The original slidecast can be viewed at http://youtu.be/Nce4WbzNR-k This presentation was made on 3 May, 2013 at the University of Guyana for the ENV 2202 Course : Environmental Conservation and Management. The second part of the lecture was delivered by Roxroy Bollers on the use of GIS.

1. “Role of Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) in Environmental Conservation
and Management”
ENV 2202: Environmental Conservation and Management
University of Guyana
Presenter :Vidyaratha Kissoon
email vidyak1@gmail.com
3 May, 2013

2. Outline
● Concepts around ICT
● Policy background to “e-Environment”
● Challenges to ICT use
● Applications
● Ideas for action
● Discussion

3. Concepts
● Information and Communications
Technologies (ICTs) “a broad based
technology (including its methods,
management and application) that supports
the creation, storage, manipulation and
communication of information” (French 1996
and re-quoted)
● Some scope include radio, television
● Digital devices of all types

4. Concepts
● Information Society
– creation, distribution, use, integration and
manipulation of information is a significant
economic, political, and cultural activity. The
aim of the information society is to gain
competitive advantage internationally,
through using information technology (IT) in
a creative and productive way
● Knowledge Economy - “wealth is created through
the economic exploitation of understanding”

5. Concepts
E-Resilience
Defined as the ability of a system to withstand, recover
and change in the face of an external disturbance (such
as acute or chronic climate change), resilience constitutes
an important property of livelihood systems which,
through a set of seven dynamic sub-properties
(robustness, scale, redundancy, rapidity, flexibility, self-
organisation and learning) can enhance adaptive
capacity. E-resilience is “a property of livelihood systems
by which ICTs interact with a set of resilience sub-
properties, enabling the system to adapt to the effects of
climate change.” (http://www.niccd.wordpress.com )

6. Concepts
● Green Economy
– The green economy is one that results in
improved human well-being and social
equity, while significantly reducing
environmental risks and ecological
scarcities. Green economy is an
economy or economic development
model based on sustainable
development and a knowledge of
ecological economics. (UNEP)

7. Concepts
● Green computing
“Green computing, green IT or ICT Sustainability, refers
to environmentally sustainable computing or IT. In the
article Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices,
(2008) San Murugesan defines the field of green
computing as "the study and practice of designing,
manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers,
servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors,
printers, storage devices, and networking and
communications systems — efficiently and effectively with
minimal or no impact on the environment.”
– Hardware design, software design, power
management, recycling , telecommuting

8. Policy Background
● Agenda 21 (Rio : 1992)
● World Summit of the Information Society
2003 and 2005
● United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development, “The future we want”
(Rio+10 2012)
● Guyana's Low Carbon Development
Strategy (2013 update)

9. Policy Background
● Agenda 21
● Sharing information
for Sustainable
development
● Creation of SDNP
around the world
including Guyana

10. Policy Background
● WSIS 2003 and 2005
● C7(20) . E-environment
● Governments, in cooperation with other stakeholders are encouraged
to use and promote ICTs as an instrument for environmental
protection and the sustainable use of natural resources.
● Government, civil society and the private sector are encouraged to
initiate actions and implement projects and programmes for
sustainable production and consumption and the environmentally
safe disposal and recycling of discarded hardware and components
used in ICTs. (2005)
● Establish monitoring systems, using ICTs, to forecast and monitor
the impact of natural and man-made disasters, particularly in
developing countries, LDCs and small economies
.

11. The future we want
● Article 44 : ICTs and Multi-stakeholder Engagement
● Article 65 : ICTs, Knowledge Exchange and Capacity
Building
● Article 114 : ICTs, Food Security and Sustainable
Agriculture
● Article 128 : ICTs and Energy Efficiency
● Article 230 – ICTs and Youth Education
● (Taken from http://www.niccd.wordpress.com )

12. Guyana's LCDS
● ICT as a contributor to low carbon
economy
● “The LCDS highlighted the importance of enabling access to high
quality ICT infrastructure in all parts of Guyana. Guyana aims to have
one of the most inclusive digital societies in the world by 2015, where
all citizens have access to IT and high-speed internet. “ (March 2013
update)
● Expanding the Digital Economy and Avoiding a Digital Divide
– Fibre Optic Cable (E-Governance)
– One laptop per Family (OLPF)
– Telecommunications Liberalisation

13. Challenges
● eWaste
● Cost
– Free and Open Source Software
● Skills
● Policy/legislative framework

14. e-Waste
● 90,000 laptops in three years time?
● Green computing
● Video clip

15. Cost
● Digital divide issues
● Universal access to information
– OLPF as an example
● Use of Free and Open Source Software
– Operating systems, applications,
databases
– Quantum, Sahana, Ushahidi
● Use of open source hardware

16. Skills
● Basic literacy
● Digital literacy
● Skills in programming and application
development
● Skills in data analysis for knowledge
creation

17. Policy/Legislative Framework
● Policy framework
– 2006 ICT4D policy developed but not
implemented
● Legislative framework
– E-commerce legislation
● Security concerns
● Intellectual Property

18. Applications
● Geographical Information Systems (Iwokrama)
● Remote sensing, Early Warning systems
● Disaster Risk Management
● The future we want
– Multi Stakeholder Engagement
– Knowledge Sharing, Capacity building
– Food security and sustainable agriculture
– Energy Efficiency
– Youth Education
● Tools
– Websites, social media, mobile apps, etc

19. Remote Sensing, EWS

20. Disaster Risk Management
Sahana

21. Disaster Risk Management
- Ushahidi

22. Applications
● ICT & Multi-Stakeholder Engagement
– E-governance
– Advocacy & Activism
– Online journalism

23. E-governance

24. E-governance

25. Advocacy & Activism

26. Online journalism

27. Knowledge Exchange and
Capacity Building
● UNDP's Adaptation Learning Mechanism
platform – http://www.adaptationlearning.net/
● Climate Change Planning
http://www.climateplanning.org/tools
● University open course ware
– http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/environment-courses/
– http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/tutorials.
html
● Using ICTs to improve design (CAD)

28. Food security and Sustainable agriculture

29. Energy efficiency
● Using ICTs to monitor energy consumption
● Using ICT to design energy efficient
devices, machines, buildings, etc
● Capital Bikeshare Programme (clip)

30. Youth Education
“Micro-learning project designed to increase rate at which children learn facts”
Stabroek News 28 April, 2003

31. What can you do?
● How are you using ICTs?
● What can you do to create the
applications?
– IISD Case Study on Africa
● How much are you aware of current uses
of ICT?
● Anything else?
● (Review of materials shared)

32. Resources shared
● Video clips
– E waste : A big Issue
– Capital Bikeshare
● This presentation
● Documents
– March 2013 LCDS Update
– ECLAC Newsletter No14 ICT & Environment
– “Africa Transformation-Ready: The Strategic Application of
Information and Communication Technologies to Climate
Change Adaptation in Africa”
– The Future we want