6th Mar 2020
In September 2015, the United Nations established new global sustainable development goals. In this far-reaching and ambitious initiative, the international body made a commitment to “protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations”.1 In this paper, I examine the ways in which technology enables public protection, resource management, and overall sustainability. As the world faces major conservation and environmental challenges in terms of water and air quality, energy and transportation, and building design, technology advances are underway that will help people deal with these problems. Understanding the scope of these challenges is vital to determining ways to mitigate their negative consequences and understand which emerging technologies are going to improve service delivery and further economic opportunity.
5G, THE INTERNET OF THINGS, AND SUSTAINABILITY The development of 5G broadband technology aims to provide data hundreds of times faster than current wireless technology while enabling less latency in response times. This vision is made possible thanks to the coming together of advances in computing and communications. The network architecture of 5G will enable the expansion of the cellular internet of things and it aspires to bring together a range of existing and new technologies, cloud-based storage, as well as a wide range of newly connected devices and services.