For over three decades, FONGIT has been de-risking the entrepreneurial journey and supporting entrepreneurs with the expertise, resources, and financing they need to transform innovative ideas into sustainable companies.
FONGIT is a private, nonprofit foundation, benefiting from the support of the State of Geneva.
Digital activities
FONGIT’s mission is to transform innovation into social and economic value in the Geneva region. The foundation currently supports over 250 innovative early-stage ventures by providing financing, targeted coaching, fully equipped offices and labs, administration, legal help and accounting, and a vibrant community.
Digital policy issues
Digital economy
Through its activities dedicated to supporting innovative startups, FONGIT contributes to the growth of the digital economy. For more than three decades, entrepreneurs supported by the Foundation have developed companies in areas such as information and communications technology (ICT), advanced engineering, and life sciences.
We offer two programmes optimised to support innovations at different stages of maturity – Initiation Innovation and Startup Support.
Initiation Innovation is designed for early-stage projects that need shaping and de-risking before deciding to launch the startup.
Our Startup Support programme is for more advanced innovative projects where the company is ready for foundation, or is already founded, and has a full pitch deck and an engaged team.
In evaluating projects for our support programmes, we take a comprehensive look at the novelty, potential, and maturity of each venture. We are proud to support innovative ideas and startups that have the potential to make a positive impact on society, furthering the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
If projects are looking mainly for funding, the FIF (FONGIT Innovation Fund) provides three different types of financing for Geneva-based technological innovations that have a positive impact on people and the planet. The FIF aims to accelerate innovation processes within Universities, Hautes Écoles, and other Geneva-based research institutions, within startups, scale-ups, and SMEs experiencing rapid growth in the technological environment. The Fund is supported by the Republic and Canton of Geneva, the Fondation Modus, the International Trade Centre (ITC), and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Sustainable development
All FONGIT-supported startups are required to ensure that their work directly or indirectly contributes to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). FONGIT collaborates closely with UNEP and ITC to assess and highlight the impact of its startups on the SDGs.
Interdisciplinary approaches
As an innovation leader, FONGIT has recognised the increasing integration of seemingly unrelated technologies, prompting a move towards tech convergence. This trend is notably advanced in the life sciences domain, where addressing medical challenges involves multidisciplinary interactions across technologies like ICT, hardware, physics, and medical expertise. The acceleration in Geneva’s innovation landscape began several years ago when the State of Geneva made the decision to put innovation at the centre of its development strategy. This has led to enhanced collaboration among entrepreneurs, facilitated by communal spaces, fostering the exchange of ideas that benefit various sectors.
In the next few years, our goal is to promote the development of the startup ecosystem in Geneva by increasing both their quantity and quality to reach the level of the most advanced Swiss hubs. A key element of this development will be fostering the life sciences ecosystem, centred around the Campus Biotech. Our ambition is to actively participate in transforming Geneva into a major hub of innovation in different domains.
Housed at the Palais des Nations, UN Geneva (UNOG) serves as the representative office of the UN Secretary-General at Geneva. A focal point for multilateral diplomacy, UN Geneva serviced more than 8,500 meetings in 2024, making it one of the busiest conference centres in the world. With more than 1,600 staff, UN Geneva is the most prominent duty station of the UN Secretariat outside the UN headquarters in New York.
Digital activities
UN Geneva hosts many meetings and processes related to disarmament, human rights, e-commerce, health, labour, development, and other areas. In addition to these meetings, UN Geneva also hosts several thematic cultural activities and organises the Ciné ONU project, which uses films to shine a light on the UN’s work on gender equality, human rights, humanitarian aid, health, peace and reconciliation, and many other issues.
Digital policy issues
Sustainable development
Led by UN Geneva, the BeyondLab is a multistakeholder innovation space for the SDGs that inspires and promotes system change through new lenses to long-term sustainability. An example of a concrete initiative is the Geneva SDG Data Forum, launched in 2022 in partnership with the Geneva Graduate Institute and Deloitte Switzerland. The Geneva SDG Data Forum acts as an informal platform for individuals and organisations to share SDG data knowledge through a series of hands-on ateliers on data, monitoring, and accountability.
The Beyond Lab also played a key role in the inception of the GESDA Open Quantum Institute (OQI) through its function as an OQI advisory board member, offering guidance and insights into potential case studies and applications of quantum technologies for the SDGs and long-term sustainability.
Other examples of initiatives launched or supported by UN Geneva in the area of sustainable development include SDG Acceleration Actions, an initiative dedicated to mobilising Geneva-based actors, working to make SDGs a reality, and Building Bridges Week, dedicated to creating an international movement for sustainable finance.
In addition, the International Geneva Perception Change project – managed by a team of the Office of UN Geneva’s Director-General – has among its four areas of work the promotion of the SDGs. SDG Mapping, for instance, showcases who does what in Geneva towards the global goals. The other three areas are related to making information accessible, changing the narratives, and promoting the work of Geneva-based organisations.
Capacity development
The UN Library & Archives Geneva serves as a space for knowledge and learning. It facilitates knowledge exchanges, encourages innovation and collaboration, and acts as a centre for research on multilateralism.
The library provides access to a diverse set of resources (books, articles, UN documents, etc.) on digital-related topics such as economy, trade, human rights, and peace and security. It also facilitates access to numerous databases (maintained by various UN entities) such as the UN Digital Library.
The library coordinates the UN Knowledge and Learning Commons, together with the Centre for Learning and Multilingualism. The Commons hosts activities and learning experiences on various subjects, including some with a digital dimension, such as technology and innovation, information literacy, hybrid meetings, digital accessibility, and multilingualism.
The Conference Primers platform gives rapid access to all conference summaries and to key decisions taken at meetings held at UN Geneva. It continues to grow, with advice from experts, contributions from partners, and research led by the UN Library & Archives Geneva.
In 2022, the Library & Archives also completed a major five-year project to provide online access to the entire original archives of the League of Nations between 1919 and 1946: The Total Digital Access to the League of Nations Archives Project (LONTAD). As a result, nearly 15 million pages of materials are now available online, free of charge. Thanks to this project, every person connected to the internet now has an opportunity to consult various documents of the League of Nations online.
The UN Geneva’s podcasts reinforce the organisation’s outreach efforts, spotlighting issues, and bringing the key messages of the UN to another platform. Scripted, recorded, and edited at the Palais des Nations, the English-language podcast UN Catch-up Dateline Geneva and the French-language podcast ONU Info Genève offer up the week’s biggest stories from International Geneva, including from UN agencies and their partners. The podcasts are available weekly via social media platforms and UN News.
Digital tools and initiatives
Geneva has been traditionally strong on peace initiatives. It is often regarded as a city of choice for mediators and special envoys because it provides a neutral, discreet, secure space for dialogue. Many peace talks, and conflict prevention and mediation efforts are hosted at the Palais des Nations.
Digital Mediation Toolkit 1.0, developed by the UN and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in 2019, assesses opportunities and risks associated with the use of digital technologies in the mediation context and provides concrete examples and advice from experts and practitioners. The digital technologies and tools currently used by mediators include social media, geographic information systems (GIS), and data analytics.
Mandate Review and Management System (MRMS), a tool used by UN Secretariat entities to support the decision-making of the member states. Each year, over 100 complex oral statements of programme budget implications can emanate from draft resolutions and decisions of the Human Rights Council, the intergovernmental body of the UN system which is headquartered in Geneva. The MRMS greatly promotes efficiency and transparency and enhances real-time collaboration in the creation of oral statements, archiving of data, and the overall workflow of this process.
UNTERM is a multilingual terminology database maintained jointly by the UN Secretariat and certain specialised agencies of the UN system, including the International Maritime Organization (IMO), UNESCO, WHO, and WMO. UNTERM provides terminology and nomenclature in subjects relevant to the work of the UN system. Information is provided in the six UN official languages, and there are also entries in German and Portuguese. This database is a linguistic tool created primarily to facilitate the work of the staff of the UN system and other people around the world who participate or are interested in the organisation’s activities.
