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Ghana joins the international community to observe the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, slated for May 16 at the Accra International Conference Centre. The local celebration to be led by the National Communications Authority (NCA) is geared towards raising awareness of information and communication technologies and its affiliated benefits to societies and economies, as well as contributing to bridging the digital divide. A statement signed by Mrs Nana Defie Badu, NCA Director, Consumer and Corporate Affairs and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday said May 17 marks the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The World Telecommunication Day has been celebrated annually on 17 May since 1969, marking the founding of ITU and the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865. It was instituted by the Plenipotentiary Conference in Malaga-Torremolinos in 1973. In November 2005, the World Summit on the Information Society called upon the UN General Assembly to declare May 17 as World Information Society Day to focus on the importance of ICT and the wide range of issues related to the Information Society raised by WSIS. The statement said the General Assembly adopted a resolution A/RES/60/252 in March 2006 stipulating that World Information Society Day shall be celebrated every year on 17 May. In November 2006, the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Antalya, Turkey, decided to celebrate both events on May 17 as World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. The updated Resolution 68 invites Member States and Sector Members to celebrate the day annually by organising appropriate national programmes with a view to stimulating reflection and exchanges of ideas on the theme adopted by the Council. The national event should also focus on debating the various aspects of the theme with all partners in society formulating a report reflecting national discussions on the issues underlying the theme, to be fed back to ITU and the rest of its membership.