UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday highlighted the importance of international technology standards in accelerating innovation worldwide.

In his message to the 50th anniversary of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, the UN chief said that technological advances such as 5G and the Internet of things have the potential to deliver considerable social and economic benefits and to drive progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

"The standards-making process of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is more important than ever," said Guterres.

Yet, alongside these invaluable processes, people have shared responsibility to ensure that these technologies are not used to incite violence, to fuel hatred, or to mislead the public, he added.

"We must be alert to these and other perils while joining efforts to harness technological advances for the common good," the Secretary-General said.

The World Telecommunication Day was set by the United Nations to commemorate the founding of the ITU on May 17, 1865 and has been celebrated annually since 1969. In 2005, the United Nations declared May 17 also as World Information Society Day to focus on the importance of information and communication technologies, and decided in 2006 to celebrate both every year.