Conferencing technologies
UN Geneva provides a key international dialogue and diplomacy platform. The Division of Conference Management (DCM) facilitates these discussions and conferences by providing high-quality services (logistically and substantively) for UN agencies, international organisations, and highly sensitive political negotiations. You can find all the information about meetings and events on UN Geneva’s meeting and events calendar.
UN Geneva’s Fully Automated Speech-to-Text (FAST) project generates conference transcripts with the help of AI. Since the launch of the English version in 2019, FAST has scaled up to process thousands of hours of recordings per year, covering meetings for 40 UN entities. In 2022, UN Geneva rolled out French and Spanish transcription, with support from the International Organization of la Francophonie. The FAST project team has been collaborating with the machine learning researchers at WIPO to improve the latter’s proprietary speech recognition models on thousands of hours worth of UN Geneva’s training data in six languages. Thanks to the common pool of data shared by ILO, ITU, WIPO, WTO, and other international organisations, the retrained speech-to-text instances have become more relevant to, and accurate for, the conferencing environment and multilingual international speakers. The resulting raw transcripts are an essential building block for deploying further text analysis services underpinned by extractive or generative AI.
The Digital Recordings Portal is the online repository for all meetings recorded at the Palais des Nations and Palais Wilson. It is available in English and French, and the interface is compatible with standard accessibility tools and controllable via keyboard navigation. Since its update in 2022, meeting transcripts are generated in English, French, and Spanish and uploaded to the portal completely automatically. This allows those with hearing impairments to readily access the content of meetings held at UN Geneva. The portal also serves as a crucial tool for reporting on meeting outcomes. In 2022, more than 2,800 meetings were recorded and published on the portal, most of them in multiple languages.
With approximately 700,000 users across the globe, Indico.UN is the UN’s standard solution for participant management. The software establishes a web-based workflow, covering the creation of the event page and set-up of the registration form, participants registration, registration vetting, as well as badging and check-in activities. The system also has a series of elements related to the dissemination of information and documents, event statistics, timeline management, and accreditation of users in need of long-term badges. Indico.UN is a modular system, very easy to customise by the users of the UN system organisations.
The Extra-budgetary Cost Calculator is a financial planning tool that enables extra-budgetary conferencing clients to generate unofficial cost estimates on a self-service basis. Users can run multiple scenarios to match their available budgets by selecting which services to include or exclude, altering the duration of meetings/conferences and/or the requirements for meeting services and seeing the associated cost impact. The calculator includes costs for services provided by DCM (e.g. interpretation, documentation, and accessibility services), the Division of Administration (e.g. sound and audio-recording operators, technicians, mechanics, IT support), UN Library & Archives Geneva (e.g. cultural events), and the UN International School (UNIS) (e.g. webcasting).hives Geneva (e.g. cultural events), and the UN International School (UNIS) (e.g. webcasting).
The Datasphere Initiative is a think and do tank that catalyses meaningful dialogues and co-creates actionable and innovative approaches to respond to specific data challenges and opportunities across borders. Our mission is to equip organisations to responsibly unlock the value of data for all.
By connecting and amplifying voices from various sectors, we aim to responsibly unlock the value of data for all with various key programmes and projects that foster multistakeholder collaboration. Our latest work focuses primarily on digital access, data governance, and capacity development at various levels: global, regional, and youth.
Digital policy issues
Data governance
One of the key programmes of the Datasphere Initiative is the Global Sandboxes Forum. The Global Sandboxes Forum (GSF) is a collaborative platform that brings together public authorities, private sector entities, and civil society to explore and implement sandbox approaches for addressing digital age challenges. It focuses on sharing experiences, building capacity, and developing evidence-based guidance to empower stakeholders in creating agile, responsible data governance solutions at the local, national, and regional levels. Through its activities, the GSF aims to unlock the value of data for societal and environmental benefit. The latest publication, Sandboxes for AI: Tools for a new frontier, explores the role of sandboxes in the development and governance of artificial intelligence (AI).
Looking into specific regions, the initiative has launched the Africa Sandboxes Forum, a pan-African community aimed at enabling innovative cross-border data governance solutions. This multistakeholder process invites local, regional, and global experts to explore how regulatory and operational sandboxes can facilitate responsible data flows and exchanges, addressing challenges in sectors such as health, finance, sustainability, and AI across the continent. The latest publication, Africa Sandboxes Outlook: Thinking outside the box for responsible innovation in the age of AI, explores the growing use of sandboxes as tools for fostering innovation and enabling responsible regulatory experimentation. The launch of the report will be followed by a series of co-creation labs in various regions, with the first one taking place in Kigali, which will be the first of the Co-Creation Lab Series on Africa Sandboxes for AI.
Amplifying voices
The Youth4Data Lab Toolkit, published by the Datasphere Initiative, is designed to empower youth to actively engage in shaping a responsible digital future. It emphasises adaptable, innovation-focused governance through mechanisms such as regulatory sandboxes, policy labs, and hackathons. By providing practical tools and methodologies, the toolkit aims to foster youth-driven innovation in data governance, ensuring that young voices contribute meaningfully to the development of inclusive and effective digital policies.
Capacity development
Additionally, the Sandbox Summer School is an educational programme designed to equip participants with practical knowledge and hands-on experience in regulatory and operational sandboxes. This programme aims to build expertise in data governance, fostering innovation and cross-border collaboration among policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders.
Through these programmes, as well as seminars, roundtables, and consultations, the Datasphere Initiative strives to foster the creation of agile frameworks that responsibly unlock the value of data, ensuring that data governance evolves in tandem with technological advancements.
The IFRC is the world’s largest volunteer-based humanitarian network, reaching 150–250 million people each year through its 191 member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The IFRC exists to support the work of its member National Societies, ensuring that they have the capacities and systems to be strong, independent, trusted, and accountable local actors. It connects National Societies into one international network, ensuring principled and localised action with global reach and impact.
Our community-based work is guided by the IFRC Strategy 2030, which identifies five global challenges: climate and environment; evolving disasters and crises; health and well-being; migration and displacement; and values, power, and inclusion.
At the same time, the IFRC prioritises National Society development, strategic and operational coordination, and influential humanitarian diplomacy, and upholds a culture of accountability and agility across the network. In this way, the IFRC network saves lives, builds community resilience, strengthens localisation, and promotes human dignity around the world. All IFRC network activities are inspired by the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.
Digital activities
Data, digital tools, and artificial intelligence (AI) help us deliver effective, efficient services to people living in the world’s most vulnerable settings. They enable life-saving communication through impact-based forecasting and early warning systems, support community feedback for better accountability and enhance knowledge sharing.
We are transforming how we measure and extend our global impact through digital innovation. Common data standards and AI-powered analytics help us optimise data collection and analysis, demonstrating the reach and effectiveness of humanitarian services delivered by member Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
AI enables us to continuously learn, improving the speed and quality of our services. It also enhances knowledge management and supports volunteer recruitment, training, and engagement. Digital tools, combined with AI, expand how we connect with those in need through, for example, self-enrolment apps to offer vital information, cash assistance, and referrals – all through mobile phones.
In 2021, the IFRC adopted a Digital Transformation Strategy to accelerate the use of data, digital tools, and AI across our network. This is a key focus of the IFRC Strategy 2030 and our Agenda for Renewal, supported by efforts to build data literacy, peer collaboration, and strategic partnerships.
Then, in 2024, we launched our first AI guidelines, grounded in the seven Red Cross and Red Crescent principles. We are committed to training staff and volunteers to use new technologies ethically, safely, and transparently.
We welcome collaboration with other organisations to advance digital transformation in the humanitarian sector. Our upcoming Digital Transformation Impact Platform will support collaboration.
Contact us to learn more.
