The United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development, a regional institute of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-APCICT/ESCAP), kicked off the Fourth Regional Training of Trainers Workshop in Seongnam, Republic of Korea. The five-day workshop was held from 22-26 February and aimed at giving training on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for disaster risk management and climate change abatement. As is now widely accepted by the scientific community and the general public, climate change constitutes a major threat to the earth’s ecosystems and combating this threat is important to salvage our future development.
There is also general agreement about the impact climate change is having on the frequency and severity of disaster occurrences around the world. To abate climate change and manage disaster risk, there has been much interest and research in the use of ICT. The Fourth Regional Training of Training Workshop comprised forty-four disaster management, climate change and ICT officials and practitioners from twenty-one countries, and aims to develop a cadre of resource persons to help deliver training at the national and regional level on two, new upcoming modules of APCICT’s “Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders Programme” (Academy). “APCICT is proud to have hosted such a group of professionals committed to developing the national and regional capacity necessary to meet the challenges presented by climate change and disaster occurrences,” said Dr. Hyeun-Suk Rhee, Director of APCICT. “Understanding the strategic use and vast potential of ICT will provide participants with a valuable resource to enhance disaster management and climate abatement policies.”
