OPEN-DAYS Committee of the Regions (CoR) Directorate-General for Regional Policy (DG REGIO) 6-9Oct08 BXL

Chair: Barbas, Antonios
Maloney, Colette - Monteiro, Manuel
Organisers: European Commission, Information Society & Media Directorate-General (DG INFSO)
Themes: Theme B - Sustainable development: Regional responses to climate change
Speakers: Couturier, Martine - Gricar, Joze - Harmer, Dave - Reix, Claire-Anne - Simon, Patrice - Weets, Guy
Location: European Commission, Centre Borschette CCAB 1C
Date: 07/10/2008 [14:30-16:15]
Brief: Adapting to climate change in Europe, reinforcing the Union’s disaster response capacity, preventing natural and man-made disasters, and protecting citizens better against disaster risks by strengthening early warning systems, are now policy matters of high priority. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can dramatically improve the operations of emergency/civil protection agencies which have distinct legacy systems and depend largely on voice communication practices. There is also an increasing demand for reliable forecasting or prevention of riskprone conditions, launch of early warning systems and ICT-enabled preparedness strategies for timely interventions and cost-efficient resource management. Pilot
validations in urban and regional settings of emerging information exchange protocols and crisis communication technologies, permit interoperability in
operations between control rooms and field personnel as well as between the various agencies called for action after an incident.
The focus of this workshop is to review the latest ICT innovations stemming from research activities, and to attract regions to engage in pilot projects and the takeup of the most mature emerging solutions. The industrial and public sector constituency has reached a momentum in supporting R&D activities on ICTenabled risk/emergency/disaster management systems, and seem now ready to proceed to field-scale validation of the most promising innovations and explore their business potential. With the support of European regions, the resulting societal benefits, including adaptation to climate change, can be maximised.

The programme is composed of 120 sessions that will run for three days, starting on Tuesday 7th October in the morning and ending on Thursday, 9th October at lunchtime.

All sessions are grouped under four thematic priorities:

1) Innovating regions: Promoting research, technological development and innovation
2) Sustainable development: Regional responses to climate change
3) Cooperation and networking: Exchange of best practice in regional development
4) Looking forward: A European cohesion policy for tomorrow