2015 is the International Year of light (IYL 2015) focusing on the topics of light science and its applications, to recognise the importance of raising global awareness about how light-based technologies promotes sustainable development. Included in the programme is how lighting can produce solutions to global challenges in energy, education, agriculture and health.
Light plays a vital role in our daily lives and is an imperative cross-cutting discipline of science in the 21st century. It has revolutionised medicine, open up international communication via the internet, and continue to be central to linking cultural, economic and political aspects of the global society.
The program will promote improved public and political understanding of the central role of light in the modern world, whilst celebrating noteworthy anniversaries in 2015 – from the first studies of optics 1,000 years ago to discoveries in optical communication that power the internet today.
