The ITU Digital World 2020 will be postponed until September next year under the name ITU Digital World 2021 as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

The global technology event was originally scheduled to take place in Ha Noi, from September 6 to 9 this year.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications have taken a difficult decision.

“We believe this is the best and the safest course of action to ensure the well-being and safety of all event participants and guarantee a successful event,” said a joint statement from Houlin Zhao, ITU secretary general and Nguyen Manh Hung, Vietnamese Minister of Information and Communications.

The world is facing an unprecedented threat from COVID-19 and ICT has become a key ally in combating this threat and helping to prevent, detect and diagnose disease.

For the first time, digital solutions and platforms are being used on a massive scale to help cope with and respond to a pandemic.

The Government of Viet Nam and ITU call upon global leaders, governments and the tech industry to ensure they are present and fully engaged, to rise to the challenge and strengthen the multilateral, collective digital response to this crisis.

International events such as ITU Digital World 2021 are more important than ever as a platform bringing together the global ICT community to learn, share knowledge, debate and network, the joint statement said. — VNS