What can we learn from 160 years of tech diplomacy at ITU?

On 17 May 1865, 20 European states convened to establish the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to streamline the clunky process of sending telegraph messages across borders.

Today, 160 years later, ITU’s anniversary is more than a mere commemorative moment; it is a stark reminder that multilateral cooperation is beneficial and necessary in our increasingly interconnected world.

While history does not serve as an oracle, providing a precise manual for addressing contemporary challenges, it offers a wider perspective for dealing with AI and other technological challenges of our time.

Practical necessity

ITU was born out of pragmatism, not idealism. In the 19th century, sending a telegram required rewriting messages at every national border—a tedious ritual that slowed commerce and diplomacy. For instance, a message sent from Paris to Berlin must be manually copied and translated at each border, significantly delaying communication. This cumbersome process triggered common-sense action by Prussia and Saxony, who signed the first bilateral telecom agreement to exchange messages directly.

This agreement quickly evolved into regional frameworks that transcended the borders of various German states, extended to Europe, and ultimately led to the establishment of the ITU in 1865. Today, the same logic applies: without international accords, platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Netflix, or AI tools like ChatGPT would hit digital walls at every frontier. The lesson? Our digital reality depends on multilateral cooperation, standards, and rules.

Diplomatic continuity

While technology races forward, tech diplomacy evolves slowly. ITU’s core mission of balancing national sovereignty with shared connectivity has remained unchanged for 160 years. Diplomats still haggle over the privacy and cybersecurity of internet traffic, just as their predecessors debated similar issues surrounding the telegraph at the Saint Petersburg ITU conference in 1875.

The United States’ stance on telecom matters has remained consistent since those early plenipotentiary meetings, advocating for a business-driven approach to telecom governance. Understanding this historical perspective is crucial for interpreting contemporary discussions, particularly in light of profound changes in US policy towards multilateralism and the United Nations. When it comes to the ITU, continuity in the US policy will prevail over changes, as it is already hinted by, for example, not listing the ITU among organisations which will face budgetary cuts by the USA. 

Crisis disruption

While continuity prevails, crises often catalyse change. A notable example is the aftermath of the Titanic catastrophe, which prompted the USA to shift from its previous reluctance regarding international telecom agreements towards adopting radio communication regulations in a matter of months after a decade-long negotiation stalemate. ‘Titanic moment’ illustrates how a major crisis can shift the unthinkable into the unavoidable in multilateral negotiations. Unfortunately, such a crisis is not far away in a highly interdependent digital and AI world. 

Technology as power

Technology always redistributes economic and political power. It has been making ‘digital divides’ since the invention of the first electric telegraph. Each new technology brings winners and losers; innovators gain geopolitical and economic advantages. Today, AI and digital set the new race between technological haves and have-nots. Colonial powers leveraged undersea cables to dominate trade. Today’s rapid advancement of AI technologies echoes this historical pattern, where nations that lead in innovation can reshape global power structures. 

Yet, the tech power race is not straightforward. For instance, in response to geopolitical challenges stemming from a lack of submarine cables to carry telegraphic traffic, Germany turned to wireless communication, leading to the emergence of Telefunken, one of the first wireless companies (Balbi & Fickers, 2020).

Standards politics

Establishing standards has historically provided advantages in the technological race. Countries and companies that shape technical standards gain economic and geopolitical leverage. Many tech standards have been adopted at the ITU and sister standardisation organisations, shaping the development of optical cables, telephony, and anything we use to ‘tele’ communicate across geographical distances. This tedious work, loaded with tech terminology, is becoming a critical geoeconomic battle in AI and other emerging technologies.

Tech changes; diplomacy endures

Over the last 160 years, technology has profoundly influenced the practice of diplomacy. When Britain’s Lord Palmerston received the first diplomatic cable in 1856, he panicked that it was ‘the end of diplomacy’.

Diplomacy survived the telegraph, telephone and many technologies till AI. Yet, the telegraph impacted diplomacy, such as Bismarck’s reinterpretation of the Ems telegram, inciting fury in France, culminating in war and establishing German interdependence in 1871. Telegraph miscommunication contributed to ‘sleepwalking’ into the First World War in July 1914. The Zimmermann telegram led towards the entrance of the USA into the First World War in 1917. 

ITU has always been at the centre of using tech in diplomacy. For example, in 1963, ITU hosted the first “video conference” between New York and Geneva—a marvel decades before Zoom. Technology has been transforming how we negotiate, but not why. Diplomacy aims to resolve conflicts peacefully, making them endure over time.

ITU’s past and wisdom for the AI future

ITU’s 160-year journey reveals a paradox of continuity: while technology disrupts, diplomacy endures. In an era of political tensions and societal fragmentation, ITU’s story reminds us that multilateral cooperation is not a nostalgic idealism but a very pragmatic necessity: alone, we falter; together, we prosper.