Digital policy issues and tools
The IFRC is a data-driven organisation dedicated to making evidence-based decision-making. The Federation-wide databank and reporting system (FDRS) is the IFRC platform dedicated to providing insights into the Red Cross and Red Crescent (RCRC) National Societies. The data is gathered through a yearly data collection from 191 National Societies.
The self-assessment part of the Organisation Capacity Assessment and Certification (OCAC) process is intended to capture the strengths and weaknesses of National Societies as a whole in relation to a wide range of organisational capacities.
The Branch Organizational Capacity Assessment (BOCA) process is intended to capture the strengths and weaknesses of National Societies branches as a whole in relation to a wide range of organisational capacities.
Capacity development
The IFRC network supports a diverse range of data and digital tools that facilitate local capacity development.
The Preparedness for Effective Response (PER) approach serves as a foundational platform to guide National Societies in assessing and enhancing their organisational and personnel capacities for humanitarian response. In addition to the main assessment platform, the PER tools also link to dedicated eLearning courses on the IFRC Learning Platform and include a databank of lessons from past response operations matched to specific PER criteria.
As part of the IFRC Digital Transformation Strategy 510 (an initiative of the Netherlands Red Cross), the IFRC has developed a Digital Transformation Assessment to guide National Societies in assessing their digital capabilities in terms of people, processes, and technology. The Assessment also provides guidance on the next steps National Societies can take to address capability gaps and advance further in the digital transformation of their humanitarian work.
A dedicated theme for Digital Transformation and Systems Development under the IFRC Capacity Building Fund (CBF) that supports National Societies to make essential investments in capacity development. Already, 39 National Societies have accessed the CBF to support digital transformation initiatives between August 2021 and August 2022, and 58 National Societies benefited from a special programme under the CBF to ensure that all National Societies have the capability to digitally connect and collaborate virtually.
Solutions like New Zealand Red Cross’s Knowledge Pacific Programme, which includes IT-in-a-Box infrastructure aimed at supporting National Societies with low capacities to establish a dependable, secure, modular IT infrastructure for digital connectivity and services.
In addition, the IFRC network relies on a set of 12 reference centres and other centres of excellence within the RCRC network to help lead in key thematic areas and to encourage and advance peer-to-peer learning within the network. The Global Disaster Preparedness Center (GDPC), hosted by the American RC, and 510, hosted by the Netherlands RC, have prominent programmes to support digital innovation and services within the network. In addition, a range of other National Societies are contributing to specific topics, including the British Red Cross on surge support for information management; the Spanish Red Cross on volunteer data management; the Norwegian Red Cross, the Danish Red Cross, and the Kenyan Red Cross on the use of digital ID and digital-based inclusive currencies.
The Kenya Red Cross Society has an International Center for Humanitarian Affairs (ICHA) focused on innovation. The Kenya Red Cross Society implemented a digital ID healthcare pilot in Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee camps, using QR codes linked to digital wallets containing patient information and basic health records. The digital wallet system in Kenya was developed by Gravity12, based on a methodology previously used for cash assistance.
In line with its service-oriented, demand-driven approach to building community resilience, the GDPC has developed the Business Preparedness Initiative (BPI) Toolkit to save lives, protect livelihoods, and shorten recovery times following disasters by providing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with adaptable preparedness tools. Atlas: Ready For Business is a free mobile app currently available in multiple languages (with more to come) on iOS and Android to help organisations build adaptability and create basic business continuity plans. Workshop In A Box is a downloadable toolkit that provides all of the support information and customisable materials a facilitator needs to promote, organise, and run workshops to help SMEs take basic steps towards being crisis ready and to continue their preparedness journey using the Atlas.
The GDPC, Google, and the IFRC have also developed the WhatNow Service, a global platform to assist National Societies and their local partners to localise key messages on how individuals, households, and communities can prepare for, respond to, and recover from hazards. Any media partner can access the messages and broadcast them across their networks, all with the National Society’s name and logo, providing a mechanism to increase the scale in the dissemination of harmonised, trusted, actionable guidance, currently covering 20 hazards in 78 languages. These messages are across six urgency levels and follow a five-step, circular process:
National Societies adapt key, actionable messaging to their context.
National Societies engage with media partners to implement the service.
Media partners access National Societies’ WhatNow messages through an open Application Programming Interface (API) and broadcast across their networks.
Communities at risk receive WhatNow messages.
National Societies engage with communities for feedback on the process and further adapt accordingly.
Cash assistance has become an increasingly important and default tool for humanitarian assistance in the IFRC network. The Turkish Red Crescent – in collaboration with the Turkish government, the World Food Programme (WFP), the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), and the IFRC in the most recent phase – has developed the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) programme using the Kizilaykart payment system, which has provided monthly cash assistance to Syrian refugees, reaching more than 2.3 million individuals (410,000 households) in the latest ESSN III phase. The IFRC has been exploring the use of the Kizilaykart approach and a similar collaboration with RedRose in the Ukraine crisis response, where an innovative mechanism for self-registration has been introduced.
The 121 Digital Cash Aid Platform was developed by the Netherlands Red Cross in collaboration with humanitarian, technical, and academic partners. The 121 platform includes a portal for managing CVA programmes and an app for aid workers to validate recipients. The platform is optimised for low-bandwidth areas and integrates with Kobo for offline registration. The 121 platform was first designed and piloted in Kenya by the Kenya Red Cross, supported by the Netherlands Red Cross, the British Red Cross, and the GSMA. The 121 platform has been used to support displaced and migrant communities in Ethiopia, Lebanon, Ukraine, and the Netherlands.
The AccessRC app, developed in collaboration with RedRose, has provided a game-changing way to reach, engage, and assist people on the move due to the Ukraine crisis. The self-enrolment and integrated assistance model enabled by the AccessRC app – and planned as part of a broader assistance platform vision and ecosystem – has enabled the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to rapidly extend their humanitarian assistance to remote locations and connect people in need to a diverse range of services.
The AccessRC app processed over 10,000 CVA (Cash and Voucher Assistance) applications from displaced Ukrainians in the first 20 days after launch, demonstrating its effectiveness at scale. The app allows affected communities to register and access assistance at times and places convenient for them, eliminating the need to queue at physical service locations.
Data and digital tools for Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) have also become an essential way for the IFRC to extend and deepen its engagement with vulnerable communities. A range of tools had been developed for rumour tracking that were used extensively in the COVID-19 response and are still used in the Ukraine crisis response. In addition, 510 (an initiative of the Netherlands Red Cross), in collaboration with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the private sector company Twilio, and the IFRC, has been leading the development of a digital community engagement hub. The hub will enable National Societies to create cloud messaging services to provide cheap (or even free) interactive messaging via diverse text messaging services, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, and SMS. The hub builds on an extensive set of scripting templates developed by the NRC and represents a rare example of the creative repurposing of digital tools between humanitarian organisations.
The IFRC also hosts the Mobile Data Collection Working Group and operates its own KoBo and ODK servers to facilitate access to mobile data collection tools by National Societies and provide additional back services to store and manage data. See the IFRC Kobo Toolbox for more details.
510 (an initiative of the Netherlands Red Cross) has also created an impact-based forecasting (IBF) system and portal to help National Societies establish their own data and analysis platforms to support the development of forecast-based financing (FbF) initiatives that can use crisis forecasts as the basis for automatically triggering funding support and other early action protocols that can enable National Societies and communities to start acting as soon as forecasts are issued instead of having to wait for support until days and weeks after crises events have happened.
Digital data tools are also providing important opportunities to advance traditional humanitarian services. Many National Societies provide ambulance services in their countries and are increasingly using data and digital tools to pre-position ambulances in high-need areas, dispatch at speed, improve routing, and enable enhanced communication and continuity of care with hospitals during transit. The IFRC has conducted a business value case analysis for digitally transforming ambulance services that compares the experience and insights in nine National Societies.
