The 3rd Digital Belt and Road Conference Held in Tengchong,China

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.