MONTREAL, May 29, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Beginning today, May 29, and through May 31, Montreal is hosting an international symposium on the challenge of green information and communication technologies (ICT) at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The importance of successfully meeting this challenge lies in the mainly untapped opportunity of annual savings of $800 billion dollars in energy efficiency and the elimination of 15% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
Since 2008, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations organization, has been rallying the international ICT sector to focus on ICTs as an essential part of the solution to climate change. As a member state of ITU, Canada is the host of this seventh ITU Symposium on ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change, organized by PROMPT, an organization that stimulates university-industry R&D partnerships in information and communication technologies.
"Québec has demonstrated great leadership in promoting renewable energy and green ICTs, which constitute a growth area, from both an environmental and an economic standpoint. We believe in the potential of green ICTs and are proud to host this major event that confirms the strategic role of Québec and Montréal in their development", said Charles Despins, president of PROMPT.
"The seventh edition of this international symposium has many renowned speakers whose thoughts and observations contribute to providing solutions to climate change through ICTs. The growing popularity of this symposium is a testament to the willingness around the world to successfully meet the challenge of green ICTs, "said Malcolm Johnson, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau
The Montreal Symposium, the ITU's first in North America, brings together hundreds of participants from around the globe over three days to discuss green ICT issues such as:
• Green next-generation networks
• Smart grids, smart cities
• Mitigation and adaptation to climate change
• E-waste management
• Disaster preparedness and emergency communications
• Methodologies for the environmental impact assessment of ICTs
• Challenges and opportunities in the transition to a green and resource-efficient economy.
To view the full event program, click here and to follow the event on Twitter, use the #ITUgreen hashtag.
About Prompt
Prompt is a non-profit corporation that stimulates industry-university R&D partnerships to increase the competitiveness of the information and communications technologies (ICT) sector in Quebec. With financial assistance from the Quebec government and the private sector, Prompt finances R&D initiatives that add value to Quebec companies, optimize the benefits of public investments in research and support the provincial innovation system. The partnerships Prompt supports are funded by the private sector and the governments of Quebec and Canada. In addition, since these initiatives benefit from federal and provincial tax credits for scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED), the value of every dollar invested by a company can generate a return of more than a factor of five. For more information, please visit www.promptinc.org.
About ITU
ITU is the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues, and the global focal point for governments and the private sector in developing networks and services. For 145 years, ITU has coordinated the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promoted international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, worked to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world, established the worldwide standards that foster seamless interconnection of a vast range of communications systems and addressed the global challenges of our times, such as mitigating the impact of natural disasters and climate change and strengthening cybersecurity. For further details, please visit: www.itu.int
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Marc Poisson
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