ITU International Telecommunications Union [to 19 December 2015]
http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/index.aspx?lang=en#.VF8FYcl4WF8

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ITU members agree international standard for Big Data
Building on cloud computing to provide Big Data services
Geneva, 18 December 2015 – ITU members have approved the first ITU standard on Big Data. The international standard details the requirements, capabilities and use cases of cloud-based Big Data as well a high-level ‘system context’ view and its relationships with other entities. The Big Data paradigm provides an effective, scalable solution to deal with growing volumes of data and uncover patterns or other information capable of making data manageable and profitable.

Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) are enabling masses of data to be generated, transmitted and stored, and this explosive growth is increasing in pace. Datasets have become so large and complex, and are generated so fast, that traditional approaches to data processing are proving inadequate. Achieving efficient analysis of data within required timeframes is a significant challenge, one that industry will address using technologies in the field of Big Data.

The new standard, Recommendation ITU-T Y.3600 “Big data – cloud computing based requirements and capabilities”, was developed by ITU-T’s expert group responsible for future networks, cloud computing and network aspects of mobile communications, ITU-T Study Group 13.

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Expert group identifies emerging demands of ‘5G’ to fuel ITU standardization
Open-source communities to join ITU study of networking innovations
Geneva, 17 December – The ITU-T Focus Group on network aspects of IMT-2020 (‘5G’) has received an extension to its lifetime, with a mandate to undertake in-depth studies into areas such as ‘network softwarization’ and slicing, emerging networking technologies, mobile backhaul and fronthaul, and end-to-end quality of service (QoS). New Terms of Reference call for the group to engage open-source communities, influencing and taking advantage of their work by introducing them to the challenges that telecoms players must overcome in the development of the 5G ecosystem.

The Focus Group’s vision of the 5G era is of a highly dynamic information and communication technology (ICT) industry characterized by the entrance of new players to the networking business and new opportunities for telecoms companies. The approach to year 2020 will play host to the emergence of new business models capitalizing on the transformative effects of softwarization and the associated convergence of open-source and telecoms communities…

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Partners launch action plan to close digital gender gap
Women’s participation in digital society integral to achieving Agenda 2030
New York, 15 December 2015 – An ‘Action Plan to Close the Digital Gender Gap’ was launched today at a side event on “Women’s Empowerment in the Digital Age” during the High-Level Meeting of the World Summit of the Information Society currently taking place in New York (WSIS+10). It was co-organized by ITU and the governments of Costa Rica, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia and the United States, together with UN Women, Microsoft, Mozilla and the Association for Progressive Communication.

The Action Plan sets out a framework for critical actions to foster and accelerate inclusive and sustainable development by closing the digital gender gap and harness the transformative potential of ICTs for women’s empowerment. Women’s equal and meaningful participation in the digital society is seen as both integral to the realization of women’s rights in the 21st century, as well as the realization of a just, inclusive and rights-based information society aimed at achieving global objectives around gender equality and women’s empowerment by 2030…

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Top UN Board supports ongoing implementation of World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process
Role of ICTs seen as critical in achieving sustainable development goals
New York, 15 December 2015 – The United Nations Chief Executives Board (CEB), comprising of heads of UN agencies, today issued its resounding support for the WSIS process. In particular, they endorsed the pivotal role of ICTs in driving progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In a joint statement to the United Nations General Assembly on the overall review of the implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+10), the CEB drew a direct relationship between the WSIS process and the “momentous” adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It reaffirmed the important role of information and communication technologies (ICT) as a critical enabler for advancing the globally agreed development goals…