SOC/4704
15 June 2006
International Conference on Information Technology and Ageing to Be Held at United Nations Headquarters, 19-20 June
NEW YORK, 14 June (UN Headquarters) -- An international Conference on "E-Technology Challenges and Opportunities: Empowering a Greying Society", to be held in Conference Room 1 at United Nations Headquarters on 19 and 20 June, will examine how information and communication technology can improve the quality of life of older persons.
"This e-technology meeting," said Professor Dianne Davis, President of the International Council for Caring Communities, "will link the basic elements that influence our quality of life, such as family, education, health, housing and the various levels of Government, with the information highway, offering a quality blueprint for an empowered greying society".
"Each month, the world's older population increases by 1.2 million," she said. "The quantity of life change has become a quality of life challenge."
The Conference will examine how global connectivity can assist in resolving the challenges of a greying society; how e-health can help to improve the quality of life for all; how technology can stimulate new health-related mindsets for prevention and management of chronic diseases; how to prevent elder abuse, how to develop partnerships that incorporate older persons' experience and augment their capacities; and how information and communication technology tools can enhance lifelong learning and empowerment.
The event will bring together experts from the fields of information and communication technology, Government, business and health, and will feature successful case studies, public-private partnerships and perspectives of local authorities, non-governmental organizations and business.
Erasmo Lara, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, and Dorothy Height, Former President of the National Council of Negro Women, will be the keynote presenters.
Speakers will include Leo Merores (Haiti), Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council; Amir Dossal, Executive Director of the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP); Craig Lehmann, Dean of the School of Health Technology, Stony Brook University; Gary Moulton, Accessible Technology Group, Microsoft; Barbara Sabol, Programme Director of Health, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; and Philippe Tronic, Chief Executive Officer of CGX Systems.
The event, part of a series of meetings addressing the "Age of Longevity" held in cities around the globe, is organized by the International Council for Caring Communities in coordination with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Programme on Ageing, the Department of Public Information and the School of Health Technology and Management and Social Welfare, Stony Brook University (SUNY).
For more information, please visit www.un.org/events/agingcf.htm or contact Edoardo Bellando, United Nations Department of Public Information (212) 963 8275, bellando@un.org .
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