Registration for the second edition of the High Level event on ICT for Energy Efficiency, which is organised by the European Commission's Information Society and Media Directorate-General, in cooperation with the Spanish Presidency of the European Union is already open.

This event will take place on February 23rd and 24th 2010 in Brussels gathering policy makers and experts on the ICT for Energy Efficiency field through:

• Conferences
• Projects' exhibition
• The Best ICT4EE Project Award Ceremony.

Discussions will be focused on policies and technical advances in the fields of Smart Cities, Smart Buildings, Logistics and Transport, Smart Grids, Smart Metering, Energy Efficient Data Centres, New Business Models on an Energy Liberalised Market and The role of the Media in improving awareness.

The pre-registration for the event is open at its website. 

Objective: the path towards a sustainable society

After the ICT4EE 2009 High Level Event which aimed to accord visibility to the potential of ICTs in enabling energy efficiency, this 2010 event aims to become a vehicle to drive progress in the transition to an energy-efficient and low-carbon economy following the terms of the Recommendation C(2009) 7604 adopted by the European Commission on October 9th 2009.

Through the Recommendation, the Commission calls on the ICT sector to agree on common methodologies for measuring energy consumption and carbon emissions by 2010. Furthermore, addressing EU Member States and the ICT sector, it aims to unlock energy efficiency potential through more public-private partnership initiatives and also through partnerships between the ICT industry and defined strategic sectors.

Key challenges

• Developing systemic metrics to measure progress towards sustainability for the ICT sector and Society as a whole
• Establishing the centrality ICT to the sustainable Smart-city model
• Expanding the role of ICT in the future energy market & infrastructures (smart metering and smart grids)
• Inducing behavioural changes and opening sustainable choices through ICT
• Supporting the role of ICT in reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption of freight logistics and transport operations
• Building on the potential of ICT for the sustainable management of non-renewable resources
• Promoting the importance of training professionals on "ICT and use of energy" in critical sectors

The protagonists of the event will be Member States, local/regional Authorities, ICT industry, energy-intensive industry (construction, transport, manufacturing, power distribution and lighting) and civil society.