IEEE at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Forum High-Level Event 2024

Tuesday, 28 May 2024 | 11:00-11:45 CET
Room 11+12, 2nd floor, International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG)

IEEE’s mission is to advance technology for the benefit of humanity. Today the world is undergoing significant challenges in addressing the UN SDGs to achieve a sustainable planet for all. IEEE recognizes that the Information Communications Technologies (ICT) sector depends on energy to thrive, as well as how technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) can contribute to energy optimization. There is a need for new standards and solutions that address sustainable energy, including its generation, distribution, storage and use.

With rapid technological advancements and an increasing emphasis on sustainability, the energy sector is undergoing transformational change. As global energy needs continue to grow, navigating the complex juncture of innovation, policy, and environmental stewardship will depend on collaborative approaches and open standards development to enable the renewable energy transformation.

AI is a tool for driving innovation and sustainability in the energy sector, where it can help optimize energy production, distribution and management and foster a clean energy evolution. However, as much as AI can benefit the energy transition, it does bring about concerns related to increased energy consumption, carbon emissions, and water usage–for example in data centers.

This workshop will explore the role of AI in advancing energy innovation and sustainability. It will discuss the challenges and recommendations that the ICT sector is facing with emerging technology, such as AI, to facilitate the energy system transformation from fossil fuel-based energy sources to sustainable and renewable sources of energy generation and sustainable energy practices. Participants will exchange insights, real world examples and opportunities for collaboration to harness AI-driven energy innovation and sustainability.

Register for Session 2

Wednesday, 29 May 2024 | 12:00-13:30 CET
Room C, Ground Floor, International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG)

This Knowledge Cafe is inspired by IEEE’s Planet Positive 2030 work Strong Sustainability by Design and a future vision for knowledge, best practices, expertise, data, and tools sharing on a Sustainability Commons. Sustainability Commons, inspired by the Creative Commons, represents a collaborative approach to managing shared resources and promoting sustainable development. As we navigate the challenges of a rapidly changing world, understanding the concept of a Sustainability Commons becomes increasingly important. This Knowledge Cafe, grounded in the WSIS Forum process and spirit of multi stakeholder discussions, will explore the concept of Sustainability Commons, examining what they are, what is needed to establish and maintain them, and the potential impact they can have on society and the environment–in short, how they can help contribute to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.

The open and interactive discussion at the Knowledge Cafe will be set around a future state where the Sustainability Commons is now a go-to-platform, a digital knowledge commons, for Climate and Sustainability Technology, including regenerative design and circular economy considerations. The Sustainability Commons will foster collaboration and cooperation between various stakeholders. It will always be up-to-date thanks to an engaged contributors’ base and is easily accessible by stakeholders throughout the world, facilitating discovery and adoptions of climate and sustainability solutions and enabling action decisions. In this state, content is easily verifiable, and information about its quality is well captured–helping make the content trustworthy. People have access to valued, contextualized sustainability knowledge that is easily understood, can be trusted and may be adopted to help enable a planet to get to net-zero and thrive over the long term.

At the Knowledge Cafe, participants will engage in discussions to explore how we were able to reach this future state—what made it possible for the sustainability commons to become a platform for dialogue, exchange of ideas and collaborative learning. They will be able to share their insights, experiences and thoughts, and have the opportunity to bring forth recommendations and ideas that can help initiate building a sustainability commons initiative.
The Knowledge Cafe table topics aim to help facilitate discussions, knowledge sharing and collaborative problem-solving among the participants and to create a deeper understanding of Sustainability Commons.

Join us as together we explore innovative approaches to creating and nurturing Sustainability Commons that contribute to the well being of people and the planet.

Register for Session 3