In 2006, ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) celebrated fifty years of making standards for telecommunications. In 1924, two technical committees were created to standardize technical and operational questions of international long-distance telephony and telegraphy. These two technical committees were merged in 1956 to become the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT), the organ later renamed ITU-T.
Anniversary celebration
On the 20th of July 2006, ITU-T commemorated its 50th anniversary with a day celebrating ITU-T’s history and imagining the shape of Information and Communication Technology’s (ICT) future.
The 50th anniversary celebration gathered leaders of the private and public sector to laud ITU-T’s inclusive philosophy and its many resultant achievements. Keynote addresses were given by a number of high-level guests including then ITU Secretary-General, Mr. Yoshio Utsumi, followed by two executive roundtables seeking to address the overarching theme, “The Future of Telecommunication & ICT: Strategy, Leadership and Standards.”
Moderated and chaired by the Managing Director of Neustar International, Mr. Reza Jafari, the roundtables hosted discussions between a myriad of ICT industry representatives – offering a wide range of perspectives on the future of ICTs and the dynamic standardization activity required to reflect the constant evolution and expansion of the ICT ecosystem.
Vote for the most influential standards work from ITU-T
Reflecting on the influence that ITU work has on the world's most prevalent information and communications technologies, an informal survey was held to choose the ITU-T standard which had best shaped the ICT world up to 2006. Over 700 people voted by July 2006. The results of the survey were published on the ITU website and in the ITU-T e-FLASH of October 2006 (issue no. 27).
