Executives from the world's leading telecom companies will gather in Hong Kong this week for the industry's largest trade show with digital connectivity fast becoming an integral part of everyday life.
This edition of the triennial International Telecom Union (ITU) World Show will be the biggest yet and is where the sector's power-brokers will come to strike deals and meet government regulators.
Among the guest speakers are Cisco Systems chief executive John Chambers, Hewlett Packard chairman and chief executive Mark Hurd, PCCW (電訊盈科) chairman Richard Li (李澤楷) and Motorola chief executive Edward Zander.
The ITU Telecom World is also where the leading brands unveil new designs and technology. Some some 600 of the world's leading technology companies from 40 different countries will exhibit including Microsoft, Agilent, Sony Ericsson and Mitsubishi.
The event coincides with the release of an ITU report yesterday that showed digital technology had permeated almost every aspect of our lives thanks mainly to the spread of mobile phones, which are now owned by about 2 billion people worldwide.
"We're in the midst of a digital revolution," said Lara Srivastava, one of the authors the report entitled Internet Report 2006: Digital Life.
One person in two on the planet is expected to be a mobile phone user within two years, said the report.
"Around one in three people on the planet own a digital mobile phone today and they're hard pressed to be separated from it," Srivastava said.
The ITU estimates that Internet and communications markets -- consumer electronics, broadcasting, telecoms, computers -- are worth about US$3.13 trillion or 7 percent of global GDP.
It also said individuals were increasingly being tied into the flow of information.
"The fact that we now have an always-on mobile phone, that we have cookies that track our online behavior, have invaded our privacy a little bit," Srivastava said.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
RSS