ITU to discuss digitising urban cities as world population is set to hit seven billion

City mayors, urban leaders and technology innovators will be meeting at an International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) conference to collaborate and explore how to connect technologies to improve the lives of urban dwellers.

The meeting dubbed, the Digital Cities ’11 Conference at the ITU Telecom World 2011, will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from October 24 to 27, 2011.

The conference will focus on the trends shaping global city development, and ask city mayors, leading urban developers and experts in the provision of essential public services for their views on the opportunities and solutions offered by information and communications technologies (ICTs), says the ITU in a statement copied to ghanabusinessnews.com.

According to the United Nations ICT agency, the Alcatel-Lucent supported meeting will focus on how the public and private sectors can come together to design and develop the next generation of urban living – and will also address connected urban development and how next-generation networks can enhance socio-economic development, increase the health and well-being of urban citizens and enable environmental sustainability.

“Our planet will soon be home to seven billion people. As cities demand more and more from our industry and city dwellers account for half of the world’s population, the time is right for a dedicated conference within the ITU Telecom World event that drives high-level debate and generates key insights into the connected and digital future of urban life,” said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré.

Panel discussions and workshops will include mayors from the world’s major cities, together with digital innovators, utility experts, industry CEOs and city planning and transport specialists.

By Ekow Quandzie