The Universal App Program (UAP) provides cutting-edge mobile app technology free of charge to National Societies to raise first aid awareness by offering high-quality apps to the public in their countries. The programme combines two tools – the First Aid app and the Hazard app – that provide efficient and cost-effective access to mobile applications to reach a growing number of people with important life-saving information. The First Aid app contains easy-to-understand information about how to identify and respond to a range of common first aid scenarios – such as bleeding, heart attacks, choking, and burns – and supports localisation in local languages, interactive quizzes, and step-by-step instructions for users to follow in case of an emergency. The Hazards app provides preparedness information for more than 12 types of hazards. National Societies can customise the app according to their common hazards in the region and based on their local languages. The app also incorporates emergency alerts from official agencies to notify users of potential threats affecting their location. Additionally, the built-in features of these apps will enable national societies to connect with their public, solicit donations, and foster partnerships to support their own preparedness programmes.
IFRC GO is the IFRC emergency operations platform for capturing, analysing, and sharing real-time data during a crisis. IFRC GO builds up a collective and comprehensive picture of a crisis by connecting data from volunteers and responders on the ground who provide information in real time, i.e. data from their humanitarian partners and reference material from across our network. It displays the information in a simple and easy-to-understand way. Users can then turn this information into reports, maps, graphs, dashboards, and more. It helps their network better meet the needs of affected communities. The GO platform is also linked to a Surge Information Management Support (SIMS) group that actively links National Societies and the IFRC Secretariat staff to pool resources and provide remote support for information management in emergencies.
The V-Community app (available for iOS and Android) is a multilingual and interactive global platform launched in 2022 to function as the primary public space where volunteers and staff of the 192 RCRC National Societies can interact on all matters related to volunteering. It consists of three main resources: a chat forum space, a section for local stories, and a space for exchanging individual and group messages for further sharing and collaboration.
A new IFRC initiative is the Volunteer Data Management System (VDMS). It is a global initiative spearheaded by the IFRC, alongside the Spanish, French, and Kenyan Red Cross Societies, to revolutionise how volunteer data is handled across National Societies. This system is designed to streamline and boost the efficiency of volunteer operations, encompassing key aspects such as onboarding, engagement, accreditation, and communication via integrated tools for event registration, mass messaging, and comprehensive reporting.
The Road Map to Community Resilience (R2R) is a guide with a new approach and a participatory process developed by the IFRC to enable communities to become more resilient by assessing and analysing the risks they face, and implementing actions to reduce these risks. The approach also encourages use of the Community Resilience Measurement Dashboard, which provides step-by-step templates for data collection and enables programme managers and community volunteers to share the results of their assessments.
With schools closed around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic, children were at home looking for engaging activities while parents were busy working. They also had questions about the coronavirus and needed to learn how to stay safe during this time. The IFRC introduced a COVID-19 Kids Activity Kit in the form of activity cards with easy step-by-step instructions and child-friendly characters. This format, and its availability in multiple languages, made it easier for National Society communicators, partners, and the public to use the resources. The IFRC also maintains a digital library and an app with all IFRC publications in English and French.
GEN, established in 1999, is a cooperative partnership of more than 100 environmental and sustainable development organisations based at the International Environment House in Geneva and other locations in the surrounding region. The Secretariat is supported by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and is administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
GEN organises and hosts meetings, roundtables, briefings, and workshops in preparation for major environmental negotiations and to promote the dissemination of information and public awareness of environmental issues. In addition, GEN actively promotes increased cooperation and networking among its partners and publishes a weekly newsletter highlighting the latest news, resources, events, and jobs in the region.
Geneva is one of the main global hubs where digital policies are debated, evaluated, and adopted. As such, digital cooperation is one of the region’s key areas for international environmental governance activities and for reinforcing synergies among stakeholders.
Although advancing technology has always been coupled with significant impacts on the environment, recent advances in technology offer ground-breaking opportunities to monitor and protect the environment, as well as the overall planetary health. By harnessing them appropriately, the digital revolution can be steered to act on the triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution, and to advance global sustainability, environmental stewardship, and human well-being, towards achieving the right to a healthy environment for all.
GEN supports International Geneva activities and hosts meetings, roundtables, briefings, and workshops to
promote the production of and access to transparent and high-quality data, which are crucial to achieving the 2030 Agenda and the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
discuss digital technology as a carbon producer and its widespread impact on global sustainability.
discuss the contribution of digital technologies, including Earth observation, data collection and monitoring, sustainable consumption and production patterns, as well as sound environmental management.
emphasise the importance of good governance in the digital arena and the need for cooperation among governments, institutions, and other data producers and users for better sustainability outcomes.
The organisations in the region that contribute to the environmental dimension of digital cooperation listed and partnering with GEN, include the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP), Group on Earth Observations (GEO), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Internet Governance Forum (IGF), Global Resource Information Database (UNEP/GRID-Geneva), and World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Sustainable development
Most GEN activities under this basket discuss the following:
How technology advancements are associated with major environmental consequences.
How recent technological breakthroughs provide opportunities to monitor and protect the environment and the global health of the planet.
How the digital revolution can be used to tackle the triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution, while advancing global sustainability, environmental stewardship, and human well-being.
More specifically, GEN recognises how digital technologies can transform environmental governance:
– The combination of innovations enables the mapping of population, social development, and economic actors to understand and predict natural resource use and demand.
– The potential for real-time decision-making on natural resources that could transform global environmental governance frameworks.
– The possibility for decisions to be made, monitored, and enforced using real-time spatial and statistical data.
GEN is connected to initiatives promoting transparent and collaborative data collection for sustainable development goals (SDGs), including resources like the Roadmap for Digital Cooperation. The network is engaged in the UN World Data Forum 2021 and its outcomes, including the Bern Data Compact for the Decade of Action on the SDGs. GEN is also involved in the Green Digital Action track at COP28, which focuses on leveraging digital solutions for climate action.
These discussions are held in preparation for major environmental negotiations and as outreach on their outcomes. They act on the triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution that the world is facing, through science-based governance, leveraging data and technology respectful of the environment, and ensuring its access to all, to achieve everyone’s right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
The website is an important tool for GEN. Updated daily, it includes information on all partners, their events, and other resources. All summaries, videos, and related resources on the events organised by GEN are accessible through the website. All events are now hybrid to allow better participation, with tools developed to encourage active participation.
The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) provides Earth Intelligence to support evidence-based decision-making. GEO draws upon a global network of 116 governments and 162 organisations, including leading space agencies, research institutes, the technology sector, civil society, and UN agencies, to drive international consensus and systems change.
GEO co-designs open, reproducible, and scalable information products with public agencies, academia, and the private sector, driving innovation and creating value. GEO’s services are tailored to stakeholder needs, delivering Earth Intelligence that drives positive change and measurable impact.
Digital activities
GEO empowers everyone, everywhere to use and contribute to Earth Intelligence, enabling better decisions for people, the planet, and nature.
Harnessing the power of interdisciplinary collaboration
GEO draws upon the expertise of an extensive global network of Earth system experts, comprising 116 governments, 162 international, private sector, and civil society organisations. This diverse network includes the world’s leading space agencies, renowned research institutes and UN agencies. By convening relevant stakeholders across sectors, GEO has the unique ability to forge international consensus and drive evidence-based decisions to promote system change.
Strategic approach
GEO builds strategic partnerships among public agencies, academia, and the private sector to co-design information products that are open, reproducible, and scalable. This approach ensures that the expertise and technology of different stakeholders are leveraged to drive innovation and create tangible value for them. By organising and translating Earth observation (EO) data into trusted open tools and services, GEO helps bridge the digital divide and close knowledge gaps between stakeholders and the Earth observation data they need.
Providing demand-driven services
GEO offers a portfolio of demand-driven services that drive positive change and deliver measurable impact. By tailoring its solutions to meet the specific needs of diverse stakeholders, GEO ensures that its Earth Intelligence products are both relevant and actionable.
