The annual UN climate conference is an event like no other as ever more countries attend and guest numbers continue to grow. The most recent conference (COP 23) in Bonn-Germany brought 22,000 attendees together from all around the world, supported by 4,500 staff members.
For the first time the conference venue was the Pacific island state of Fiji, which has been especially affected by global warming and the resulting rise in sea levels. The negotiations were led by the country’s representative at the United Nations, Nazhat Shameem Khan. Germany assumed the role of technical supplier. As attendees could not assemble in such numbers on Fiji, the headquarters of the UN secretariat in Bonn was chosen as venue.
The goal of the conference is to further develop and execute a climate protection policy in the spirit of the Kyoto protocol. To enable this, dozens of events dealing with specific measures take place. The prerequisite for a successful conference is that all participants can understand and exchange across language barriers, a Herculean task for interpreters – and for conference technology, a challenge rarely mastered in such magnitude.
The company Kuchem Konferenztechnik, based in Königswinter-Germany, was given the contract from the World Conference Center Bonn as prime contractor for media technology to equip the venue and manage the technology during the conference. In total it comprises two plenary rooms with 1,800 seats each along with 17 conference rooms with 30 to 120 seats.
For conference technology Kuchem relied on
Bosch, deploying the
Bosch DICENTIS and DCN NG conference systems which meet the special technical and functional requirements of the UN.
Overcoming language barriers
With the help of DICENTIS and DCN NG equipment it was possible to offer participants simultaneous translations in eight languages. 30 interpreter cabins were installed and networked. Delegates could choose between venue language or a translation. 50 infrared transmitters managed wireless transmission across 5,000 Bosch Integrus infrared receivers.
Discussions and voting
To facilitate discussion and participation, also across meeting rooms, 1,450 Bosch desk stations from the DICENTIS and DCN NG product family were installed. Current speakers, timings and delegate requests to speak are shown on the DICENTIS touch displays.