In 21st Century, importance of communication is all the more essential in personal, professional , commercial, defence and all the other walks of life. The advent of new horizons in the fields of telecommunications and information technology has taken the mankind into the realms hitherto unknown to him.

The need of observing the World Telecommunication  Day  is to help create  awareness about the possibilities that the use communication technologies  could bring to the economies and  societies.  

The day 17 May is important as the anniversary of the inking of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865. It is also to mark the establishment of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

How World Telecommunication Day started:

The day is being celebrated annually on 17 May since 1969. This day also commemorates the  establishment of ITU . It was formed in Malaga-Torremolinos by the Plenipotentiary Conference in 1973.

Further to this, the World Information Society Day was proposed to be observed by the World Summit on the Information Society, calling upon UN General Assembly in November 2005. It was to highlight the role of  Information and Communication Technology in today’s world. The UNGeneral Assembly  passed a resolution (A/RES/60/252) in this regard in March 2006. It declared that World Information Society Day would be observed  each year on 17 May.

How World Telecommunication and Information Society Day started:

It was decided to celebrate both above events on 17 May every year as World Telecommunication and Information Society Day in November 2006, in the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference which was held in Antalya, Turkey. Thus, the updated Resolution 68  calls for Member States and Sector Members to observe the day every year  by conducting  befitting programmes at the national  level.

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2017 Theme: ‘Big Data for Big Impact’:

The current theme for World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2017 will be, "Big Data for Big Impact."  It highlights the inevitability of Big Data in development. It also focuses on turning unstructured data into useful information in context of the development.

This is  aligned with ITU's work focusing on the technological developments which went on to create the emergence of Big Data. The events highlighted by the ITU Membership shall contribute to  build a positive momentum  and  follow the Big Data. In turn it may create  new frontiers in addressing the challenges of sustainable development in the world.