Indian-born Canadian expert to contest International Telecommunications Union position

New Delhi, May 25 (ANI): Dr Veena Rawat, an India-born Canadian telecommunications expert and Canada's candidate for the post of Director, Radiocommunication Bureau of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), is attending the ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference in Hyderabad from May 24 to June 4,2010.

Dr. Rawat is president of the Communications Research Centre (CRC), Canada's centre of excellence for telecommunications research and development, with 400 staff and an annual budget of over 50 million dollars.

She is responsible for Canada's participation in bilateral and multilateral information and communications technology research partnerships with many countries around the world.

An internationally recognized expert in spectrum management and research and development in information and communications technologies (ICT), Dr. Rawat has been a keynote and invited speaker at over 100 domestic and international conferences and events since 1995.

She has chaired many national and international technical committees and working groups addressing matters related to the development of standards and regulations for radiocommunication technologies and services.

Under her leadership, CRC has strengthened its partnerships with government agencies, academia, the private sector and international research organizations. It has also accelerated its commercialization and technology transfer activities.

Born in India, Dr. Rawat immigrated to Canada in 1968 where she became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Queen's University in Ontario in 1973. She was the first woman to chair a world radiocommunication conference of the ITU in 2003 for which she was awarded an ITU gold medal.

The International Telecommunication Union will be holding the election for its senior management positions, the Governing Council and the Radiocommunication Regulation Board at the October Plenipotentiary Conference in Mexico from October 4 to 22, 2010 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The ITU is the United Nations Specialized Agency responsible for telecommunications, including international regulations for the management of radio frequency spectrum and satellite orbit resources, standards for equipment and operations, and assistance for developing countries in improving telecommunications facilities. It also addresses global challenges such as mitigating climate change and strengthening cyber-security.

One of the key functions of the Radiocommunication Bureau is to develop and implement, through established processes with member states, regulations, standards and coordination procedures for the global management of radio frequency spectrum and satellite orbit resources.

The radio-frequency spectrum is increasingly in demand from a large and growing number of services such as fixed, mobile, broadcasting, amateur, space research, emergency telecommunications, meteorology, global positioning systems, environmental monitoring and communication services - that ensure safety of life on land, at sea and in the skies.

The ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-10) in Hyderabad will focus on development priorities in ICT.

Ministers, heads of international organizations, development banks and regulatory agencies, and CEOs of private sector companies will attend with a global focus on adopting the Hyderabad Action Plan that will set the agenda for ICT development over the next four years. (ANI)