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Policy Analysis

ICTs, the Internet and Sustainability: A discussion guide for Rio+20

By David Souter, Don MacLean, Heather Creech on June 4, 2012

This guide was prepared in support of an online discussion in June 2012, to raise awareness of and stimulate debate about a question that IISD believes should be central to the discussions that will take place at Rio+20, but which so far seems to be largely absent from its agenda.

As discussed in IISD's ICTs, the Internet and Sustainable Development: A discussion paper, rapidly evolving Internet and ICT technologies have transformed every area of life at every level from global to local in almost every country in the world in the 20 years that have passed since the first Rio conference. IISD therefore believes one of the main questions participants in Rio+20 should be asking themselves is: what actions are needed to maximize the benefits and minimize the harms resulting from the Internet and other ICTs and their impact on the components of sustainable development?

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