Digital policy issues
Data governance
GEO recognises that the societal benefits arising from Earth Intelligence can only be fully achieved through the sharing of data, information, knowledge, products, and services. Ever since its inception, GEO has been a strong advocate for broad and open data-sharing policies and practices (Open Earth Observation Data). The Data Sharing Principles (2005-2015) inspired a few members and participating organisations to evolve from restricted data policies to open data approaches. Data sharing was also recognised as one of the greatest successes of the first GEO decade. Embracing the international trend of open data, GEO principals endorsed a new set of Data Management Principles. These principles promote ‘open data by default’ and address the need for discovery, accessibility, usability, preservation, and curation of data.
To enable indigenous peoples to equitably participate in and benefit from data creation, application, and stewardship within contemporary data environments, the GEO Indigenous Alliance advocates for the implementation of CARE (collective benefit, authority to control, responsibility, ethics) with FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) principles. The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance are people- and purpose-oriented, reflecting the crucial role of data in advancing indigenous innovation, and self-determination. These principles complement the existing FAIR principles, encouraging open and other data movements to consider both people and purpose in their advocacy and pursuits.
Sustainable development
GEO leads global initiatives that explore our planet’s ecological health, climate challenges, disaster readiness, resource optimisation, urban sustainability, and public health priorities. By integrating Earth Intelligence with global frameworks like the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, GEO demonstrates our commitment to fostering a healthy, sustainable, and resilient world.
GEO addresses eight specific thematic areas: Agriculture and food security; land and water sustainability; ecosystems, biodiversity, and carbon management; weather, hazard and disaster resilience; climate, energy, and urbanisation; One Health; equity and inclusion; and open data, open knowledge and infrastructure.
The GEO Work Programme is the primary instrument to encourage collaboration among our members, participating organisations, associates, and other partners. It aims to fulfil GEO’s mission and vision by addressing information needs in various fields where EOs play a crucial role.
GEO is increasingly incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into its Earth Intelligence initiatives, with approximately half of the GEO Work Programme activities identifying as advanced or medium-level AI users. AI applications within GEO primarily focus on image classification, change detection, and predictive modelling for Earth observation data. GEO contributes to the global ‘AI for Good’ vision and participates in global AI discussions, including representation at UNFCCC’s High-Level Event on AI at COP28 and the 2024 AI for Good Summit.
GEO assists countries in its region in addressing sustainable development challenges. The vision of the GEO Indigenous Alliance is to protect and conserve indigenous cultural heritage by using science, data and technology to create a knowledge base that sustains the Earth we live on.
GEO has developed a series of tools and initiatives to promote the use of Earth Intelligence as evidence for decision-making.
Since its establishment in 1983–84, CUTS International has been a leading southern voice in the space of trade, economics, and development to ensure consumer sovereignty. As digitalisation accelerated across sectors, CUTS has undertaken many research, advocacy, networking, and capacity building initiatives, within the realm of the digital economy to enable consumers, particularly the poor and marginalised social groups, to achieve their right to basic needs, sustainable development, and good governance through a strong consumer movement. Being a global independent nonprofit, non-governmental organisation (NGO) working on public interest issues, CUTS addresses three main thematic areas: Rules-based trade, Effective regulation, and Good governance. Within these focus areas, CUTS has undertaken multiple initiatives promoting competition, investment, regulation, trade, and governance reforms across sectors, through evidence-based research in least developed and developing countries. This is being done through a strongly rooted presence across India and at the global level, including Lusaka, Nairobi, Accra, Hanoi, Geneva, and Washington, DC.
Established in 2008, CUTS International Geneva is a nonprofit NGO that catalyses the pro-trade, pro-equity voices of the Global South in international trade and development debates in Geneva. Through its work, it has made a name for linking people and issues in the world of multilateral trade with their counterparts in related policy areas. These include regional integration, agriculture, environment, competition, investment, and consumer protection, among others. Its vision is to pursue social justice and economic equity within and across borders by persuading governments and empowering people. Its mission is to establish and promote a pro-trade pro-equity credible southern NGO voice, as well as the means to achieve this in the policymaking circles working on trade and development and other related issues in Geneva. Its objectives are to:
Improve inclusivity in relevant policymaking processes and decisions through better participation of developing countries’ stakeholders, including at the grassroots level.
Build the capacity of policymakers, negotiators, and other important stakeholders through demand-driven and needs-based research and analysis.
Contribute to a deeper and broader understanding of relevant issues through targeted and research-based outputs.
Enhance policy coherence at all levels by analysing and raising the profile of issue linkages.
Facilitate mutual learning through information and knowledge sharing across networks.
Stimulate common interests among developed and developing countries through advocacy, dialogues, and networking.
CUTS adopts a bottom-up approach that promotes the engagement of key stakeholders in designing and implementing economic development policies, from the national to the international level. Their successful work methodology relies on research and analysis to inform advocacy and training activities, involving networks of beneficiaries at all stages. With offices in India, Kenya, Zambia, Vietnam, Ghana, Switzerland (Geneva), and the USA (Washington, DC), CUTS’s family of organisations has made its footprint in the realm of economic governance across the developing world and beyond. As a vibrant advocate of South-South cooperation and economic democracy, CUTS has been forming and maintaining strategic alliances with like-minded organisations in over 50 countries, particularly in the developing world. At the international level, it has established formal institutional relationships with several intergovernmental organisations, whose work it seeks to influence. These are, the World Trade Organization (WTO) – accredited NGO, the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) – observer status, East African Community secretariat (EAC) – MOU, Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) – MOU, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – observer status.
Digital activities
CUTS’s work and expertise span three functional areas:
International trade and development
Competition, investment, and economic regulation
Consumer protection and good governance
CUTS International, Geneva, Switzerland, and its sister CUTS organisations in India, Kenya, Zambia, Vietnam, the USA, and Ghana have made their footprints in the realm of economic governance across the developing world. Their activities stretch from Asia to Africa, South America, and beyond.
Digital policy issues
E-commerce
CUTS works towards sound digital policy, fair rules, and e-commerce readiness, which can enable developing countries to harness the potential of e-commerce for their sustainable development, firms, and vulnerable communities. CUTS supports developing countries in effectively harnessing innovation and intellectual property systems to spur industrialisation in the digital era, while responding to climate change, food security, and other sustainable development challenges.
Support facility on WTO E-Commerce Joint Statement Initiative (JSI)
As WTO JSI talks on Electronic Commerce gained momentum in 2021, CUTS’s ad-hoc support facility on the subject established under its WTO Umbrella Grant attracted trade negotiators’ interest beyond its initially intended audience. Indeed, apart from delegates from the 11 targeted beneficiary countries, other developing country negotiators sought to benefit from the support. Through over 70 interventions, CUTS provided beneficiary delegates with clarifications on negotiating texts, factual briefings on negotiated topics, and occasional support in drafting submissions and proposals. This informed their participation in e-commerce talks, on topics such as e-signatures, electronic contracts, open government data, online consumer protection, spam, paperless trading, cybersecurity, and others.
E-Commerce and African Regional Integration
From April 2019 to June 2020, CUTS International Geneva undertook a project titled E-Commerce and African Continental Integration, with funding support from the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). The project aimed to ensure that African stakeholders, policymakers, and trade negotiators knew suitable policy options through which African continental integration could harness the sustainable development potential of e-commerce, specifically in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Through research and dialogue, the project contributed to, inter alia: (1) better-informed participation of African negotiators, with lessons learned discussed in various dialogues; and (2) supported structures and processes involved in promoting e-commerce development in Africa, including regulatory matters and AfCFTA discussions, etc.
Economic policy
CUTS strives for well-functioning markets that support inclusive and progressive structural transformation and help developing countries enact and implement effective competition regimes that improve the level playing field for their firms and the welfare of their consumers. CUTS promotes sound investment regimes that foster increased and sustainable foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and supportive structural transformation for people and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in developing countries.
It empowers consumers to uphold their rights to fair, safe, and informed access to basic necessities and advise governments accordingly. It supports the effective design and implementation of balanced, transparent regulations to foster better access to key services for businesses and consumers towards sustainable development, job creation, and structural transformation.
