At the Bilbao Green Digital Conference, specialists will address the need for the digital transition to be sustainable
BILBAO, 26 Oct. (EUROPE PRESS) –
Bilbao will address on November 17 and 18 the need to include a sustainable environmental perspective in the digital transition. It will be through the IX edition of the Bilbao European Encounters, which this year will bear the title of ‘Green Digital Conference’.
As reported by the Bilbao City Council, with the participation of international speakers, the objective of the event will be to reflect on the need to align the ecological and energy transition with the digital one when it comes to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030.
The organizers have explained that “although Artificial Intelligence and the digital economy in general are presented as sustainable, the reality is that they entail an enormous consumption of resources and energy”. “The manufacture and maintenance of networks and electronic products to consumer goods; the other large computing and data storage centers in the cloud have a high footprint due to CO2 emissions; and the excess electrical consumption is great. It is urgent, therefore, , align these two transitions through the intelligent collaboration of institutions, companies, research centers, third sector organizations and citizens in general”, they added.
Over two days and thanks to top-level speakers, the focus will be on this global challenge, addressing synergies between the ecological and digital transition, good and bad practices, etc. To do this, the event gives voice to profiles They come from four different areas: academia, business, citizenship (organized and general) and institutions.
In addition, as a result of the event, it is expected to formalize the ‘Declaration of Bilbao (2022) for sustainable and green digitization and for the use of digital technologies to face the climate emergency’.
PROGRAM
The first day will take place on November 17 at Azkuna Zentroa, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. It will address issues such as the construction of complicity between digitization and the ecological transition or good and bad practices in digitization and decarbonization. It will be led by speakers such as Fiachra O’Brolchain and Narmine Abou Bakari (Green European Foundation); Andrés Ortega Klein (Observatory of Ideas); or the director of Globernance, Daniel Innerarity, who recently received the Ramón Menéndez Pidal National Research Award in the area of humanities.
The second day will take place on November 18 at the BBK Kuna space, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It will feature a conversation between Carme Artigas (SEDIA) and Ricardo de Querol (El País); a round table on fair and sustainable transitions, with participants such as Raquel Jorge Ricart (Elcano Royal Institute) and Fernando Valladares (MNCN-CSIC); and the intervention of personalities such as the mayor of Bilbao, Juan María Aburto, or the director of BBK Kuna, Eider Inunciaga. In addition, in the afternoon, different workshops will be shown to the public and a day of ‘Beers & Politics’.
ABOUT BILBAO EUROPEAN MEETINGS
In 2013, the Bilbao European Encounters were born with a double vocation: first, to enrich the debate on the future of the European Union, making Bilbao a meeting point where renowned academics and experts of local, national and international prestige can reflect about Europe and analyze the challenges it faces; secondly, the debate on Europe is opened up to citizens.
After eight editions addressing different challenges of the EU, this year’s ‘Green Digital Conference’ will focus on digitization and the energy and climate challenge.