TEHRAN – Celebrated every year on May 17, World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) highlights the growing role of digital technologies in our lives and commemorates the founding of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – the United Nations Agency for Digital Technologies.

The 2026 theme, ‘Digital Lifelines: Strengthening Resilience in a Connected World’, underscores the importance of robust, secure, and accessible digital infrastructure in supporting societies through crises, enabling continuity, and fostering long-term resilience.

It encourages global action to protect essential communication networks and bridge the digital divide.

In a world that increasingly depends on uninterrupted connectivity, the resilience of our digital networks is essential. Digital lifelines – terrestrial networks, submarine cables, satellites, and data systems – form the backbone of our communities and economies.

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2026 calls on governments, industry, and communities to strengthen the digital lifelines that keep the world running. Join us in designing the networks and systems that can withstand shocks and recover quickly, ensuring that no one is cut off and left offline when it matters most.

The purpose of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide. May 17 marks the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The 2026 theme, “Digital Lifelines: Strengthening Resilience in a Connected World”, underscores the importance of robust, secure, and accessible digital infrastructure in supporting societies through crises, enabling continuity, and fostering long-term resilience.

‘Digital evolution without digital security is an illusion’

Following the US-Israeli cyberattacks that targeted critical infrastructures in Iran during the 40-day and 12-day wars, Ehsan Cheetsaz, the deputy minister for ICT, said that the aggressors targeted critical infrastructures in Iran to destabilize sovereign states.

“The hybrid attacks represent a perilous convergence of modern warfare tools. This aggression highlights that digital evolution without digital security is an illusion,” Mehr news agency quoted the official as saying.

At the fifth Meeting of Heads of Ministries and Agencies of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States Responsible for the Development of Information and Communication Technologies, the member states of the SCO expressed deep concern over US-Israeli cyberattacks that targeted information, communication, and technology (ICT) infrastructures in Iran.

The officials considered these measures to be in contrast to the principles of international law and the UN Charter, highlighting the need to respect the sovereignty of countries in cyberspace and refrain from using force against other nations, Mehr news agency reported.

The 5th meeting was held on April 27, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, under the chairmanship of the Ministry of Digital Development and Innovation Technologies of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Participants discussed topics of cooperation in the field of digital transformation, the implementation of ICT and AI in public administration, and key sectors of the economy. The security of ICT infrastructures, the expansion of artificial intelligence, and the future of a data-driven economy were put on the agenda.

Status of ICT in Iran

The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology is the highest authority in the field of ICT in the country. All activities related to the information and communication technology industry are directly related to the ministry.

The government pays special attention to plans and policies in this sector in order to maximize the use of ICT to facilitate people’s lives.

The successful designing, building, and launching of a satellite show the growth of the national technology and scientific power of a country.

Space technology has been considered a tool to expand prosperity, peace, scientific-cultural development, and economic progress in human societies.
Different nations of the world exploit this technology in some way based on their capacity, capabilities, and efforts.

Currently, 13 universities and a research institute affiliated to the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology are offering aerospace majors, thus Iran has a high capability in training specialists and experts in the aerospace sector and is a leading country in the region.

Access to telecommunication services in rural areas of the country had improved over the period as the overall number of villages with access to communication services rose to 52,182, around 93 percent of all villages, while 47,837 villages had access to home landline services.

Moreover, the number of Iranian mobile users reached nearly 135.890 million, according to the CRA which put the mobile phone penetration rate in the country at 161.67 percent.

The figures showed, however, that fixed broadband adoption in Iran had stalled at 14 percent with nearly 11.921 million customers having access to the Internet via those services.

This statistic shows that fixed broadband internet has grown by less than 2 percent compared to last year and mobile internet has experienced a growth of 10 percent. However, it can be said that the speed of mobile internet expansion is 5 times the speed of fixed internet.

MT/MG