UN agency, US venture team up for telecommunications training in developing countries

The United Nations telecommunications agency today announced that it will formalize a long-standing partnership with an organization in the United States that provides training for telecommunications and information technology (IT) professionals from the developing world.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said it intends to include training courses by the US Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) – a non-profit joint venture between the communications and IT industry in the United States and government leaders – in its annual operational capacity-building plan.

ITU, the main UN agency for coordinating the set up and operation of global telecommunication networks and services, has been sponsoring fellows to address the telecommunication training needs of senior-level managerial and technical personnel from developing countries.

"Human resources development is one of the most pressing needs for empowering developing countries and enabling them to join the information society as full partners,” said ITU Secretary-General Yoshio Utsumi, who signed the memorandum of agreement with USTTI in Marrakesh, Morocco, today during the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference.

In March, delegates at the World Telecommunication Development Conference stressed the importance of training and human resource development in telecommunications, approving a four-year programme aimed at strengthening the human, institutional and organizational capacity of developing countries through human resource management and development activities.

The programme will address the human resource development needs of government policy-makers and regulators, as well as senior executives and managers in the industry, by using an appropriate mix of “e-learning,” information technologies and traditional training methodologies.