Page 4 - The 9th Green Standards Week

2. Making cities lead the way in the application of frontier technologies to protect the environment and tackle
climate change: Cities are hubs for innovation and hold great otential to lead the way in applying frontier
technologies to combat climate change. Artificial intelligence is being applied to enhance traffic management,
estimate real-time precipitation to hydrological risk, and manage e-waste. The Internet of Things (IoT) is improving
energy infrastructure to reduce carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. 5G-enabled water supply systems
are reducing water loss and distribution inefficiency. Digital twins are enhancing disaster-risk planning and
environmental resilience in cities. Robotics are also helping to monitor underwater climate change impacts and
observing marine life in order to protect biodiversity.
3. Using international standards as guidance
for the development of smart sustainable
cities: International standards such as the ITU-T
Recommendations provide requirements,
specifications, best practices and other important
guidelines that support the deployment of ICTs
and frontier technologies in smart sustainable
cities. These standards offer guidelines that
coordinate the development of the next
generation network, define the capability of IoT-
based emergency response systems, set common
requirements for the interoperability of smart
city platforms and IoT applications, identify the
characteristics of IoT services, evaluate the role of
ICTs in smart sustainable cities, and more.

4. Adopting the circular economy principles to
reduce e-waste: The circular economy (CE)
model presents the most effective blueprint for
managing ICT sustainably. By implementing
policies that encourage reusing, recycling,
remanufacturing and refurbishing, the use of
resources in the production of ICTs would be
minimised and the value of each component would be retained in the product’s lifecycle for as long as possible.
International standards, including the ITU-T Recommendations, play an important role in accelerating circular
actions. They contain guidelines that support the implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR), the
development of sustainable e-waste management systems, and more.
5. Implementing a smart city platform to integrate smart technologies: Smart city platforms are crucial in collecting
and analysing data from traffic lights, smart sensors, and other open sources before identifying patterns and
delivering insights that would relieve congestion at peak hours. They can also be used to optimise routes for
public transportation, enhance citizens’ participation in the decision-making process, improve public and social
services, as well as improve government responsiveness to citizens’ demands, and maximise resource efficiency.
International standards are an important source of guidance to ensure interoperability between platforms and their
functionalities.
6. Taking a proactive stance to study the environmental performance of frontier technologies: The environmental
impacts of artificial intelligence, blockchain, IoT, Big Data, and digital twins among other frontier technologies
are a growing concern that demands further investigation. Dedicated groups such as the ITU-T Focus Group
on ‘Environmental efficiency of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies’ provide the ideal
platform for city stakeholders, field experts, representatives of civil society, academia, the research community,
service providers, and others to raise awareness of this key issue and to study the potential impacts that frontier
technologies bring.

7. Involving citizens, researchers and other relevant stakeholders in developing standards and technologies
to meet end-user needs: Innovative technologies, such as crowdsourcing applications, privacy-by-design
applications, and other co-creation activities can contribute to a better alignment of the technology with the needs
of the citizens.

8. Adopting digital rights principles that ensure the inclusion of all people in the development of smart sustainable
cities: Principles related to privacy, freedom of expression and non-discrimination should be incorporated by
design into digital platforms in order to ensure the participation of all people, including the marginalized, women,
youth and people with disabilities. We will work towards ensuring that everyone has access to affordable and
accessible digital services, as well as the digital skills to make use of digital platforms to overcome the digital
divide.