Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), the venue for the World Telecommunication Conference is bustling with sights and sounds of the world.
Abuzz with excitement
Walk around the pathway and the air is abuzz with excitement as hundreds of delegates from all around the globe strut along the corridors attending sessions. It's mission telecommunication and creating a global information society as participants share the challenges faced by their countries and exchange view points.
Abba Adamu from Nigeria googled ‘Hyderabad' before landing in the city to have an idea of the place which is hosting the conference.
“I wanted to know all the basic things like the location of Hyderabad, how far it is from UAE, what kind of hotels are available, its culture and also the food,” says Abba Adamu breaking into a smile. As a delegate representing his country, his task is cut out. “The major challenge faced by Nigeria is the vulnerability to the telecom infrastructure. Cyber crime is high and we have to deal with issue of cyber security,” he says.
Richard Boidin from France is quite impressed with the way Hyderabad is hosting the conference. “It's a platform to meet people from far off countries whom you might not meet otherwise. One gets a chance to listen, exchange point of views and try to understand the way they are thinking,” he says. France is also launching a connect to school, connect to community programme in partnership with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to bridge the digital divide. The action plan is to offer a broadband connectivity and equipment to about ten pilot schools in sub-Saharan Africa.
Mokrane Akli of Algeria and Manami Nogawa of Japan are from different sides of the globe. While Manami has been here before, for Mokrane it is an exhilarating experience as he is visiting India for the first time. All that Mokrane knows about India is Mahatama Gandhi. “We admire and salute Mahatma Gandhi for his ideals and principles. He showed that we don't live for ourselves but for the humanity,” he says.
