TelecomTV: Broadband for a Greener, more Sustainable Future

Here is a link to a clip from the launch of the Working Group on Climate Change by the Broadband Commission in Barcelona during the MWC. There we took the Guadalajara Declaration for transformative low-carbon solutions to the next level

China Daily: Attempts to blame China for cyber attacks 'politically driven'

Below is an article from yesterday that I contributed to:

Link to China Daily.

BEIJING - Recent attempts to blame China for a number of international cyber attacks are groundless and aimed at turning international public opinion against the country, analysts said on Tuesday.

Media reports on China's "cyber attacks" were publicity stunts with a clear political purpose, said Jin Canrong, vice-dean of the School of International Studies at the Beijing-based Renmin University of China.

"Playing up the 'threat' from China is a ploy by politicians to win votes and put more pressure on China in the international community," Jin said.

Large parts of the western media tend to portray China as a villain. As any country that is growing in important China can be seen as a problem or an opportunity. Today however, almost all reporting are negative, Dennis Pamlin, an international advisor and IT expert based in Sweden told China Daily.

Pamlin has begun to analyze covers from major international magazine publications and it looks like there are about 70 percent negative, 20 percent neutral and 10 percent positive.

"This is a serious problem," said Pamlin, "it is important to have a discussion about how media is dealing with the combination of new areas such and China's growing importance and issues like IT and renewable energy, where China is playing an important and often very positive role."

The French Finance Ministry suffered from a cyber attack in December targeting information related to its presidency of the G20, officials said on Monday.

A report on the website of Paris Match magazine claimed that some of the information had been redirected toward "Chinese websites", according to a Reuters report.

Yonhap News Agency, citing a South Korean opposition lawmaker, on Monday claimed that Chinese hackers broke into a computer network of the South Korean Defense Ministry last year and got secret documents on a plan to buy spy drones from the United States.

David Fouquet, director of Brussels-based Asia-Europe Project Information Service said that such allegations should be treated very carefully and with some skepticism.

"There are accusations of this type virtually every week, which are never completely verified there is considerable confusion, misinformation even manipulation in this sector," Fouquet added.

"China is likely to once again be made a scapegoat for the hacking attacks," said Cui Baojiang, an expert on information security with Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.

"Hackers usually connect to overseas servers several times to hide their attacks. China's cyber security technology is so weak that international hackers usually use servers based in China to hide themselves and wage attacks," Cui said.

"Many groups are interested in getting hold of information and can use innocent peoples' computers to do this," said Dennis Pamlin.

Server protection technology is underdeveloped in China, so it is much easier for international hackers to break into servers based in China, Cui said.

"Internet users in China fail to pay enough attention to cyber security," added Cui.

"The amount of Chinese Internet users as well as computers (servers) is so large, which provides more chances for international hackers."

Fouquet said that the international community should cooperate to address cyber security in the same way that it deals with issues such as arms control or disarmament, before it gets out of control.

At the January summit between Chinese President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart Barack Obama in Washington, both sides agreed to examine the problem, while Russia is also taking steps on this issue, he added.

The hobby project The Urban Micro Jungle starts

The same day as Oil prices hit the highest level since Sept. 2008 I put up the first Beta of my new hobby project "The Urban Micro Jungle" (just a PPT put on the web).

That oil prices reached new highest the same day was obviously a coincident. But it is a bizarre situation when I launch a project to encourage people to see the beauty around them and the same day "analysts" say that problems with high oil prices include "commuters opting for public transportation and car pools" and "vacations closer to home". To call "vacations closer to home" a problem is close to criminal with the current climate crisis, and it just show how far away the rhetoric is from action when it comes to a low-carbon development.

One idea with the Urban Micro Jungle is to get people who use models and work at places that use such assumption to reflect on what they are doing. Not by threatening with a climate catastrophe or how future and current generation are/will be affected, but by showing the beauty around us.

And this is a hobby project so I'm allowed to this without assessing the likelihood of such change ever happening, I will just do my best and hope.

Use of IT to reduce the companies environmental impact (98%) now the most common part in Swedish Green-IT strategies

A recent Swedish study showed that the use of IT to reduce the companies environmental impact (98%) is now the most common part in Green-IT strategies (in Sweden) with 80% including it.

Interesting to note how the opportunity/solution perspective is becoming mainstream. Will be interesting to see what the next study show and get more information about the actual content of the studies.

Note: The translation of the categories is mine and not perfect.

The question asked was:

"What does your Green-IT strategy include?"

Those participating in the study were head of IT, CIO’s, etc in private (61%) and state owned (39%) companies and organizations in Sweden with more than 200 employees. 464 participated in the study.

Source: Exido|IT-barometern 2010: [In Swedish]

The word "Robot" 100 years 2021: The countdown has begun

The 25th of January 2021 the word Robot will be 100 years... By then a sustainable framework that direct robot development must be in place and guide what robots we have....

"TheGlobalBody.net" and Robotic innovation and low-­carbon exploration mechanism (RILEM) are two projects that hopefully will contribute to this.

