The 3rd meeting of the Smart Sustainable Development Initiative (SSDM) Advisory Board was held in Washington, United States of America on 15-16 March 2018.
At the meeting, the Advisory Board Members reviewed and adopted the reports prepared by the Board's three Working Groups on Global Emergency Fund for Rapid Response, Volunteers for Emergency Telecommunications (VET) and Regulatory toolkit and guidelines.
The Board meeting also examined how the initiative could support countries in facilitating the smooth trans-border movement of telecommunication equipment in and out of countries affected by disasters. The meeting discussed the development of a portal where emergency volunteers can be identified, registered and trained on disaster response; and the promotion of the Disaster Recovery Insurance Facility Model, which would allow ITU member states to purchase insurance coverage to finance immediate post disaster recovery needs.
“The important work accomplished by the Working Groups and the concrete recommendations, checklists and models identified by the SSDM initiative will be crucial in supporting countries integrate digital technologies for disaster risk reduction and emergency telecommunications, ” said Brahima Sanou, Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau. “Cooperation with partners, industry players and stakeholders is crucial to achieve our objectives.”
The Board meeting was chaired by José Toscano, Director of International Government Affairs & Asset Management at Intelsat. “I was delighted at the outcome of the Board Meeting and in particular the approval of the reports by the three Working Groups,” he said. "Our report on the trans-border movement of telecommunications equipment will form part of the discussions at the forthcoming Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR-18).”
The objective of the SSDM Initiative is to create a framework to optimize the use of ICT resources for both development (ICT4D) and disaster management (ICT4DM)
