ITU Rallies Women, Girls in AI-era Spectrum Management

Emma Okonji with Agency Report

As the importance of spectrum‑based technologies keeps growing across the globe, women remain underrepresented in radio-communications and spectrum-related decision‑making processes.

At the most recent World Radio-communication Conference (WRC), organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), women still accounted for less than a quarter of the delegates.

Worried about the low statistics of women representation, the Coordinators, Network of Women for WRC-27 of the ITU Radio-communication Bureau, have decided to engage more women and girls in spectrum-based technologies in order to increase their participation in spectrum management and spectrum-related decision‑making processes.

“The empowerment of women, the development of leadership and technical skills required for high-impact roles, and the raising of awareness across the entire membership take time. But if efforts continue, the results will become increasingly visible as women’s participation in the radiocommunication sector evolves from a new paradigm to the everyday norm,” Coordinators, Network of Women for WRC-27, said in a statement.

Director of the ITU Radio-communication Bureau, Mario Maniewicz, emphasised the network’s importance on the road to WRC-27, saying: “At every level, women have played and continue to play key roles in World Radiocommunication Conferences. These achievements are in no small measure the result of the work of the Network of Women for WRC. Supporting the Network for WRC‑27 will help ensure that women are empowered to shape the Radio Regulations that underpin our digital future.”