Sustainable development
Trading system
CUTS strives to preserve a strong and well-functioning multilateral trading system, including through support for better participation of smaller developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs), and to promote balanced and fair rules for all to support sustainable development at the national, regional, and international levels. Its work helps WTO members converge on creative solutions to restore the WTO’s leadership in setting global trade rules sensitive to small developing countries’ special needs. CUTS also helps developing country groups to identify, defend, and advance their interests in WTO discussions and negotiations on a level playing field, backed by evidence and private sector feedback. CUTS works to bring together developed and developing country negotiators to share information and perspectives with a view to building trust and convergence among them and in the trading system as a whole.
Between 2019 and 2022, for instance, CUTS’s WTO Umbrella Grant project strengthened the capacity of developing and LDC trade officials as they determined their level of engagement, strategy, and approach to the WTO JSIs – E-Commerce, Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD), and MSMEs. Undertaken jointly with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and with funding support from the UK’s Trade and Investment Advocacy Fund (TAF2+), the project achievements notably included: (1) clarified national positions on the Electronic Commerce JSI in six countries; (2) text proposals submitted by beneficiary countries in JSIs, notably outlining options for capacity building; (3) contributions to the establishment of the ‘Scope and Definitions’ subgroup in investment facilitation talks; (4) implementing the MSME Informal Working Group’s (MSME IWG’s) vision for the Trade4MSMEs.org online platform.
Plurilateral and regional agreements have become a major driving force of global trade integration, creating new opportunities for people, provided that agreed regimes are fair and sound. CUTS aims to ensure that preferential trade agreements negotiated by and among developing countries leverage trade integration in pursuit of inclusive and sustainable development for people.
Trade Policy at Work may be a powerful force for sustainable development, structural transformation, and poverty reduction. It helps developing countries monitor and wisely use standards and non-tariff measures (NTMs) to support their sustainable development, as well as to boost their participation in global trade and value chains. CUTS assists developing countries in effectively implementing agreed trade rules, while also leveraging preferences and special and differential treatment (SDT) granted by trading partners. CUTS helps them promote predictable and efficient administrative procedures that make the movement of goods across borders cheaper and faster, hence boosting the competitiveness of MSMEs
Environment and climate change
CUTS helps developing countries participate in climate talks on a level playing field and to identify, defend, and advance their interests in UNFCCC negotiations, backed by evidence and private sector feedback. Through research and advice, they help developing countries devise adaptation strategies for more resilient economies and support developing country negotiators and policymakers in crafting mitigation solutions in areas of their interest, for example, agriculture. CUTS strives for the implementation of the Paris Agreement in a gender-sensitive, inclusive, and sustainable way (i.e. supportive of economic and social development).
CUTS also strives for climate-resilient, sustainable economies and livelihoods by supporting environmentally sound policies and the strategic use of global climate talks. The economies of developing countries typically rely on sectors that are highly dependent on environmental resources, such as agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. Developing countries have embraced environmental issues in their policy agendas, although their implementation capacity often remains limited. CUTS sensitises governments about key linkages between the environment and other areas, such as agriculture, the rise of global value chains, and the ongoing digital revolution. It promotes the sustainable management of life on land and life below water, highlighting the potential roles of trade therein.
Sustainable agriculture
CUTS promotes sustainable agricultural systems that secure food for all by advising on the adoption of climate-resilient policy solutions, as well as holistic policies for agro-processing. Most developing countries remain net food importers, while their exports face a complex global agricultural trade regime. CUTS’s work promotes properly functioning agricultural trade rules and food commodity markets, which should allow developing countries to leverage trade to improve their food production, value addition, and security. Commercial farming is rare in developing countries, the potential of agriculture is huge, and solutions exist. For instance, technology and digitalisation can help transform agricultural systems, making them more sustainable and attracting youth into new jobs.
Capacity development
Since 2017, CUTS’s just-in-time Course on Digital Commerce, with jointly undertaken with DiploFoundation and ITC, has been pursuing a very concrete goal: to assist trade professionals to better understand what digitalisation and the internet mean for trade negotiators, and help them ensure their countries reap the benefits of the digital economy. The training has equipped them with up-to-date, neutral, objective knowledge, in a user-friendly and informative format. Over the years, the course has helped trade negotiators and policymakers navigate an ever more complex digital commerce agenda. It has provided them with a common space to explore the connection between trade and the digital economy and the development implications of this interplay.
In 2021, the course was thoroughly reviewed and updated to answer the pressing needs of digital commerce practitioners by exploring in depth the issues covered by the JSI on Electronic Commerce, such as cross-border data flows and data localisation, network neutrality, online consumer protection and privacy, spam, open government data, customs duties on electronic transmissions, cybersecurity, and access to the source code of computer programs. Over the years, the course received over 300 applications from 98 countries and delivered training to 138 individuals from 72 countries. The most represented regions among course participants were Africa, Asia, and Europe. According to the results of a survey, 93% of the course alumni would recommend this course to colleagues working in their organisations. Additionally, 100% of the alumni considered it important to continue offering the course regularly in the years to come.
With almost 18,000 students of 150+ nationalities,the University of Geneva is one of the largest universities in Switzerland. It offers 194 study programmes (103 Bachelor and Master programmes; 91 doctoral programmes) and 372 continuing education programmes covering an extremely wide variety of fields: exact sciences, medicine, humanities, social sciences, law, etc.
Digital activities
The University of Geneva (UNIGE) places great emphasis on digital research and education, recognising the impact of digital technologies and AI across all disciplines and in preparing students for their professional life. The Computer Science Department and the Centre Universitaire d’Informatique (CUI) conduct cutting-edge research in key areas such as digital imaging, multimedia, high-performance computing, distributed systems, AI, bioinformatics, software engineering, and theoretical computing. They also conduct Interdisciplinary research, with collaborations in fields like biology, psychology, linguistics, physics, medicine, economics, and finance. These research activities are reflected in teaching at all levels, as researchers bring their expertise, methodologies, and results into basic and advanced academic programmes as well as continuing education.
UNIGE is one of the few universities to have a Vice-Rector dedicated to digital transformation and artificial intelligence, reflecting the strategic importance of these fields. In addition, the University is strongly engaged in maintaining and developing digital infrastructures, tools, and services. At the same time, it actively supports its community in adopting and effectively using digital tools, and offers specialised training programmes and workshops to equip students, academic staff and administrative personnel with essential and advanced digital skills. Finally, UNIGE is committed to promoting responsible digital practices and ensuring the security of its digital infrastructures.
In the field of artificial intelligence, the University leverages AI to enhance teaching methods and support research. At the same time, UNIGE acknowledges the ethical challenges posed by AI. It addresses these concerns through a thoughtful, critical approach to the development and use of AI, ensuring that these technologies are implemented responsibly and ethically.
Digital policy issues
Artificial intelligence
The University has published an official statement on the use of AI, based on principles of legality, academic integrity, transparency, economy, and ecology. According to a recent survey by the Observatory of Student Life, 56% of UNIGE student respondents have already used generative AI text tools in their studies, primarily to better understand subjects (81%), rephrase content (45%), and for translation (31%).
UNIGE is participating in the ‘Young AI Leaders’ programme launched by the ITU’s ’AI for Good’ initiative. A Geneva Hub for this programme has been created, led by a doctoral student in sociology at UNIGE. The programme encourages young people (18-30 years old) to develop AI skills while contributing to the SDGs.
The University of Geneva is part of the Swiss AI Research Overview Platform (SAIROP), a joint initiative launched by ten Swiss partner organisations and coordinated by the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences. The platform provides a detailed overview of the AI research landscape in Switzerland and aims to encourage the exchange of knowledge between disciplines and fields, while helping to initiate future innovation projects.
As a research-intensive university, UNIGE integrates AI across various disciplines. AI enhances research by enabling advanced analysis and modelling, accelerating discoveries, and opening new perspectives in most academic domains, such as drug development, physics research, environmental science, medicine, neuroscience and linguistics, to name just a few.
