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Georgia Tech Internet of Things Research Center to Host International Conference on Sustainability

Georgia Tech Internet of Things Research Center to Host International Conference on Sustainability

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The Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for the Development and Application of Internet of Things Technologies (CDAIT) will host an international conference on the Internet of Things (IoT) and sustainability July 18, 2019, at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta.

Titled “The Internet of Things for Sustainability is Smart Business,” the conference will explore catalysts and use cases to examine some of the key promises and challenges that relate to the application of IoT technologies toward building a sustainable world. Secondarily, the conference aims to highlight the business opportunities that exist at the intersection of IoT and sustainability.

IoT connects a wide range of devices with smart capabilities and is increasingly seen as a core component of corporate and societal digital transformation. Sustainability or sustainable development – that which meets “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” according to the oft-quoted United Nations Brundtland Report — is now viewed by businesses as mission critical.

At IoT Week in June 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies –  and other IoT stakeholders in their “Internet of Things Declaration to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals” underlined that the IoT can “directly contribute to achieving the targets in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Accordingly, the emerging IoT paradigm has the potential to create an efficient, effective, and secure ecosystem taking advantage of connected devices for managing the major global challenges faced by this and future generations.”

The conference will feature business and academic leaders widely recognized for their expertise. Bilel Jamoussi, chief of the Study Groups Department, ITU Standardization Bureau, will open the conference. He will be followed by Robert Schmid, chief IoT technologist at Deloitte, who will deliver the conference keynote.

The program is built around two general roundtable discussions and five shorter sessions on specific topics.

The first roundtable will address why it makes business sense for companies to focus on sustainability through the deployment of IoT technologies. The second roundtable will focus on educational and training needs in light of the related business objectives.

The five sessions will tackle a range of specific issues such as regulation and policy perspectives; home and commercial buildings; manufacturing; supply chain and logistics; and consumer products.

The conference includes a luncheon, breaks, and a reception. There is no charge thanks to the generous support of various corporate organizations including lead sponsors Deloitte, The Coca-Cola Company, and Comcast.

Additional details and registration information can be found here:  https://cdait.gatech.edu/internet-things-sustainability-smart-business

While aimed at a business audience concerned with sustainable development, the conference will also be of interest to participants in any and all links of the Internet of Things value chain as well as representatives from academia, government, industry, and media curious about the impact of disruptive technologies on the world of today and tomorrow.