Digital Earth Coming to Wellington in 2012

Wellington has won an international bid to host the 2012 Digital Earth Summit.

The International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) announced at the close of the 2011 Symposium in Perth yesterday that the 2012 Summit will be held in Wellington.

Digital Earth promotes international cooperation through technology to assist in economic and social sustainable development, environmental protection, disaster mitigation, natural resource conservation and improvement of living standards.

"This is great news. Wellington is the ideal location for the Digital Earth Summit, as our vision for a Smart Green Capital and our Wellington 2040 strategy fits perfectly with goals of Digital Earth," Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said.

She said the inaugural Digital Earth Summit was launched by Prime Minister Helen Clark in Auckland in 2006. "I was privileged to attend and am very pleased to be able to welcome the committee and delegates to Wellington in 2012.

"In Wellington they'll find a city that is committed to a smarter, greener approach. Wellington is making significant strides to diversify toward a digital 'weightless' future as well as lessening the city's impact on the environment."

Mayor Wade-Brown said Wellington's bid for the international conference was greatly assisted by central government support and she thanked Tourism New Zealand for their help with funding the bid, Hon Steven Joyce, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, for his support and Land Information NZ for their partnership.

The Summit is expected to attract up to 500 delegates, many from overseas, and runs for three days.

Wellington City Council has recently completed consultation of a draft Digital Strategy for the city. It proposes that the city work toward being globally recognised as a 'creative digital capital'.