Guglielmo Marconi ICT Wireless Laboratory Inaugurated

An ICT wireless laboratory, named after Italian inventor and Physics Nobel laureate Guglielmo Marconi, was inaugurated on 23 November 2010 by ICTP Director Fernando Quevedo and Hamadoun Touré, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The laboratory will provide a boost to ICTP's training programmes on wireless communications technologies. These programmes, conducted by ICTP's Aeronomy and Radiopropagation Laboratory (ARPL), have been providing much-needed support in wireless technology education to students and researchers from developing countries.

The number of applicants for ARPL's training programmes has been steadily increasing over the past few years, said ARPL's Head Sandro Radicella.

During the remarks at the inauguration, Dr Touré said that the event served to restate ITU's committment to work with ICTP. Talking about the new facility and the support it would lend to students from developing countries he said, "Investing in the human brain is the best investment we can make."

The complete speech by Dr Touré is available at the ITU Website.

A video interview with Dr Touré is available here.

The Guglielmo Marconi Laboratory is housed in the Galileo guesthouse on the ICTP campus.