8th Green Standards Week kicks off in Zanzibar Tanzania

The 8th Green Standards Week kicks off today in Zanzibar, Tanzania, to discuss the policies, standards and best practices required to transition to resource-efficient circular economy.

Green Standards Week this year combines forums, training sessions and symposia with meetings of the African Regional Groups within ITU-T Study Group 5 and Study Group 20, the ITU standardization expert groups responsible for ‘environment and circular economy’ and ‘Internet of Things and smart cities’.

The format matches open discussion with meetings of Regional Groups in the interests of ensuring a strong connection to ITU standardization work, particularly on the standardization topics of greatest strategic relevance to African and Arab countries.

Discussions will share national experiences in managing e-waste, one of the world’s fastest-growing waste streams, building common understanding of where technical standards support e-waste regulation.

A forum and training session will discuss strategies to ensure the responsible management of the electromagnetic fields emitted by wireless communication infrastructure, an issue especially relevant to countries experiencing rapid expansion of their ICT infrastructure.

Smart city innovators will explore the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to support the delivery of citizen-centric services in smart cities, in parallel looking at where AI and IoT could contribute to more autonomous, energy-efficient city operations.

Green Standards Week is structured as a series of events:

• 9 April 2018 (am): 12th ITU Symposium on ICT, Environment and Climate Change
• 9 April 2018 (pm): ITU-T Study Group 5 Regional Group for Africa (SG5RG-AFR)
• 10 April 2018 (am): Forum & Training on With ICTs everywhere – How safe is EMF?
• 10 April 2018 (pm): ITU-T Study Group 5 Regional Group for the Arab Region (SG5RG-ARB)
• 10 April 2018 (pm): ITU-T Study Group 20 Regional Group for Africa (SG20RG-AFR)
• 11 April 2018 (am): Forum on Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things in the development of Smart Sustainable Cities
• 11 April 2018 (pm): ITU-T Study Group 20 Regional Group for Africa (SG20RG-AFR)
• 12 April 2018: Training on e-Waste Statistics

All presentations given at Green Standards Week are free to download from the event programmes.

The 8th Green Standards Week is organized by ITU in partnership with UN Habitat, United Nations University, UNIDO, the Basel Convention and UN Environment, at the invitation of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority and the Universal Communications Service Access Fund.

New ITU work supports the environmental sustainability of 5G systems

ITU-T Study Group 5 (Environment and circular economy) has launched a new high-priority standards project to establish environmental requirements for emerging 5G systems.

The project builds on the group’s established expertise in the measurement of energy efficiency, resistibility, electromagnetic compatibility and the responsible management of electromagnetic fields.

Learn more about ITU standardization work on the relationship between ICTs and our environment in an interview with the Chair of ITU-T Study Group 5, Victoria Sukenik.