Luis de Castro - a new Vasco da Gama
When Luís Afonso de Castro met me in Geneva, at International Trade Union's cafeteria and requested a copy of my powerpoint presentation that I had just delivered in World Summit on Information Society, I thought it is just one of those mundane requests from the young enthusiast.
This one turned out to be different Luis had tracked me by wading through the crowd after my presentation in the conference hall and spotted me in the cafeteria where I had scheduled another meeting. He quietly waited in the side-lines and approached me when I finished the meeting. "Sir, your presentation on Smart Campus Cloud Network (SCCN) was like thunder and lightning for me", he said. Then he introduced himself, "My name is Luis from Lisbon's NOVA University in Portugal". His Portuguese accent in English delivery was undeniable. "It is what exactly needed in my university in Portugal', he added.
We had
NOVA University Lisbon is the 15th best in Europe and is among the 50 best universities in the world as per THE ranking. With 20,000 students and nine departments including Science, Engineering, Business
Luis is the product of NOVA and is now Digital Consultant. He held meetings with NOVA faculty and managers when he went back to Lisbon, gave my updated presentation to the faculty and students that he translated in Portuguese (Click here for the translated SCCN Presentation). He skilfully linked SCCN with ongoing UNESCO-supported Cooperation Programme in Europe for Research on Nature and Industry through Coordinated University Studies that promotes sustainable best practices.
He is also planning to integrate SCCN with small-scale projects on environment and smart meters for transportation usage in the campus.
From
Rajendra Shende,
Chairman TERRE
Former Director UNEP