Capacity development
As part of its core educational mission, UNIGE offers several Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD programs focused on or related to digital technologies. In particular, the Computer Science Department of the Science Faculty provides several Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD programmes. Other faculties or institutes have also recently developed academic programmes integrating digital science. For instance, the Faculty of Humanities offers a Bachelor’s and a Master’s programme in Computer Science for the Humanities, while the Global Studies Institute (GSI) has launched a Bachelor’s degree in Computational Sciences and International Relations, a unique interdisciplinary programme in Switzerland.
Beyond its academic programmes focused on or related to digital technologies, UNIGE seeks to enhance digital literacy across its entire community by implementing a series of measures to meet the needs of its students, researchers, administrative staff, and other community members. For example, the University offers an optional transversal course called ‘Comprendre le numérique’ (‘Understanding digital technologies’) which covers the technical, social, ethical, cultural, economic, and legal aspects of digital technologies. Additionally, the University provides a self-assessment tool for its community, allowing students and teachers to test their digital skills, view their digital profile and receive personalised training suggestions. Another example of capacity development is the UNIGE ‘Take Over’ initiative, a week of digital training sessions provided by and for students. Student trainers are compensated and receive certificates, while participants receive attestations for the new skills they have acquired.
The University also offers continuing education courses on digital technologies, including topics such as data science, machine learning, AI and ethics, legal issues of generative AI, digital innovation in humanitarian action, digital health, data privacy, etc. It also offers a range of MOOCs (massive open online courses) open to everyone, covering subjects such as human rights, global health, water resources management, human rights, political citizenship, internationalisation of education, language and diversity, international organisations for interpreters, water cooperation and diplomacy, migration, etc.
When students are positioned as partners in university communities, they become active participants with valuable expertise to contribute to shaping the process of digital transformation. The Partnership Projects Program (P3) and Hackademia hackathons are two initiatives that allow students, alongside academic and professional staff, to bring forward their ideas to improve the digital tools and services at the University. Students and staff collaborate on projects they designed, working together towards the shared goal of learning from their partners and developing solutions that meet the University’s needs.
The students of the University also serve as partners for local businesses and organisations. Through the ‘Adopt a Skill’ programme, an initiative of the Centre Universitaire d’informatique (CUI), students are connected with regional companies to collaborate based on shared interests, in exchange for a monthly payment.
Sustainable development
The University participates in several initiatives that promote the responsible use of digital technologies. For instance, UNIGE takes part in the ‘D-Tox numérique’ (Digital Detox) Day, which is part of the international ‘Digital Cleanup Day’ initiative aimed at reducing digital data and extending the lifespan of computing devices. This event is organised with 17 public and private partners, including the Canton and City of Geneva. UNIGE also hosts once a year the ‘Journée du numérique responsable’ (Responsible Digital Day) with the Canton of Geneva, HES-SO Genève, and the Graduate Institute. This event aims to raise awareness and engagement among the UNIGE community on issues of digital sustainability, sovereignty, accessibility and inclusion.
Digital tools are an integral part of learning and teaching. These include tools for designing courses, supervising students, teaching remotely, assessing students, conducting exams, fostering interactivity, as well as storing and sharing educational content.
Research tools and infrastructures
Thanks to funding from the Canton of Geneva, the university was able to establish new infrastructures and services to address the growing needs of research. This includes the creation of a Data Repository for the preservation and archiving of research data (Yareta) and the provision of facilities for high-performance computing, designed to support increasingly complex computational needs.
Conferencing technologies
UNIGE events are places where experts can meet and exchange ideas, where knowledge and information can be passed on to the university community and society at large. They are living pillars of UNIGE’s research, teaching and public service missions. Many UNIGE events are now being organised in a virtual or hybrid format. A dedicated website helps UNIGE community members willing to organise virtual or hybrid events.
WMO marks its 75th anniversary in 2025 as a specialised agency of the UN dedicated to international cooperation and coordination on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces, and the resulting distribution of water resources. It boasts a membership of 193 member states and territories. Weather, climate, and water respect no national boundaries, and so cooperation is key.
National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) work around the clock to provide early and reliable warnings of severe weather. WMO also measures and forecasts air quality and monitors and projects climate change. The overriding priority is to save life and property, protect resources and the environment, and support socioeconomic growth. With this work, WMO supports NMHSs and meets their international commitments in disaster risk reduction, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable development.
Digital activities
Data is in WMO’s DNA. Data is gathered from one of the most diverse data-gathering systems worldwide, consisting of more than 10,000 manned and automatic surface weather stations, national radar networks, ocean observing stations, and weather satellite constellations. Data exchange underpins all WMO core functions from weather forecasting to climate, hydrological, and ocean monitoring. Supercomputers and global telecommunications systems power the ever-growing appetite for data.
WMO also explores the role of new technologies and their relevance for public weather services, including the use of AI approaches. AI complements complex numerical weather prediction algorithms that process vast amounts of data and calculate the behaviour of weather patterns, providing short-term weather forecasts and long-term climate predictions.
Digital policy issues
Artificial intelligence
Impressive technological advances have taken place in relatively short time frames: satellites, big data, IT, and, of course, AI. WMO has evolved accordingly. To better serve society.
WMO recognises the potential power of Artificial Intelligence to revolutionise weather forecasts and early warnings. WMO Members traditionally made weather-related predictions via an observation system such as the Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). That is changing rapidly, and several leading forecasting centres and national meteorological and hydrological services are now using AI forecasting systems to run alongside their traditional physics-based forecasts. The European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting says that its model outperforms physics-based models on many measures, including tropical cyclone tracks, with gains of up to 20% and a reduction of about 1,000 times in energy use when making a forecast.
WMO wants to ensure that, as more Members embrace AI, there is a level playing field and nobody is left behind. AI is now firmly embedded in WMO’s Strategic Plan 2024–2027, and in 2025 it was high on the agenda of both the Executive Council and the World Meteorological Congress Extraordinary Session. Key outcomes included a call to all stakeholders to collaborate on AI and ML environmental monitoring technologies, and the establishment of the Joint Advisory Group on Artificial Intelligence (JAG-AI) to coordinate WMO activities on AI, including the development of ethical and data-integrity guidelines by 2027.
WMO is co-sponsoring the AI Weather Quest, a global competition organised by ECMWF to advance sub-seasonal weather forecasting using AI and machine learning (ML). The AI Weather Quest has been approved as a WIPPS (WMO Integrated Processing and Prediction System) Pilot Project. This initiative aligns with WMO’s mission to foster innovation and collaboration in numerical weather prediction for the benefit of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and end users worldwide.WMO recognises that, even with AI and ML advancements, human expertise remains central to effective Early Warning systems. This is reflected in WMO’s role as a lead partner in the UN Secretary-General’s Early Warnings for All initiative, which aims to ensure universal protection from hazardous weather and climate events through multi-hazard early warning systems by the end of 2027.
Digital standards
WMO maintains one of the most comprehensive standardisation systems with a detailed explanation of each step in the data cycle. WMO guidelines range from issues such as the position or the type of surface (e.g. grass) over which weather observation stations should be placed to uniform and structured standards on data sharing.
Data rescue provides additional benefits, including:
Making agrometeorological, disease vectorisation, and hydrological/climatological numerical models more credible
Enabling better projections of future climate
Allowing current weather and climate to be better placed within historical context
Providing basis to assess historical sensitivities of natural and man-made systems to environmental variability
WMO collaborates with organisations such as the International Environmental Data Rescue Organization (IEDRO) and Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth (ACRE) on data rescue initiatives.
The Unified Data Policy was painstakingly developed through extensive consultation with thousands of experts and other global stakeholders to meet the explosive growth in demand for weather, climate, and water data products and services from all sectors of society.
