558 ITU‐T's Technical Reports and Specifications Box 2. Climate change adaptation in Quito, Ecuador Quito's Climate Change Strategy (QCCS) includes a range of innovative programs that combine risk reduction with institutional capacity building and enhanced citizen participation. Within an urban context characterized by intense seismic activity and a landscape of steep slopes, ravines and gorges, recurrent floods, earthquakes and landslides cause extensive damage, particularly in informal settlements located on steep hillsides or in the urban periphery. Since 2009, the QCCS is an official municipal environmental policy. It is organized under four strategic areas: (1) access to adequate information to promote adaptation and reduce vulnerabilities, (2) use of good environmental practices for adaptation, (3) focus on communication, education, and citizen participation, and (4) strengthening institutional capacities for climate change adaptation. Source: Evidence and Lessons from Latin America (ELLA) (2013) City‐level climate change adaptation strategies: The case of Quito, Ecuador. http://ella.practicalaction.org/sites/default/files/130225_ ENV_ CitAdaMit_ BRIEF1.pdf Box 3. Climate change adaptation in the city of Melbourne The City of Melbourne is expected to be significantly affected by warmer temperatures and heatwaves, reduced rainfall and drought, bushfire, intense rainfall and windstorm, and sea level rise. In order to address these challenges, the city has embarked on a citywide adaptation plan that builds on an urban system assessment (covering the current state and potential climate change impacts on water, transport and mobility, building and property, social, health and community, businesses and industry, energy and telecommunications, and emergency systems. It recognizes the following key principles (among others): (1) Delivering on a leadership approach to climate adaptation requires engagement with key stakeholders to ensure climate change risks are incorporated into decision making. (2) Ensuring that all adaptation efforts underway are consolidated under a framework of reducing climate risks, collaboratively, to deliver the greatest benefits at the least cost. (3) Adaptation to climate change cannot ignore the subtleties of the everyday changes, such as overall higher temperatures and reduced rainfall. Such impact over time must be considered, particularly in the design and maintenance of infrastructure, parks and gardens. Source: Australian Government (2009) City of Melbourne climate change adaptation strategy, https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/AboutCouncil/PlansandPublications/strategies/Documents/climate_ change_ adap tation_ strategy.PDF It is important to acknowledge that adaptation efforts rely on different types of technologies, as cities are dynamic and growing every day. While many cities have shown considerable advances in the design and implementation of adaptation plans, ICT remain, for the most part, absent from those strategies. As stated previously, this report focuses on the role of ICTs in cities' adaptation initiatives, particularly as part of Smart Sustainable Cities' strategies. These issues will be explored in the following sub‐sections.