Celebrating World Telecommunications Day 2023

17th May, marks World Telecommunications Day. This date has been marked annually since 1969, to encourage international cooperation in all forms of telecommunication. World Telecommunications Day celebrates the constant evolution of one of the most important factors of our lives: communication. The main goal of World Telecommunications Day (WTD) is to highlight the importance of communication and how information travels across the world. It also aims to increase awareness of how crucial communication is in our lives, and stimulate the development of technologies in the field.

This year, World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) focuses on “Empowering the least developed countries through information and communication technologies.” 

In 2022, an estimated 407 million people in least developed countries (LDCs) were using the Internet, accounting for 36 per cent of the population, compared to 66 per cent globally. The 720 million people still offline in LDCs account for 27 per cent of the global offline population, even though the LDC population accounts for only 14 per cent of the world’s population.

In our increasingly interconnected world, telecommunication has emerged as a critical aspect of our daily lives. The ability to exchange information quickly and efficiently across vast distances has transformed how we communicate, collaborate, and conduct business. 

Telecommunication plays a vital role in driving economic growth, enabling global trade, facilitating the expansion of businesses into new markets, and catalyzing the development of emerging industries and under-developed countries. Telecommunication also transcends borders, cultures, and languages, allowing people from diverse backgrounds to connect, interact and bridge gaps in social isolation. 

One thing’s for sure we probably all take telecommunication for granted, so let’s use today to think about how important it is in our daily lives and give thanks to the thousands of people around the world who develop and maintain this critical infrastructure we all rely on.