In Short:
Neeraj Mittal, India’s telecom secretary, has been elected as Co-Chair of the Digital Innovation Board of ITU, a UN telecom agency. The board aims to drive innovation in the ICT sector. Mittal led a delegation to Geneva for meetings and also held talks with officials from Japan and Bahrain to enhance collaboration on AI, 5G, cybersecurity, and more. They agreed to revisit MoUs and share standards for better cooperation.
India’s Neeraj Mittal Elected Co-Chair of ITU’s Digital Innovation Board
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has unanimously elected India’s telecom secretary Neeraj Mittal as the Co-Chair of its Digital Innovation Board. This Board operates under the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development.
Key Points:
Dr. Neeraj Mittal’s election as co-chair of the Digital Innovation Board of ITU, formed under the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development, was confirmed by the Ministry of Communications in an official statement.
The Board consists of ministers and vice ministers of telecom/ICT from 23 member countries of ITU across Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America.
The ITU established the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development to address the significant unmet needs of its membership in the innovation sector. It operates through three main vehicles: Digital Transformation Lab, Network of Acceleration Centers, and the Digital Innovation Board.
The ITU has designated 17 organizations worldwide to host the Network of Acceleration Centers, with the Global Innovation Center at ITU Area Office and Innovation Center in New Delhi, India overseeing global efforts.
Meetings and Collaborations:
Neeraj Mittal led a high-level delegation to Geneva for essential meetings at the ITU headquarters from March 18, 2024, to March 20, 2024, focusing on fostering collaboration and exploring innovative initiatives in the telecommunications and ICT sectors.
During a recent visit, Mittal met with Cosmos Zavazava, Chief of Department, Partnerships for Digital Development at ITU, to discuss various initiatives including scaling up ITU Area Office India, Digital Innovation Board, Digital Transformation Lab, Acceleration Centers, and Global Innovation Center in India.
A bilateral meeting between India and Japan, co-chaired by Mittal and Hiroshi Yoshida, Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan, highlighted collaboration on AI, 5G use cases, and quantum products certification.
Similarly, a meeting between India and Bahrain, co-chaired by Mittal and Mohammed Bin Thamir, Minister of Transport and Telecom of the Kingdom of Bahrain, focused on active collaboration in areas like Artificial Intelligence, 5G use cases, cybersecurity, and the development of data embassy.
India proposed to share TEC (Telecommunication Engineering Centre) standards with Bahrain on fairness assessment and rating of artificial intelligence systems, and the status note on the regulatory sandbox, according to the statement.
