From the 15-17 May 2018, the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) Plenary meeting, which is an annual gathering of ETC partners to discuss ongoing operations, key strategic developments and initiatives within the humanitarian ICT sector and other pertinent issues relating to the cluster, took place in Luxembourg.

Hosted by the Government of Luxembourg, the focus of this year’s session  was on Data in Emergency Preparedness & Response : Strategic partnerships for effective humanitarian action.

While the first two days were regular ETC plenary sessions, an additional third day aimed at strengthing the partnership between current ETC partners and potential new partners, demonstrate the ETC capacities and new technologies to plenary participants as well as a broader audience (including the public) and host a conference on “DATA for emergency preparedness and response”.

A demo displayed the work of the ETC and its partners, highlighting how they support humanitarian operations.

The exhibition also showcased the contribution of ETC members during an emergency operation, such as satellite terminal from the Government of Luxemburg to provide internet connectivity, and wireless equipment provided by Ericsson Response to manage and distribute bandwidth.