U.S. Stakeholders Encouraged to Attend Global Cities Summit in Toronto on May 15-16

The Global City Indicators Facility (GCIF), in conjunction with the Global Cities Institute and the University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design, will hold a major event focused on metrics and standards for urban prosperity and sustainability in Toronto on May 15-16, 2014. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) strongly encourages representatives of government agencies, non-profit organizations, academia, industry groups, and other smart cities stakeholders to take part in this exciting event.

The Global Cities Summit provides participants with the opportunity to engage proactively with other stakeholders, discussing challenges, innovations, and partnerships associated with the pursuit of sustainable futures for tomorrow's cities. The theme of this year's event is Getting on Track: Sustainable & Inclusive Prosperity for Cities, and will include panels on a variety of related subjects, including:

• City Prosperity: Strategies for Competitiveness, Economic Pluralism, and Sustainable Trajectories
• Global Standards for Global Cities: The Changing World of Standardization for Cities of the Future
• Smart and Sustainable Cities: Innovations, Opportunities, and Partnerships
• Globally Networked Urbanism: Planning and Design for Well-Being
• Building Resilience and Overcoming Risk: Strategies, Infrastructure Solutions, and City Metabolism
• Getting on Track: Mobility, Connectivity, and Transportation Innovations
• City Data for Informed Decision Making: Opportunities and Challenges
• Governing the World's Cities: Building More Equitable and Inclusive Societies

Nearly fifty experts have been confirmed as speakers at the Global Cities Summit, including representatives of city, regional, and national government bodies, media outlets, academia, international organizations, and relevant business interests. These speakers include Patricia McCarney, director of GCIF and the Global Cities Institute, who was a featured speaker at ANSI's November 2013 Smart and Sustainable Cities Workshop [see related story], as well as:

• Ron Baker, distinguished engineer, chief architect for smarter cities & operations, at ANSI member IBM Corporation
• David Welsh, senior standards manager, corporate standards for ANSI member Microsoft Corporation
• Andrew Laing, global practice leader, Strategy Plus practice, at AECOM, the parent organization of ANSI member AECOM Government Services
• Helen Santiago Fink, senior programme officer, buildings and cities, and acting head, Built Environment Unit, United Nations Environment Programme Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP/DTIE)
• Jacques Lair, chair, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 268, Sustainable development in communities, and TC 59, Buildings and civil engineering works, Subcommittee (SC) 17, Sustainability in buildings and civil engineering works
• Bernard Leservoisier, secretary ISO TC 268 & TC 268 Working Group (WG) 1, Management systems, AFNOR, the ISO member body from France

A draft agenda for the May Global Cities Summit is available online.

To register for the event, visit the summit's online registration page; attendance at the conference is $500 for students and member cities and $800 for all other participants. The GCIF has announced that it will waive the registration cost for a selected number of participants representing U.S. municipal governments and other important U.S. stakeholders. For more information, email Helen Ng, GCIF program coordinator, at [email protected].

For information regarding accommodations, visit the Global Cities Summit's Conference Venue and Accommodations webpage.

Following the Global Cities Summit, ISO TC 268 will hold its plenary meeting and meetings of its Subcommittee and Working Groups in Toronto from May 19-23, 2014, hosted by the GCIF and the Standards Council of Canada, Canada's representative to ISO. The meeting will include the participation of subject area experts from more than 20 nations and representatives of technology companies, international bodies, and other stakeholders. Ms. McCarney will convene ISO TC 268 WG 2, City indicators. U.S. stakeholders interested in supporting the formation of a potential U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO TC 268 should contact Joseph Tretler, ANSI senior director, international technical programs and services, at [email protected].