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ITU called on to enable ‘smart’ water management
ICT-based platforms will be integral to post-2015 development agenda
Geneva, 16 April 2013 – Participants in an ITU workshop held
for the benefit of government and private-sector technology leaders in the Nile
River Basin have agreed a Call to Action which charges ITU with mobilizing its
global membership to enable ‘smart’ water management.
The ‘smart’ integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in
water networks adds communication, monitoring, analysis and control
capabilities, increasing efficiency and reliability in water supply, improving
delivery of water to crucial sectors like agriculture and health, and reducing
water consumption and waste.
The ITU workshop ‘ICT as an enabler for smart water management’, was held in
Luxor, Egypt, from 14-15 April 2013, hosted by Egypt’s Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology. The event was the first of its kind,
and reflects the growing importance and acceleration of smart-water
standardization work in ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T).
Dr Hamadoun I. Touré, Secretary-General, ITU: “The importance of sufficient
supplies of good quality water is recognized in the UN Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), one of which is to halve the number of people without safe access
to water by 2015. One of the many ways in which ICT will be central to the
post-2015 development agenda is through supporting greater agility and
efficiency in water management frameworks.”
Economic growth, climate change and rising populations are all affecting the
availability of water resources. According to UN estimates, 85 per cent of the
world’s population lives in the driest half of the planet; 783 million people do
not have access to clean water; almost 2.5 billion do not have access to
adequate sanitation; and 6-8 million people die annually from the consequences
of water-related disasters and diseases.
Opening the workshop, Malcolm Johnson, Director, Telecommunication
Standardization Bureau, ITU, called on stakeholders represented at the event,
including international and regional organizations; environment, agriculture,
irrigation and communications ministries; government agencies; utilities
regulators; the technology industry; and academia, to agree on actions that will
help countries in the Nile River Basin, and others around the world facing
similar challenges, to implement best practices and technologies for smart water
management.
Welcoming participants, Dr Awr Badawi, Executive President, National Telecom
Regulatory Authority (NTRA), Egypt, emphasized that he counted on ITU to place
this topic high on its agenda and to mobilize experts through its different
study groups, focus groups, and other entities.
The workshop concluded with a
Call to Action which encourages ITU to collaborate with
policy makers, water authorities, and relevant international and regional
organizations, to:
- Lead with vision in developing and
fostering the adoption of international standards, best
practices, and policies for smart water management that improve
both water and energy footprints, taking into account life cycle
assessments
- Evaluate countries’ water footprint,
standard performance indicators, and industry best practices for
smart water management and help countries to better utilize
their water resources
- Standardize: the methodologies for
estimating the impact of ICTs on water conservation to help
reduce water consumption; the ICT applications and services for
smart water management so as to ensure interoperability and
benefit from economies of scale; the use of geographic 3D
modelling of geospatial data for use in geographical information
systems and on the Internet; an Open Data platform to enable
interoperability of smart water solutions; and a common
communication protocol.
- Think sustainable: bridge the gap between
experts from the ICT, water, and energy sectors and policy
makers, to encourage the integration of ICT into water and
energy policies in order to improve knowledge on the state of
water availability and consumption, increase environmental
resilience, tackle climate change impacts, and enhance energy
efficiency and water demand management. Promote the use of open
data platforms in water management to empower innovation.
- Shape the global agenda by campaigning for
the integration of ICT policies in the ongoing dialogue on smart
water management in organizations such as UN Water, the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO), and the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP).
The full text of the Call to Action is available
here.
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Parkes
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information, ITU
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Toby Johnson
Senior Communication Officer, ITU
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