The Costa Rica News (TCRN) – From September 9th to 11th Costa Rica will host the annual BYND 2015 event organized by ITU (International Telecommunication Union) which is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. This event is a worldwide convention to discuss the role of the actual generation to the most important decisions of the 21st century and the impact that new technologies have on society challenges like unemployment, climate change, poverty or epidemic diseases.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-wdr4_hg8D0
BYND gathers young people from around the globe to share their ideas. “We need you to share the vision of the world you want”. According to their official site there are 500 ideas already submitted. The participation is still open for youth under the age of 25. There will be invited guest speakers from diverse sectors to guide the sessions and mini conferences.
Their main goal is to answer how information + communication technologies can be used for social good. Image: ITU.The event consists of sessions themed by topics related to social development:
Get Ahead, talks about setting the grounds to create world changing ideas and skills and platforms needed to execute them.
Be Healthy, will be about how important is exercise and a good diet to develop our capabilities.
Be Smart, Be Safe, sessions dedicated to cyber security and privacy; how to take action to protect our sensitive and personal information.
Respect your environment, how our actions impact on nature and understand why our planet is gradually becoming uninhabitable. As the site says: “Where better to explore these ideas and more than in the natural beauty of Costa Rica’s national parks and reserves?”
This experience will allow youth to take real actions against real world problems. Image: ITUChange your world will answers questions like: where to start when you have these ideas to make the world a better place? Or what new technologies can offer for the global social good? There will be also a “hackaton” to develop innovative technology prototypes.
BYND2015 will be held at Crowne Plaza Hotel Corobici in San José, and has the support and partnership from international and national organizations like UNESCO, Google, Intel, and Microsoft, ICE and Banco Nacional, among others.
Sources:
BYND2015 Global Youth Summit, Costa Rica 2013. International Telecommunication Union
The Costa Rica News (TCRN)
San Jose Costa Rica
