Paris meeting to accelerate work on ‘green ICT’ policies and standards

ITU’s second annual ‘Green Standards Week’ (GSW), to be held in Paris from 17-21 September, will stimulate the creation of international ‘green ICT’ standards with a view to further expanding the capabilities of information and communication technologies to boost environmental efficiency across all industry sectors.

Organized by ITU and TechAmerica Europe and hosted by Microsoft, it will gather policy makers, regulators, private sector entities, research institutes and standards development organizations (SDOs) to discuss the standardization of ICT from an environmental perspective. A High-Level Segment featuring key industry and government figures will discuss the role of global standards in spreading access to green ICT, as well the development of new standards that reflect the interdependence of industry sectors.
The main focus of this year’s forum will be the impact of ICTs on the environment.

Forum sessions on e-waste challenges and ‘greening’ the ICT supply chain will look at means of minimizing the life-cycle environmental impact of ICT products. An information and training session will detail ITU’s standardized Methodologies for the Environmental Impact Assessment of ICTs (Recommendation ITU-T L.1400 series). And finally, a forum on environmental sustainability for the ICT sector will expand discussions to address the long-term health of the ICT sector, providing insight into the ICT industry’s reaction to the outcomes of Rio+20 in June.

The first day of GSW will feature a gala award ceremony for the second ITU Green ICT Application Challenge, rewarding outstanding concept papers around the topic of “Sustainable Energy for All”.

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