DoT, ITU ink pact to drive innovation in digital twins, AI solutions, IMT-2030

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to mutually drive innovation in digital twins, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven solutions, virtual reality (VR) technologies, and the IMT-2030 technologies.

The pact also includes promoting the development of global standards and best practices to ensure seamless interoperability and scalability, advancing sustainable development through shared frameworks, capacity building, and cross-sectoral collaboration, and fostering citizen engagement and participatory approaches to urban and infrastructure planning, the Ministry of Communications said in an official statement Monday.

“Secretary (Telecom), Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Neeraj Mittal embarked on an official visit to Geneva today (Monday) to further strengthen India’s global digital leadership and deepen engagements with key international stakeholders in the telecommunication sector,” the ministry said.

Mittal, during a meeting with Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General, ITU, reaffirmed India’s commitment to digital connectivity, inclusion, and innovation.

The key focus areas of discussions between the top officials included India’s leadership in 5G and 6G technologies, AI for digital transformation, cybersecurity frameworks, and ITU’s Partner2Connect initiative aimed at bridging the global digital divide, the ministry said.

“India also reiterated its pledge to support ITU’s initiatives by contributing to global connectivity projects and skill development programs,” it said in the statement.

India will also contribute to ITU-T Study Group 20 on the Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins, and smart cities to create global standards, application programming interfaces (APIs), and methodologies ensuring seamless scalability of AI-driven solutions; establish sandbox environments to test innovative digital twin technologies, conduct pilot projects, and adapt regulatory frameworks that validate the transformative potential of these technologies; and exchange insights on privacy-enhancing techniques (PETs) and their use in ICT measurement, particularly in the context of building digital twins for urban planning, among others, as per the ministry.

The telecom secretary has also proposed to host the ITU-Plenipotentiary Conference 2030 in India. “India’s proposal was positively acknowledged, and discussions will continue at the upcoming ITU Council Meeting. India has successfully hosted World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA)-2024 in New Delhi in Oct 2024,” the ministry said.