The World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) is an initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General designed to bring the global community together to commit to new ways of working together to save lives and reduce hardship around the globe.

The Global Consultation to be held in Geneva, 14 - 16 October 2015, will gather around 900 high-level participants from all stakeholders in humanitarian action, including representatives from governments, affected communities, regional organizations, civil society, national and international non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the private sector and academia. For more information, visit: www.worldhumanitariansummit.org

The ETC will be convening a panel discussion during the 'Innovation Market Place' on Wednesday 14 October, titled: 

Today's Networks for Tomorrow's Emergencies 

From humanitarians and healthcare workers, to governments and affected populations, in emergencies everyone must be able to communicate, to save lives. We know what we need to do, but how do we do it? 

In this session representatives from humanitarian, satellite and mobile communities will explore innovations, partnerships and resilience developments within the communications technology sector of disaster response. New charters and initiatives will be discussed and debated in the context of the realities of responding to today’s humanitarian emergencies. 

Chair:         

• Gianluca Bruni, Chief, Global Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) cell

Panellists:     

• Oscar Caleman, Fast IT & Telecoms Emergency & Support Team (FITTEST), World Food Programme (WFP)
• Aarti Holla, Secretary-General, European Satellite Operators' Association (ESOA)
• Kyla Reid, Head of Disaster Response, Mobile for Development, GSMA
• Jon Winder, Chief Information Officer, Plan International