It is gratifying to note that the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is being celebrated this year under the theme as "Protecting Children in Cyberspace", in Pakistan as well as across the globe to mark the 144th anniversary of the establishment of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The efforts and initiatives undertaken by ITU for the promotion, development and standardisation of telecommunication across the globe are appreciable. The ITU has always played pivotal role in successfully laying the foundations of a just, equitable and people-centered Information Society.
Convergence of telecommunication and IT services has created a global telecommunication and information society infrastructure, connected to information networks across the world. Our telecommunication systems are interlinked.
Online transactions, e-commerce, banking, telemedicine, e-government and other e-initiatives are extensively being deployed through out the developed and developing world. Trend in Pakistan is no different than presently witnessed in other economies. Use of Internet is becoming popular in our public in general and our younger generations in particular. But the excessive reliance on converged telecommunication and IT services, calls for safeguard of cyberspace as well as ICT systems and infrastructure.
Our social and ethical values demand that cyberspace venture be made safer for youths. The ITU has been precise in selecting the theme for this year as "Protecting Children in Cyberspace" in order to generate awareness among our masses and mitigate the losses inflicted to our children and youth by the threats and vulnerabilities of venturing into cyberspace. This effort will also give confidence to the parents affected by the menaces of online violence, pornography, gaming and addiction, fraud, cyber-bullying, etc.
Today, we stand as a proud nation for having made significant progress in developing a broad-based and state-of-the-art telecommunication infrastructure. We possess one of the advanced telecommunication infrastructure not only in the region but also amongst the developing countries of the world. I am confident that the trends of development in information and communication technologies will continue with adequate protection against cyber crimes.
The government of Pakistan is committed to dissemination of ICT services and its benefits across the length and breadth of the country. I would once again like to congratulate all associated with the ICT sector and would urge them to keep themselves abreast of the latest developments in the field for developing the country's IT and telecommunication industry in synchronisation with the international trends and to make cyberspace use safer for our masses.
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