significance

• India’s re-election is recognition of the role that country plays in the area of Telecom and ICT on the global stage.
• Amid quest of India for data localization, its membership at council will help India to press its demands internationally.
• Data protection and issues of Ransomware and Botnet attacks on Indian servers will be effectively highlighted by India on international platforms.