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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 The Government of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas along with the Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority (URCA) is hosting the 5th ITU symposium from December 14th – 18th at Atlantis, Paradise Island. The hosting of this conference is very timely as it addresses critical national and international issues under the theme “Cities and Climate Change: From the New Climate Agreement to the New Urban Agenda”. The conference is organized by the ITU and acts as a global platform for discussion and knowledge-sharing in order to raise awareness of the importance and opportunities of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to expedite the transition to smart sustainable cities and ensuring a sustainable urban future.
Participation in the conference is vital for The Bahamas as government, the public and private sector discuss the development and revitalization of the country, and in particular the downtown Nassau area. As The Bahamas rebounds and rebuilds from the ravages of Hurricane Joaquin and revitalizes its urban and downtown areas, local planners, designers, architects and policy makers are eager for the opportunity to share with their counterparts from around the world as they look at the role of ICTs in addressing climate change and other environmental challenges.
Conference sessions are focused on integrating existing and emerging ICT-based solutions into their activities for an overall smarter and more holistically ‘sustainable’ future for mankind and shared principles for e-waste management, including relevant processes and technologies. While on the one hand URCA supports the provision of or access to various electronic devices for as many individuals as possible, on the other hand the increase in the use of electronic devices commercially and for personal use has contributed to the fastest growing waste streams. It is estimated that some 42-million metric tons of e-waste material was generated in 2014. An entire day of the conference is dedicated to the topic “Turning the E-waste Challenge into an Opportunity”.
Where last year’s conference focused on setting the vision for smart sustainable cities this year’s event takes the conversation further by discussing how to power these cities. Due to the recent explosion of the concept “The Internet of Things”, members of the global ICT community are seeing brand new possibilities and ideas for making cities smarter.
For the past five years GSW has brought together leading specialists in the field, from top policy-makers to engineers, designers, smart city planners, government officials, regulators, standards experts, academia and others. Local speakers for this year’s event include Government Ministers, the Hon. Kenred Dorsett, Environment and Housing; Hon. Allyson Maynard Gibson, Attorney General and Hon. Michael Halkitis, Minister of State, Finance. The co-ordinator of the National Development Plan, Dr. Nicola Virgil Rolle and Director of the National Insurance Board, Rowena Bethel and Architect Michael Diggiss will also address the weeklong conference.
International organizers and speakers for the conference include representatives from the Basel Convention Regional Centre for the Caribbean Region (BCRC-Caribbean), the Basel Convention Regional Centre for the South American Region (CRBAS), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Regional Bureau for Sciences in Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations University (UNU).
“At URCA we are pleased to host this important event,” stated URCA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kathleen Riviere-Smith. The CEO added that “As the world around us changes, we must adapt and adopt new ways of building for the future. We look forward to an outstanding event with provocative and valuable conversations that will help to move The Bahamas as a country closer to a new age of smarter living.”
For additional information on the ITU’s Green Standards Week visit http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/Workshops-and-Seminars/gsw/201512/Pages/default.aspx. For information on URCA and its role in the promotion of ICTs visit www.urcabahamas.bs or contact them at 396-5200 or via email at info@urcabahamas.bs.
© Copyright 2015 by thebahamasweekly.com
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