Team Blitz India
NEERAJ Mittal, Secretary in the Department of Telecommunications, has been unanimously elected as the co-chair of the Digital Innovation Board of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Mittal, leading a high-level delegation, was in Geneva for a series of crucial meetings at the ITU Headquarters which took place from March 18-20. Digital Innovation Board formed under the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development, comprises ministers and vice ministers of telecom / ICT from 23 member countries spanning Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America.
Its objective is to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in digital development for a more inclusive digital future.
Indian delegation held discussions with Cosmos Zavazava at ITU headquarters, focusing on scaling up ITU Area Office India, Digital Innovation Board, Digital Transformation Lab, Acceleration Centres, and the Global Innovation Centre in India.
India proposed hosting the next meeting of the Digital Innovation Board alongside the World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly (WTSA) 2024. Mittal also chaired a review meeting at the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva to assess progress on milestones and enhance India’s engagement in ITU activities.
The ITU initiated the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development to address unmet needs of its membership, as articulated in the Kigali Action Plan adopted at the World Telecommunication Development Conference 2022 and the outcomes of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2022.
The Alliance includes the Digital Transformation Lab, Network of Acceleration Centres, and Digital Innovation Board. The latter is tasked with providing strategic guidance and advocacy to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in digital development for an inclusive digital future.
On the sidelines, a bilateral meeting between India and Japan, co-chaired by Mittal and Vice Minister of Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Hiroshi Yoshida, discussed collaboration on AI, 5G use cases, and quantum products certification.