ICT SOLUTIONS FOR A SMART LOW-CARBON FUTURE: Supporting a solution agenda in Cancun

Here is the GeSI leaflet, ICT SOLUTIONS FOR A SMART LOW-CARBON FUTURE: Supporting a solution agenda in Cancun, that I wrote to support the Guadalajara declaration. Download it here (2.6 MB)

The Guadalajara ICT declaration for transformative low-carbon solutions

The Guadalajara ICT declaration for transformative low-carbon solutions, with the first round of supporters...
Download here

Press release: ICT companies stand up for key role in Cancun

Below is the press release from today here in Cancun... For the first time (as far as I know) there is a trillion in revenues and some of the most innovative companies on the planet behind a transformative solution agenda...

On the panel when the declaration was presented was
Luis Alfonso de Alba, Special Representative for Climate Change, Mexico
Derrick Hanekom, Vice Minister for Technology, South Africa
Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Environment and Forests, India (TBC)
Dr. Adrian Fernandez, President of the National Institute of Ecology.

Hans Vestberg, CEO Ericsson and Luis Neves Chairman GeSI participated over video...

It was great to hear the positive response from Mexico as the host and South Africa as the host for COP17... From now on ICT and transformative low-carbon solutions can be part of the global climate agenda...

ICT companies stand up for key role in Cancun
The Guadalajara Declaration, with a focus on transformative low-carbon ICT climate solutions, is launched at COP16 in Cancun

A group of key ministers and business executives, under the leadership of the Mexican government, met today at the Cancun Messe to present and discuss the "Guadalajara ICT Declaration for Transformative Low Carbon Solutions," in conjunction with the 16th Conference of the Parties, where the global climate negotiations are ongoing. The Declaration is supported by more than 40 companies and organizations, representing more than 1 trillion USD in turnover in 2009, from more than 20 countries." The declaration will be supported by the establishment of a public-private work stream with focus on transformative low-carbon ICT solutions, which will be carried forward to COP17.

Historically climate negotiations have focused on high carbon emitting sectors, and industry was seen as the problem. The declaration stemmed from the need of many companies with solutions to climate change to have their voices heard, and the industry has come together to develop it after COP15. "The declaration has generated high interest around the world, and more and more companies are signing on to the declaration every day," says Luis Neves, Chairman of the Global e-sustainability Initiative (GeSI), who together with its member companies has led the work around the declaration. The declaration builds on early work of the sector showing ICT's potential to reduce CO2 emissions by 15% by 2020, in the Smart2020 report.

-"We see it as important to recognize that the products and services of solution sectors, such as ICT, can help make transformational change to reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate climate change," said Mexican Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, ?? Special Representative for Climate Change. "These companies will play an important role by helping to drive innovation and create jobs in the low-carbon economy. Supporting the launch a public-private work stream with focus on transformative low-carbon solutions comes as a natural continuation of the public-private dialogues Mexico has supported during the preparations for COP16," Ambassador de Alba added. "Mexico has been working with the ICT sector during 2010, and is very pleased with this important outcome."

-"Ericsson strongly supports the launch of the public-private work steam with focus on transformative low-carbon solutions and congratulates the Mexican government for their leadership in taking this historic step," said Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson. "In order to leverage the broadband infrastructure which is deployed around the world, we need to have a supporting policy framework. This will help to accelerate the uptake of transformative low-carbon solutions in areas such as transportation, utilities, communication, health and the creation of smarter, more sustainable societies in general. ICT solutions are unique because they can be used by all countries," Vestberg added. "This is good for environment as well as for the economy."

-"Encouraging companies that provide low-carbon solutions that also help poverty reduction and that can support technological leapfrogging is very important and we look forward to engage in this public-private work stream and we will use the results as input in the work towards COP17," said Edna Molewa, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs of South Africa.

- Georg Kell, Executive Director, UN Global Compact, commented: "Technology and especially ICT has an enormous potential to drive green growth and sustainability. Already there are many smart solutions that show that more can be done with less. Now we need to support incentives so that smart solutions can diffuse rapidly."

- "ICT currently plays an important role in the Southeast Asia's rapid economic growth. However, given our region's vulnerability to the effects of climate change and Indonesia's national emissions reduction target, there is a pressing need for our industry to also develop solutions which enable mitigation and adaptation while facilitating development. Bakrie Telecom looks forward to studying the role ICT can play in meeting this need and welcomes the public-private work stream on transformative low-carbon solutions," said Anindya Bakrie, CEO Bakrie Telecom.

"If we want to work towards an effective global agreement for climate protection, we need to consider alliances between business and public actors. ICT can foster the sustainable development of our society and economy by increasing the resource efficiency in almost all industries. It can enable new business models thus creating new business opportunities. Therefore alliances with all partners - be it companies or public institutions - are today a matter of urgency," said René Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom.

An initial meeting to develop a more detailed work plan and agree on roles and responsibilities will be held in South Africa early 2011.

New report: Transformative Transparency (part of the low-carbon leaders for transformative solutions)

Here is the report Transformative Transparency. It is one of the most interesting papers I've written during 2010 (the work started in 2009 and have direct linked to the 2002 book, savings the planet at the speed of light) and 2-3 projects are already under development based on the findings.

