G V Ihita, MS student in SPCRC working on IoT security for smart cities under the guidance of Dr. Sachin Chaudhari, was selected as a representative of the Indian delegation and the Generation Connect initiative to attend
United Nations agency International Telecommunication Union (ITU)-D Study Group-2 meeting at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, from 5 – 9 December 2022. She received funding and support for participating in the study meeting from the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI). Her main area of contribution was to the study question: Q 3/2, ‘Securing information and communication networks: Best practices for developing a culture of cybersecurity.’ At the meeting, there were numerous contributions from member states and organizations, including the Russian Federation, the Republic of Rwanda, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and the World Bank Group. Through their contributions, there was an exchange of best practices, national initiatives, and the countries’ cyber preparedness level. Ihita also moderated an intergenerational dialogue on ‘Youth for digital transformation’ during the meetings joined by experts from organizations including ITU, the National Telecommunications Agency of Brazil (Anatel), the National Commission of Telecommunications of Venezuela (CONATEL), and the Korea Information Society Development Institute. This was the first-ever youth participation in ITU-D study meetings.