Australian engineers have tested, in the middle of the Australian outback, a new technological system that allows connection between mobile phones in remote areas, where there are no cell towers available. This new device could be very useful in the event of a disaster or an emergency, when there is no connectivity.

In line with this information, the Chapter on “Information and Communication Technologies – ICTs” will be aimed at, among other objectives, predicting expected developments. Engineer Luis Perazo, president of this Chapter, made the following comment: “Perhaps, in this specialty it is more difficult to predict the future than in other branches of engineering: the convergence of information and communication technologies and that of these and related areas, such as chemistry and genetics, occur so rapidly and so creatively that it is almost impossible to indicate in advance the evolution of products and services which will be available in a few months’ time”.