International Conference on Digital Libraries

With an aim to create a better world for future generations through adoption of new digital technologies, a green body today organised the fifth edition of the International Conference on Digital Libraries (ICDL).
The four-day conference - Smart Future-Knowledge Trends that will Change the World - organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) aims to not only create a roadmap for a smart future, but will also to prepare for new challenges in this transformative digital age.
"The core objective of ICDL 2016 conference is to discuss perspectives on how planning for smart cities and other important aspects of our emerging urban lives must factor in the increasingly crucial role played by sophisticated and appropriate ICT tools and software services to intelligently manage, analyse and predict, how our smart future could look like," said DG TERI Ajay Mathur.

He also underscored the importance of national approaches to managing knowledge, especially through the adoption of new digital technologies in this digital era, said:
"This will ensure how countries and their institutions plan and build entirely new ecosystems in areas such as public security, air quality and pollution, public health environmental sustainability, socioeconomic innovation, participatory governance, better public services, planning and collaborative decision-making," he added.
The three strategic objectives of the conference, include predicting the future, preparing for the future and finally, taking requisite actions to apply this knowledge to create, what is being called the 'Smart Future'.
With five billion more people set to join the virtual world, digital connectivity is set to expand further and very rapidly and with this, it will usher gains in productivity, health, education, quality of life, and economic productivity, among others, TERI said.

"It is important for an institution to lead the change technology than lead by external sources to gain business advantage. There is a need to bridge the digital knowledge gap across the globe. This can also help in achieving the goal of eradicating poverty," said Donna Scheeder, Deputy Chief Information Officer, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, USA.