Commission on Sustainable Development, call for action

Message from the CSD-13 Chair - H.E. Dr. John W. Ashe
"Let us keep in our mind the gravity of the challenge facing the world today - 1.1 billion of our fellow citizens are without safe drinking water; 2.2 billion without basic sanitation; and close to 1 billion living in slum settlements. These are not merely data. They represent the harsh reality of hundreds of millions of people struggling daily for a decent living." Learn more

Conference on Cities and ICT

In line with the ICT theme for this week (week 9), there is a conference this fall on "Societies and Cities in the Age of Instant Access" at the University of Utah. The keynote address is on "smart mobs", an interesting topic in terms of our "sim cities and the urban imagination" theme. Info below:

http://www.geog.utah.edu/instant_access/

We are on the verge of what many are calling the “second information revolution,” based on ubiquitous access to both computing and information. Handheld communication devices will become portable and even wearable remote control devices for both the social and physical worlds. At the same time, access to information will likely flourish, with an explosion in the volumes of data collected and distributed by these new devices—volumes of information about people delivered to more and more people, in new ways. The technologies of instant access have potential to transform dramatically our lives, cities, societies and economies much like the automobile changed our world in the previous century.

This research symposium will bring together leading international experts who will address and discuss issues surrounding the impact of instant access on social organization, institutions, urban morphology, heath and well-being, social justice and social exclusion.