ITU Unveils Online Platform, Storytelling Campaign to Mark 150th Anniversary

A new website, www.itu150.org,  has been launched to highlight ITU’s achievements and ongoing activities marking the Union’s 150th anniversary this year.

The website contains new integrated features to showcase ITU 150 celebrations in Geneva and around the world, focusing on information and communication technologies (ICT) as drivers of innovation.

An interactive ITU historical timeline will be included on the website to highlight key dates in ITU’s history from its founding on 17 May, 1865 until the present.

ITU Members and supporters are encouraged to plan activities throughout 2015 and submit them through the online tool available on the website.

An interactive world map provides easy access to all activities organized around the world.

Currently, some 60 activities in 30 countries are presented and submission of new activities will be accepted until end 2015.

Submissions may include exhibitions, competitions, publications, articles, workshops, websites and more. A toolkit is provided with campaign materials, resources and instructions to get involved in ITU's 150th anniversary celebrations.

Each month in 2015 focuses on a different ICT-related theme and participants may wish to associate their activities to the themes of particular interest.

A full suite of communications tools and activities, including a mix of personal testimonies, blogs, press releases, infographics, webinars, podcasts, and videos will be available. In addition, ITU will be highlighting its work with partner organizations associated with each spotlighted theme.

A special section of the website is dedicated to a story-telling campaign with a personal story around the theme of the month. Stories are supplemented with a diverse range of related content, including videos, podcasts, webinars, infographics, and social media.

ITU150 website features social media as an integral component of the website with its own #ITU150 community, which is encouraged to tag the content they generate with #ITU150 to join the global celebrations.

“This new online platform shows ITU’s achievements over the last 150 years in an easy to access and interactive format,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao.

“It gives us the opportunity to look to the future of innovation with ICTs as well as the contributions of our membership in connecting the world.”

Many ITU Members have come forth to lend their support to the 150th anniversary celebrations and will be recognized during the events planned throughout the year:

Gold partners: Ministry of Communications and High Technologies from Republic of Azerbaijan, Communications and Information Technology Commission from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) from United Arab Emirates

Silver partners:  The Telecommunications / ICT Regulatory Body of Côte d'Ivoire (ARTCI), Ministry of Communications from Ghana and Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) from Republic of Zimbabwe

Bronze partners: Inmarsat Global Limited; Close Joint-Stock Company National Radio Technical Bureau; Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, OJSC Rostelecom; Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co KG; Telecommunications Regulatory Agency from Central African Republic and NTT Group