Day 17 - May 17 - World Telecommunication and Information Society Day
- Elizabeth Rasnick
- May 19, 2023
- 2 min read
The observation of WTISD started in 1969. That predates the world wide web. Communication infrastructure varies widely across the globe though it is often taken for granted in many regions. WTISD gives us a chance to recognize those differences and adjust our communication and information goals as a society. I know, it sounds lofty, but it’s necessary. Let me give you a short illustration.
In 2017, I traveled to New Delhi, India to give a research presentation. New Delhi is the capital of India, the country with the largest human population. One would expect that there is enough infrastructure to ensure that all these people have a steady source of power. As I discovered half-way through my presentation, that is not the case. Immediately after the power went out, the session chair spoke out in the darkness. He reassured us that this was just a rolling brown out and to stay where we were. Sure enough the lights came back on within a minute and I resumed my presentation. This is a normal part of life for people all over the world.
When the power is out, the telecomm systems are down. What do they do if someone needs emergency medical help or if there is a fire or some other kind of emergency during one of these brown outs? How is this an acceptable way to live? As I learned in some of my other travels, not everyone lives in a dwelling with power or telecomms (wired or wireless). As mentioned on Day 1, the internet is a collection of interconnected networks. That means the internet could be better if telecommunications were improved around the world. The web, the information that travels via the internet, would grow as a result of such improvements. I’m just thinking of life-saving and basic information sharing: emergency services, disaster preparation and recovery, those types of things.
If I had the ability to work a bit of global magic, I would fill the gaps that exist in telecommunication infrastructures. It seems to me the world would be a safer place. With that said, I understand enough about geo-political differences to understand why there are such vast differences in telecommunications and information infrastructures. I am not a proponent of global standardization either. I just believe we could do better.
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