PM Modi likely to inaugurate ITU's telecom standard meet, IMC on Oct 15

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the first-ever telecom standard conference to be organised by the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in India as well as the India Mobile Congress (IMC) on October 15, according to the invitation sent by organisers of both the events.

The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) conference is held at a gap of four years. The recommendations and proposals approved at WTSA set the direction for development of communication technologies.

"ITU is excited to announce that WTSA-24 will be inaugurated by His Excellency, the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, on Tuesday 15 October 2024," ITU said in an official note.

Telecom department-backed India Mobile Congress 2024 eighth edition will also be held concurrently with WTSA 2024.

The size of the annual India Mobile Congress (IMC) has almost doubled since last year in terms of participation from foreign countries, exhibitors, startups etc.

"This time IMC is set to be bigger and better with the global participation nearly doubling from last year. Over 120 countries are expected to participate this time, solidifying IMC's position as Asia's largest technology expo and a major force in global digital transformation. We are seeing increased engagement from countries like UK, Japan, Sweden, Finland and others in the upcoming edition," Ramakrishna P, CEO of IMC, said in a statement.

IMC 2024 is expected to spotlight over 400 exhibitors, nearly 900 startups, and participation from more than 120 countries.

In 2023, IMC had registered participation from over 230 exhibitors, 400 startups and around 67 countries.

The industry event with 'Future is Now' theme has planned discussions on subjects like quantum technology, circular economy along with spotlight on 6G, 5G use-case showcase, cloud and edge computing, IoT, semiconductors, satcom and electronics manufacturing.