Transformative transparency: definition
Transformative transparency occurs at the threshold point at which massive amounts of data on goods, services, or even individuals, can be accessed instantly, in ways that allow users, or programs, to make decisions and provide immediate feed-back.

At such a point, an interactive “reality search engine,” i.e, a situation in which objects and events in reality, not words or sentences on the web, are processed, becomes possible.

This requires an infrastructure with high connectivity and a critical mass of users who engage with this information. The current situation with smart phones and connected devices indicates that we have just arrived at this point.

The report can be downloaded from the Transformative-Solutions page, or directly here.

Saving the planet with web 2.0: Using web- and mobile tools to generate, support and implement transformative low-carbon solutions

Here is finally the report “Saving the planet with web 2.0: Using web- and mobile tools to generate, support and implement transformative low-carbon solutions”. It's been almost a year since I started writing it, but now it's ready.

PDF for download here (6meg).

It’s been a very interesting process and it inspired the new project “Transformative applications” that I will launch Q1 2011. I really look forward to see how the discussion about web 2.0 will become mainstream over the next years. As always it is fascinating to see how slow most organizations are to use/adopt and understand what’s happening around us. I really hope those interested in saving the planet and that are not afraid of technology will read this report.

China Daily Article: Looking for historic shift in Cancun talks

Here is an article from this weeks China Daily European edition:

PDF can be downloaded here.

Looking for historic shift in Cancun talks

The world’s climate negotiators will meet in Cancun in early December to discuss the possible ways forward for global efforts to avoid dangerous climate change. Some pessimistic voices have been heard, but it should not be forgotten that much indicates that we will see a historic shift in Cancun, a shift where solution companies and transformative solutions are given
a more prominent role.

So far the focus in the negotiations has been how heavy-emitting sectors should reduce their emissions and what countries should force their heavy emitting industry to begin reducing emissions. Three things make Cancun different:

1. Up until recently, the main focus was on the initial reductions agreed under the Kyoto Protocol, or about 5 percent of reductions. It is now time to focus on transformative solutions that can deliver significant reductions (for example, 30 percent or more by 2020 in the European Union as being discussed by policy makers and then close to a zero-carbon
economy by 2050).

2. It is time to encourage more public-private partnerships and bring in the views of industry and various sectors and companies that can provide solutions to climate change, and not only focus on those with big emissions.

3. So far much of the focus has been on low-carbon solutions for rich countries. It is now time to focus more on solutions that can be used by both rich and poor. For this to happen, solutions allowing for technological leapfrogging is necessary.

This situation makes it important to focus on transformative solutions and not only incremental improvements in existing systems, such as more energy-efficient coal power plants and cars. Incremental solutions can be important, but only if combined with transformative
solutions. If not these investments will lock us into a high-carbon society that is not able to
deliver the necessary reductions.

Still, it is common to discuss the cheapest reductions of incremental reductions without analyzing whether these reductions are the best way to ensure the reductions that are needed to avoid dangerous climate change.

It is time to focus more on transformative low-carbon solutions that deliver the services in totally new ways, such as teleworking, video-conferencing, zero-emitting buildings, e-books and smart architecture. These solutions often reduce emissions 80 percent or more compared with traditional ways of providing the service. They depend on a low-carbon underlying
infrastructure; all countries can use such solutions and they support technological leapfrogging.

The Mexican government has included solutions companies, such as those from the ICT (information and communication technology) sector, in a unique way during the preparations for COP16 (16th Conference of the Parties).

This process mirrors the constructive approach that the Chinese government and Chinese companies have promoted together with leading countries and international corporations.

Companies such as China Mobile have together with international companies and experts explored the contribution, and future potential, from transformative ICT solutions.

The role of ICT to support low-carbon city development has also been strongly supported by
many policy makers in China. During the fourth International CEO roundtable of Chinese and foreign multinational corporations, Zheng Wantong, vice-chairman of China’s top political consultative body, highlighted that the ICT is a useful tool to make cities more convenient,
efficient and safe.

Renewable energy companies such as Trina and Yingli Solar have also initiated dialogue with
international companies to explore how they can help reduce global CO2 emissions together and create jobs. Accelerating uptake of solar solutions in China and the rest of the world require intensive international collaboration.

What is encouraging with a solution approach around transformative solutions, such as low-carbon ICT solutions, is that they support and depend on collaboration. Low-carbon ICT solutions that enable a 21st century transport and communication system need electric
batteries for both cars and laptops.

This requires software solutions to control charging of electric cars and secure connections so that people can telework and do other things that different companies must collaborate
to deliver.

By looking at required system solutions for low-carbon development, instead of only a few parts, it will become obvious that the world needs collaboration and not protectionism
to accelerate the uptake of transformative low-carbon solutions.

Much indicates Cancun could be historic and not only have a number of governments acknowledged the need for a solution approach. A work stream with focus on transformative
low-carbon solutions could be launched in Cancun during COP16. China is well placed as we move into the solution phase of the global climate work and hopefully we will see many concrete examples in Cancun as well as during 2011.

The author is global policy adviser to several leading companies and governments. He is also director of the UN Global Compact project “Low Carbon Leaders for transformative solutions"