Cisco Uses TelePresence System to Connect Two Conference Venues

The R'09 Twin Conference on sustainable resource management, is taking place virtually at separate venues on two continents, is using  Cisco’s (News - Alert) TelePresence virtual collaboration solution to connect its two venues and create a virtual auditorium for attendees.

 

The R'09 Twin Conference is being held simultaneously at Davos, Switzerland, and Nagoya, Japan September 14 to 16, 2009. Each conference venue will feature two Cisco TelePresence Hot Spots in the lounge and cafeteria areas.

 

With these telepresence hot spots, participants at Davos and Nagoya will be able to communicate informally and spontaneously just as if they were in the same physical location.

 

Portions of the conference will also be transmitted to Berlin, where the German environmental association is holding a parallel event.

 

The R'09 conference on resource management and technology for material and energy efficiency aims to promote technologies and frameworks for enhancing the material and energy efficiency of products, services and processes (from production and use to recycling). The conference is being organized by Empa in cooperation with the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW), the EcoTopia Science Institute of the University of Nagoya, and the Factor 10 Institute.

 

According to Lorenz Hilty, professor at Empa, since the R'09 is about the responsible use of resources, staging the conference simultaneously on two continents avoids the need for participants to take intercontinental flights. Using data from earlier conferences held at a single location, Professor Hilty predicts that the move could reduce CO2 output by around one-third.

 

After the conclusion of the conference, a team led by Professor Hilty will conduct a life-cycle analysis to show the energy that was actually saved using the new conference model and Cisco TelePresence systems. The findings of this research are expected to be released by the end of the year.