Saturday, May 17, is World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD), sponsored by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies 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 in 1865. World Information Society Day was established in 2005, and the following year it was decided to celebrate both events on the same day.

Several special event stations are expected to be on the air. These include C37ITU from Andorra, and A60ITU, by members of the Emirates Amateur Radio Society (EARS). Radio amateurs in Australia may use the special prefix AX for World Telecommunications and Information Society Day.