The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) vowed to create an equitable information society during its celebrations held here Tuesday to mark this year's World Telecommunication Day.

ITU Secretary-General Yoshio Utsumi said communication is "a basic human right", which the organization is committed to extending to the "information poor".

"At ITU we believe in communication as a basic human right," he said, adding they are determined to provide "more equitable access to modern information and communication technologies for millions of the 'information poor' for whom modern communications remain far out of reach." According to the ITU chief, information and communication technologies (ICT) have the unique potential to bring enormous progress to the entire world in the next decade.

ITU, which has helped create a solid basis for the information society on a global scale, keeps "reforming its own structure to meet the new challenges each decade brings," he said.

In a recent report by leading business consultants Booz Allen Hamilton, ITU was listed among the world's top 10 most enduring institutions.

The organization, founded in Paris on May 17, 1865, is commemorating its 140th anniversary with a theme of "Creating an Equitable Information Society: Time for Action."

It also marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Maitland Report, commissioned by ITU in 1985 to provide a global snapshot of the state of ICT access and furnish guidance on how to improve access worldwide.

Source: Xinhua