The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction was established in 2007 as a biennial forum for information exchange, discussion of latest development and knowledge and partnership building across sectors, with the goal to improve implementation of disaster risk reduction through better communication and coordination amongst stakeholders, under the ausipces of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). The Third Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction will take place in Geneva in the week of 8 May 2011. UNITAR will participate with a delegation headed by the Manager of UNOSAT.

In addition UNITAR is among the co-organisers of the World Reconstruction Conference (WRC), taking place within the Global Platform event as a separate but related event from 10 to 13 May. WRC will be the first large-scale global conference focused on natural disaster recovery and reconstruction. It is anticipated that WRC and the Global Platform will bring together over 2,000 leaders, experts, policy makers, and practitioners, from government, international organizations, NGOs, academia, and the private sector from both developing and developed countries to collect, assess, and share disaster reconstruction and recovery experiences and take forward the policy dialogue for an effective international disaster recovery and reconstruction framework.

WRC will feature various sessions among which one on  IT Innovations - Reconstruction 2.0 thatwill focus on innovation in damage assessment, reconstruction planning, and monitoring and evaluating reconstruction. With presenters from the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC); Google; International Network of Crisis Mappers, OpenStreetMap; ReBuilDD and UNOSAT, the session will open with presentations on practical applications of innovation in post-disaster reconstruction, including the use of remote sensing and crowd sourcing. Data preparedness, harmonization and sharing, mainstreaming Volunteer Technology Communities (VTCs) and innovative communication technologies will also be discussed in the context of emerging potential ICT for reconstruction. The session is led by GFDRR Labs.

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