The Third Digital Belt and Road Conference was organized in
Tengchong in southwest China’s Yunnan Province from Dec. 5 to 7, 2018. Under
the auspices of the Digital Belt and Road Program (DBAR), the conference was
jointly organized by the Tengchong Government and CAS Program of Big Earth Data
Science Engineering. It was attended by representatives from more than 40
countries (such as China, Russia, UK, France, Italy, Finland, US, Japan,
Thailand, Laos, Pakistan, Zambia, Morocco and Kenya) and more than 300 scholars
and experts from international organizations and programs (such as UNEP, GEO,
CODATA, ISDE, HIST, IRDR and PEEX).
GUO Huadong, CAS Member and Chair of DBAR Program, delivered opening
remarks and a keynote speech at the meeting, highlighting significant progress
of DBAR Program in the applications of big Earth data for sustainable
development in different fields, such as environmental change, disaster
mitigation, water resources, agriculture food security, natural and cultural
heritage, coast and marine, urban and infrastructure, high Mountains.
Guo also presented the first 8 international centers of excellence
(ICoE) of DBAR Program. Located in Russia, Pakistan, the US, Italy, Morocco,
Zambia, Thailand and Finland, the centers have pursued cooperation in a variety
of fields ranging from infrastructure improvement, environmental protection,
disaster risk control, water resources management, urban development, food
safety, economic growth in coastal zones, management of natural and cultural
heritage sites, sustainable development ofalpine-cold regions and the Arctic.
Using the Centers as a fulcrum, an international network featuring regional and
research advantages has been built up, which could have impacts on neighboring
regions.
Guo pointed out that both sustainable development goals (SDGs) of
the United Nations and the Belt and Road Initiative share a common objective:
global sustainable development focusing on people’s welfare. The year 2019 will
be an important juncture for DBAR as it will transition from its preparatory
phase (2016-2018) to its first implementation phase (2019-2022). To better
implement its development, DBAR has formulated a scheme of evaluation and
implementation for the next period. Targeting capacity building of big earth
data service for the Belt and Road Initiative and SDGs, it will conduct a
comprehensive assessment of indexes of the Belt and Road and SDGs.
Other speakers at the opening session included Alexandre Caldas,
Division chief of Country Outreach, Technology and Innovation Branch in the
Science of UN Environment, Monthip Sriratana, director of Climate Change
Research Strategy Center of the National Research Council of Thailand, Kamal
Labbassi, President, African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment
(AARSE).
They spoke positively about the important contribution of DBAR to
the regional sustainable development through such activities as environmental
monitoring, data sharing, and decision service. They advocated that the DBAR
would further leverage the local and diversified advantages of countries in the
Belt and Road region and address the challenges facing the mankind such as
climate change, disaster risks and environment pollution, so as to build up an
open and international network to serve the mankind.
One of the highlights of the 3rd Digital Belt and Road Conference
was the launching of the DBAR's Big Earth Data Platform, which aims to achieve
“Digital Connectivity and Share Prosperity”, cloud service platform for scientific
applications. At present, DBAR has completed its first-term development of its
Big Earth Data Platform to support standardized data sharing of its 8
international centers. Supported by the platform, DBAR is providing support for
the demonstration of comprehensive index research for sustainable development
goals in different fields, including agricultural status, monitoring of
heritage sites, evolution of coastal zones, monitoring of natural disasters,
urban sprawling, and key engineering projects.
Started under the proposal of CAS in 2016, the DBAR Program has been
attended by 53 countries, international organizations, an international science
program for the sustainable development of the Belt and Road Region (B&R)
using Big Earth Data through sharing data, experience, technologies and
knowledge.
