ARLA/CLUSTER: Novo Presidente da IARU conjuntamenta com a ITU criam o Sustainable Development Model (SSDM) Initiative

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

Ham radio in ITU SSDM initiative

The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) through President Tim
Ellam VE6SH/G4HUA is a founding Advisory Board member of the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Smart Sustainable
Development Model (SSDM) Initiative

The Initiative aims to create actions necessary to deploy the crucial
telecommunications infrastructure that contribute to giving rapid
assistance in case of natural disasters, and could also be used as a
working tool to foster economic and social development, providing
community telecommunication services where people can have access to
education, health or best practices in any particular field.

The extra-ordinary meeting of the Advisory Board took place on 6
December 2014, a day before the ITU Telecom World 2014 event in Doha,
Qatar. On the occasion of this meeting the Advisory Board announced
the results of the work that has been conducted by its working groups.
The meeting focused on the launch of the final report just before ITU
Telecom World 2014 which provided an excellent opportunity to advocate
for the critical role of ICTs in saving lives and sustainable
development. The IARU played a key role in both the development of the
final report and in its launch on December 6.

The initiative targets on one hand ICT4D and deployment of the crucial
telecommunications infrastructure that will bridge the gaps and
challenges hindering the ability of countries to leverage science,
technology, innovation and culture for sustainable development. On the
other hand, it targets at ICT4DM since ICTs play a critical role in
the immediate aftermath of disasters. They ensure the timely flow of
vital information that is much needed by government agencies and other
humanitarian actors involved in rescue operations and assisting people
in need. Moreover, integrating ICTs in disaster prediction, detection
and alerting would ensure the effectiveness of disaster risk reduction
as well as adaptation to climate change. Despite the efforts being
made in this field, more remains to be done and achievements could
have a greater impact if a de-fragmented approach is adopted by
combining and crowdsourcing experiences.

The Amateur Radio Services feature prominently in the report which
will be available for download at the SSDM page on the ITU website
http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Initiatives/SSDM/Pages/default.aspx

IARU http://iaru.org/