Day 1: 19 May 2026
Dedicated to Sustainable and Resilient ICT Infrastructure - Green Digital Infrastructure and Environmental Impact of ICTs| 09:00 - 09:30 | Opening Remarks
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09:30 - 11:00 | High-Level Dialogue: Political Leadership for AI, Green Digital Infrastructure and Environmental Sustainability in Africa This high-level roundtable will bring together Ministers and industry leaders to define priorities for environmentally sustainable digital transformation in Africa, with a focus on AI, energy-efficient infrastructure, and climate-aligned ICT development. The discussion will highlight the need for strong political leadership, national strategies, capacity building and enabling policy and investment frameworks to manage the environmental footprint of digital technologies, promote low-carbon and resilient networks and data centres, and support standards-based measurement and action. The roundtable will set the strategic context for the Symposium and result in “Malabo Ministerial Messages” outlining key regional priorities and commitments for green digital infrastructure and AI for climate action.
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11:00 - 11:30
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Coffee Break
| 11:30 - 12:00
| Keynote presentations: Green Digital Infrastructure for a Climate-Resilient Future This keynote will explore how international standards, multi-stakeholder cooperation and digital innovation, including AI, cloud computing and sustainable data infrastructure, can support decarbonization, climate resilience and environmentally sustainable digital development in Africa. It will also highlight practical examples of how digital green technologies can be deployed at scale, enabling collaboration, matching solutions to local needs, and accelerating the adoption of sustainable solutions across regions.
| 12:00 - 13:15
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Session 1: Africa’s Baseline and Pathways for Sustainable ICT Infrastructure
This session will provide an overview of Africa’s ICT ecosystem from an environmental sustainability and measurement perspective. It will present the current status of digital infrastructure, energy use, environmental and GHG data availability, and relevant policy and regulatory frameworks across the region. Speakers will highlight key challenges, including limited tracking of the environmental footprint of ICTs and AI, data gaps, and the need for stronger cross-sectoral coordination and incentives. The session will identify capacity needs and priorities for the adoption of international standards, supporting climate-aligned digital planning and evidence-based decision-making.
| 13:15 - 14:30
| Lunch Break
| 14:30 - 15:45
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Session 2: Implementing Green and Resilient Digital Infrastructure and AI for Climate Action This session will focus on practical pathways to advance environmentally sustainable digital infrastructure and responsible AI deployment in Africa through standards-based approaches. It will highlight solutions for energy-efficient networks, sustainable data centres, and the management of the environmental footprint of AI and cloud, alongside the enabling role of AI for climate adaptation, early warning systems, and biodiversity monitoring. Speakers will share experiences on investment needs, public–private partnerships, and pilot initiatives in Africa, and discuss how international standards support measurable progress, resilience, and low-carbon digital growth. The session will also explore how AI-enabled platforms can facilitate the discovery, matching, and transfer of climate technologies and innovations, supporting collaboration across regions and accelerating the deployment of solutions for climate action.
| 15:45 - 16:00
| Coffee Break
| 16:00 - 17:00
| Training on Green AI: Policy Pathways & Practical Solutions
| 17:00 - 17:45
| SG5RG-AFR Meeting (First day)
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Day 2: 20 May 2026Climate Action, Energy Efficiency, and Sustainable Resource Use for Digital Infrastructure
From Measurement to Targets, Tracking and Enabling Impact| 09:00 - 09:30 | Master of Ceremony: Recap of the Discussions of the Previous Day
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09:30 - 10:00
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Keynote presentations: Measuring the Environmental Footprint of Digital Infrastructure and AI This keynote will present the importance of standardized metrics and methodologies to assess the environmental footprint of digital infrastructure and AI, including energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and water use. It will highlight how comparable indicators support evidence-based policies, targets, and investment decisions for sustainable digital development in Africa.
| 10:00 - 11:00
| Session 1: Assessing the Environmental Footprint of ICTs and AI in Africa This session will focus on methodologies and data needs to measure the energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and resource consumption of ICT networks, data centres, and AI systems in the African context. It will address challenges related to data availability, capacity, and reporting, and present standardized approaches for national and operator-level assessments. The discussion will highlight how improved measurement supports policy development, target setting, and transparency, and enables countries to track progress toward sustainable digital infrastructure.
| | 11:00 - 11:30 | Coffee Break
| 11:30 - 12:30
| Session 2: From Data to Action – Setting Targets and Transition Plans for the ICT Sector This session will focus on how environmental measurement can be translated into concrete climate action for the ICT sector. It will explore approaches for defining national and operator-level targets, developing transition plans, and integrating ICT sustainability into digital, energy, and climate strategies. The discussion will address governance and policy mechanisms, incentives for energy efficiency, and the role of public–private collaboration in delivering low-carbon digital growth. It will also highlight how standardized data supports decision-making, accountability, and alignment with national climate commitments.
