ITU forum seeks ways to ‘save lives with ICTs’

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) will this month hold the second edition of its Global Forum on Emergency Telecommunications (GET-2016 ) focused on ways to use technology in saving lives.

The event, which will be hosted by the Government of Kuwait, in Kuwait City on January 26 to 28, this year.

GET-2016 will bring together delegates from all over the world, ranging from government ministers to ICT regulators, national disaster management stakeholders, experts from academia, private sector leaders, United Nations entities and non-governmental organisations.

According to the UN specialised agency for ICTs, the Forum provides an opportunity for policy makers and other participants to debate and adopt concrete strategies on how information and communication technologies can help implement the Sendai Declaration and Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals and mitigate the effects of climate change in line with the Paris Agreement, adopted at UNFCCC climate conference in December 2015.

Confirmed government speakers include Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Acting Minister of Electricity and Water; Salim Alozainah, Chairman and CEO, Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority; and Hameed H. Al-Qattan, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Communications.
They will join Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General, ITU; Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau and a distinguished list of high-level international speakers.