Session on: “Using international standards to build smart sustainable cities and tackle climate change”, fully virtual, 15 October 2020
Contact: Reyna Ubeda
Malcolm Johnson
Mr Johnson is a seasoned information and communication technology (ICT) executive who has served in multiple senior management positions at ITU.
Prior to serving as Deputy Secretary-General, Johnson served from 2007 to 2014 as Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB). Between 2003 and 2006, Mr Johnson was International Coordinator at the United Kingdom’s Office of Communications (Ofcom), where he had lead responsibility for the United Kingdom in ITU.
From 1992 to 2003, he was Director of the United Kingdom’s Radiocommunications Agency and European Coordinator for ITU World Radiocommunication Conferences in 1993, 1995 and 1997.
Between 1988 and 1992, he worked in the European Commission’s Telecommunication Regulations Division, where he represented the Commission in the Council and the Parliament of the European Union.
Qi Shuguang
She graduated from Beijing university of posts and telecommunications in 2007 and holds a master's degree in computer science. She has been working in the field of ICT environment and infrastructure for more than 10 year. Currently she is the Vice Director and senior engineer at the Energy and Environmental department of China Telecommunication Technology Labs in China Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT). Her focuses include fundamental research, prospective study and standardization work in ICT environment and infrastructure.
She is also Vice Chairman / Acting Chairman of ITU-T Study Group 5; Chairman of the ITU-T Study Group 5 Asia pacific regional group; and also Chairman of Working Group 1 / Technical Committee 4 (Power and environment for ICT) in China Communication Standardization Association (CCSA). She has developed over 10 Recommendations as a chief editor at the ITU, including Recommendation ITU-T L.1210, ITU-T L.1380 and ITU-T L.1381 series Recommendation on smart energy. She is also an active participant of the domestic standardization activities in China and has been involved in developing more than 20 Chinese standards including National standards, industrial standard and regional standards. She received the first prize scientific reward from China Institute of Communications in 2013 and first prize scientific reward from CCSA in 2017.
Pam O'Conner
Pam O'Connor is an expert on urban planning, transportation, and environmental sustainability. Pam combines her professional experience with her record of public service. A former Mayor of Santa Monica, California, USA, she served on its City Council for 24 years. She served as President of the Southern California Association of Governments, the largest regional planning agency in the US. She was a member and Chair of Los Angeles Metro, the nation's second largest public transportation agency. She served as Chair of the Expo Light Rail Construction Authority, which now connects the downtowns of Los Angeles and Santa Monica. She served on the California Coastal Commission and on the boards of ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, the National League of Cities and the National Association of Regional Councils.
As an urban planner Pam has advised organizations and businesses on issues of environmental sustainability and resilience. She also specializes in historic preservation planning. She currently serves on the Board of Metrolink, the regional railroad provider for the Southern California. She serves on the State of California's Road Charge Technical Advisory Committee and on the Executive Board of the California Transit Association as well as on the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies Advisory Board. Since 2012 Pam has participated with the Energy Coalition and the Global Forum on Human Settlements on international cooperation and partnerships.
Rafi Rich
Arch. Rafi Rich is the CEO and Co-founder of SUiTS, Smarter Urban IT & Strategies & the MIdCityLabs.
Rich has spent the past 20 years promoting urban innovation, resilience & sustainability with cities, governments and organizations in Israel, Europe & Africa, through a synergy between technology, policy, governance & community engagement, aimed at sustainable inclusive & resilient cities.
In 2007 he was appointed as UNHABITATs smart city consultant, leading the development of Africa's first national smart city master plan for Rwanda.
Rich is a Senior lecturer for urban strategies & smart cities at the Technion Institute of technology and Formaly, he was the Senior Director for building in the Israeli Ministry of Interior, & the Founder of the Israeli Green Building council.
Janet Salem
Janet Salem has worked on circular economy at the United Nations for the past 15 years. Her current work, Closing the Loop project, focusses on applying digital technologies to addressing plastic waste flows in South East Asia. Janet set up the Asian Circular Economy Leadership Academy with Chulalongkorn University and the Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge, which supports start-ups with circular economy business models in Asia. Janet’s previous work focused on government policy on circular economy and private sector partnerships in tourism, ecolabelling, eCommerce and retail, venture capital and food systems.
Oliver Hillel
Oliver Hillel is Programme Officer at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biodiversity in Montreal, Canada, responsible for the engagement of States, Regions and cities in the work of the Convention, and for the mainstreaming of biodiversity into economic sectors and development. A biologist with a master's in Environmental Education and MBAs on Managerial Accounting and Hotel Management, Oliver has worked as team leader for a tourism development project in the Philippines, as Tourism Programme Coordinator for UN Environment and as Conservation International’s Ecotourism Program director. He also ran a family business on paper recycling, coordinated capacity-building programmes and products on tourism and hospitality for a Brazilian agency related to the Chamber of Commerce of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, co-authored several reference publications on nature and urban issues, and serves on the Board of several projects and research networks.