| 12:30 - 14:00
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Lunch Break | | 14:00 - 15:00 |
Session 3: Assessing the Enabling Effect of ICTs for Climate Action and Biodiversity This session will explore how ICT solutions can contribute to greenhouse gas emission reductions in other sectors and support biodiversity monitoring and protection, while ensuring that these impacts are assessed using robust and standardized methodologies. It will present approaches to quantify avoided emissions, evaluate climate benefits of digital solutions in areas such as energy, transport and agriculture, and examine ICT applications for ecosystem monitoring, deforestation tracking, and nature-based solutions. The session will also address data and methodological challenges and the need for harmonized frameworks to ensure credible and comparable results. The discussion will highlight how assessing the enabling effect of ICTs supports evidence-based policymaking, investment decisions, and national climate and sustainability strategies.
| | 15:00 - 16:00 | SG5RG-AFR Meeting
| 16:00 - 16:30
| Coffee Break
| 16:30 - 17:30
| Bridging the Standardization Gap training
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Day 3: 21 May 2026
Dedicated to Digital Product Information Systems (DPIS), E-waste, and Circular Economy
| 09:00 - 09:30 | Master of Ceremony: Recap of the Discussions of the Previous Day
| 09:15 - 09:45
| Keynote presentations: Ecodesign and Digital Product Information Systems – Unlocking Circularity and Transparency These keynotes will provide a global overview of the policy and market drivers behind ecodesign and Digital Product Information Systems (DPIS) and their role in advancing circular economy objectives. It will highlight emerging international initiatives, the relevance for African economies and value chains, and the opportunity to leverage DPIS to enhance market access, resource efficiency, and sustainable production and consumption.
| 09:45 - 10:00
| Keynote presentation on the role of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions for Environmentally Sound Management E-waste This keynote will provide an overview of the BRS Conventions and their role in the environmentally sound management of e-waste, including transboundary movements and lifecycle considerations. It will highlight their relevance for advancing circular economy approaches and supporting sustainable ICT reverse value chains.
| 10:00 - 11:00
| Session 1: Circular Economy and E-Waste Management in Africa This session will explore practical pathways to manage e-waste and build a circular ICT economy in Africa, with a focus on data, standards, and policy alignment. It will highlight regional repair and refurbishment ecosystems, extended producer responsibility frameworks, and approaches to measure material flows and circular performance. Speakers will address how standardized information and reporting can support evidence-based policies, formalization of the informal sector, and environmentally sound lifecycle management of ICT equipment.
| 11:00 - 11:30
| Coffee Break
| 11:30 - 12:30
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Session 2: Digital Product Information Systems as Enablers of Circular ICT Value Chains in Africa This session will examine how Digital Product Information Systems (DPIS) can support the transition to a circular ICT economy in Africa by providing reliable product-level environmental information. It will place particular emphasis on the readiness to implement DPIs frameworks in the African context, including the regulatory, infrastructure and capacity conditions required to establish effective and scalable systems. The session will explore the types of data needed to improve durability, reparability, recyclability, and resource efficiency, and how such information can support e-waste management, extended producer responsibility, and sustainable procurement. Discussion will also address policy and regulatory considerations, data availability challenges, and capacity needs, as well as how standards-based environmental information can enable better decision-making across product lifecycles and facilitate participation in global circular value chains.
| | 12:30 - 14:00 |
Lunch Break | 14:00 - 15:30
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Regional Consultations Toward a DPIS Framework This interactive session will bring together African stakeholders to exchange views on the needs, readiness, and priorities for developing a regionally relevant Digital Product Information System (DPIS) framework. The discussion will explore governance models, data frameworks, and sector-specific pathways such as ICT, textiles, and batteries. The objective is to inform ITU-T and its partners on how African countries envision aligning standards, piloting implementation, and integrating DPIS into national and regional policy frameworks.
| 15:30 - 16:00
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Coffee Break | 16:00- 17:30
| Regional Consultations Toward a DPIS Framework (continuation) |
Day 4: 22 May 2026
Dedicated to Regional Consultations Toward a DPIS Framework and Bridging the Standardization Gap
| 09:00 - 09:30 | Master of Ceremony: Recap of the Discussions of the Previous Day
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09:30 - 11:00 |
Regional Consultations Toward a DPIS Framework (continuation)
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11:00 - 11:30
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Coffee Break
| 11:30 - 12:30
| Regional Consultations Toward a DPIS Framework | 12:30 - 14:00
| Lunch Break | 14:00 - 14:30
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SG5RG-AFR meeting (report)
| 14:30 - 15:30
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Bridging the Standardization Gap training
| 15:30 - 16:00
| Closing remarks
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