International Telecommunication Union - Mission

Mission

The ITU's mission is to enable the growth and sustained development of telecommunications and information networks, and to facilitate universal access so that people everywhere can participate in, and benefit from, the emerging information society and global economy. The ITU assists in mobilizing the technical, financial, and human resources required to make this vision real.

For the last 20 years, ITU has been coordinating efforts of government and industry and private sector in the development of a global broadband multimedia international mobile telecommunication system, known as IMT. Since 2000, the world has seen the introduction of the first family of standards derived from the IMT concept. Since May 2007, there are more than 1 billion IMT-2000 subscribers in the world. IMT-Advanced provides a global platform on which to build the next generations of mobile services - fast data access, unified messaging and broadband multimedia - in the form of exciting new interactive services.

A major priority of the ITU is bridging the so-called "digital divide" by building adequate and safe information and communication infrastructure and developing confidence in the use of cyberspace through enhanced online security.

The ITU also concentrates on strengthening emergency communications for disaster prevention and mitigation, especially in less developed regions.