ITU International Telecommunications Union [to 13 June 2015]
http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/index.aspx?lang=en#.VF8FYcl4WF8

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Global ICT regulatory meeting highlights key role of innovation in driving ICT development
Debates stressed need for more innovative approaches to funding challenges, ICT taxation, network sharing and licensing of new services
Libreville, Gabon,11 June, 2015 – Promoting digital inclusion and closing the ‘digital gap’ between a handful of highly industrialized economies and the world’s many emerging markets and developing economies will require an innovation-oriented mindset that seeks out new approaches to regulation as well as to traditional challenges such as infrastructure funding, service delivery, and taxation of ICT goods and services, according to delegates at ITU’s Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR-15), which was held this week at the Stade de l’Amitié in the Gabonese capital, Libreville…

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ITU standards to integrate Internet of Things in Smart Cities
New expert group to specialize in Internet of Things and its applications
Geneva, 10 June 2015 – ITU members have established a new ITU-T Study Group to address the standardization requirements of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, with an initial focus on IoT applications in smart cities.
The new group is titled “ITU-T Study Group 20: IoT and its applications, including smart cities and communities”. It will be responsible for international standards to enable the coordinated development of IoT technologies, including machine-to-machine communications and ubiquitous sensor networks. The group will develop standards that leverage IoT technologies to address urban-development challenges. A key part of this study will be the standardization of end-to-end architectures for IoT and mechanisms for the interoperability of IoT applications and datasets employed by various vertically oriented industry sectors.
The deployment of IoT technologies is expected to connect an estimated 50 billion devices to the network by year 2020, impacting nearly every aspect of our daily lives. IoT is contributing to the convergence of industry sectors, with utilities, healthcare and transportation among the many sectors with a stake in the future of IoT technologies. The new ITU-T Study Group provides the specialized IoT standardization platform necessary for this convergence to rest on a cohesive set of international standards…