Approval of the Unified Data Policy provides a comprehensive update of the policies guiding the international exchange of weather, climate, and related Earth system data between the 193 WMO member states and territories. The new policy reaffirms the commitment to the free and unrestricted exchange of data, which has been the bedrock of WMO since it was established more than 70 years ago.
Why has WMO updated its data policy?
Recent decades have seen explosive growth in the demand for weather, climate, and water monitoring and prediction data to support essential services needed by all sectors of society, as they face issues such as climate change, increasing frequency and impact of extreme weather, and implications for food security.
The free and unrestricted exchange of observational data from all parts of the world and of other data products among all WMO members must be updated and strengthened to accommodate this growing demand. As the responsibilities of NMHSs continue to expand, a growing list of application areas beyond the traditional weather, climate, and water activities needs to be supported by WMO observing and data exchange and modelling systems. WMO data policy must evolve to accommodate atmospheric composition, oceans, the cryosphere, and space weather.
What are the benefits of updating the WMO data policy?
The new WMO Unified Data Policy will help the WMO community to strengthen and better sustain monitoring and predicting all Earth-system components, resulting in massive socioeconomic benefits. It will lead to an additional exchange of all types of environmental data, enabling all WMO members to deliver better, more accurate, and timely weather and climate-related services to their constituencies.
In addition to data sharing, the overall importance of data has been further highlighted by the WMO’s Guidelines on Climate Data Rescue, published in 2004. The document tackles why data rescue (i.e. preservation of vast amounts of collected climate data and digitalisation of current and past datasets for easy access) is crucial. It explains that practitioners of data rescue might encounter obstacles such as the high cost of data rescue operations and the lack of digital skills and competencies to use the necessary tools in data preservation. The Guidelines were updated in 2016 to reflect the changes in digital technologies since they were first published. They now outline some of the necessary steps in the data rescue process, such as creating digital inventories and digitising data values.
Over the years, WMO has also engaged in the following data governance developments:
Cooperation on data in scientific circles through cooperation between the International Science Council (ISC) and the WMO World Data Centres and discussion on data at the World Conference on Science.
Cooperation with the International Oceanographic Commission (IOC), whose Resolution 6 specifies that ‘member states shall provide timely, free, and unrestricted access to all data, associated metadata, and products generated under the auspices of IOC programmes’.
Discussion with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on WMO datasets and competition provisions in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
Cooperation with the Intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO), which was established in 2003 to derive data policies for the Global Earth Observation System of Systems based on the WMO data exchange system.
WMO’s Unified Data Policy can be leveraged for the integration of climate and health information systems. The WMO Information System (WIS.20) is an established platform that can support improved data collection, sharing, and accessibility in climate and health contexts.
Sustainable development
Climate change is an increasingly recognised global threat. But what risks does it pose exactly? And how will climClimate change is an increasingly recognised global threat. But what risks does it pose exactly? And how will climate change and its impacts affect sustainable development? The complexity of the global climate system often contributes to significant gaps between scientific and policy-oriented understandings of how climate-change-related risks cascade through environmental, social, and economic systems.
WMO has addressed these gaps by connecting changes in the global climate system, as measured by the state of the climate indicators, to the SDGs based on extensive data collection. The aim is to improve risk-informed decision-making by aiding policymakers, the scientific community, and the public to grasp the interconnected and complex nature of climate change threats to sustainable development, thereby encouraging more comprehensive and immediate climate action.
Digital technologies have also played an essential role in the advancement of the World Weather Watch, a flagship WMO programme that allows for the development and improvement of global systems for observing and exchanging meteorological observations. The programme has evolved thanks to developments in remote sensing, private internet-type networks, supercomputing systems for data analysis, and weather, climate, and water (environmental) prediction models.
World Weather Watch consists of the following main building blocks:
National Meteorological Services collect data on land, water, and air worldwide. The WMO Information System (WIS) coordinates the data collection and transmission through its national, regional, and global centres.
Regional organisations that act as global hubs include, for example, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).
To produce a successful weather forecast, it is essential to ensure the timely delivery of observational data from as many stations worldwide as possible in the shortest time. What follows is an example of the Global Basic Observing Network (GBON) showing a map of observation stations worldwide.
Digital tools and initiatives
The Global Telecommunication System (GTS), as part of the WIS, carries data from observation stations to national, regional, and global actors. Most of the data is exchanged via the GTS in real time. Given the critical relevance of this data in dealing with crises, the GTS must be highly reliable and secure.
Smart data for evidence-based decision-making
In recent years, WMO has digitised its performance monitoring through the development of strategic and thematic dashboards as well as through the increased use of infographics and story maps, all tools conducive to evidence-based decision-making. In addition to a Key Performance Indicators Dashboard, WMO has launched a Hydro Dashboard, which provides valuable information on operational hydrological services worldwide. It is developing similar thematic dashboards on climate services and global data processing, and forecasting. Internally, WMO has created a centralised data repository that brings together data from various systems, surveys, and sources, providing easy access to reliable data and related data analytics. The data repository is essential to facilitating the flow of objective, evidence-based, timely performance information.
The global website, https://worldweather.wmo.int/en/home.html, serves as a platform presenting official weather observations, forecasts, and climatological information for selected cities worldwide. These data are provided by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) globally. The website includes links to official weather service websites and tourism boards whenever possible. The information covers 3,458 cities, with forecasts available for 3,307 cities from 139 members, and climatological information for 2,216 cities from 171 members as of September 2023.
The International Cloud Atlas is the official classification system for clouds and meteorological phenomena adopted by all WMO members. This Atlas extends beyond clouds to include hydrometeors, lithometeors, photometeors, and electrometeors. It serves as a universal language for communicating cloud observations, ensuring global consistency in reporting. The Atlas is a valuable training tool for meteorologists, aeronautical and maritime professionals, and is popular among weather enthusiasts and cloud spotters, fostering a shared enthusiasm for observing atmospheric phenomena.
Digital WMO community
WMO established the WMO Community Platform, which consists of several digital tools that allow for cross-analysis and visualisation of information from all WMO member states regarding weather, climate, and water to provide better insights into the work and needs of the community and to contribute to greater participation in good governance. The WMO e-Library is another tool that gathers and maintains different publications, including reports and WMO standards.
Green WMO
WMO has both virtual and in-person events. WMO experts are also working to reduce the impact of global observing systems and other operations on the environment. WMO is among the first UN organisations to do completely paperless sessions (all governance meeting documentation has been digital for many years). We experimented at the latest Executive Council meeting (EC-75) with translating the INF documents (information documents) using AI tools. It may also be relevant to mention that the draft Strategic Plan 2024–2027 has a new strategic objective (SO) targeted at environmental sustainability, including green IT and green meetings.
WHO is a specialised agency of the UN whose role is to direct and coordinate international health.
Founded in 1948, WHO works with countries and partners to promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable – so that everyone, everywhere can attain the highest level of health.
WHO assists countries in coordinating multi-sectoral efforts of governments and partners to attain their health objectives and support their national health policies and strategies.
Digital activities
WHO is harnessing the power of digital technologies and health innovation to accelerate global attainment of health and well-being. It uses digital technology intensively in its development of activities, ranging from building public health infrastructure in developing countries and immunisation to dealing with disease outbreaks.
WHO has strengthened its approach to data by ensuring this strategic asset has two divisions: (1) the Division of Data, Analytics, and Delivery for Impact. This has helped strengthen data governance by promoting sound data principles and accountability mechanisms, as well as ensuring that the necessary policies and tools are in place that can be used by all three levels of the organisation and can be adopted by member states. Digital health and innovation are high on WHO’s agenda; it is recognised for its role in strengthening health systems through the application of digital health technologies for consumers/ people and healthcare providers as part of achieving its vision of health for all. (2) WHO also established the new Department of Digital Health and Innovation in 2019 within its Science Division. Particular attention is paid to promoting global collaboration and advancing the transfer of knowledge on digital health; advancing the implementation of national digital health strategies; strengthening the governance for digital health at the global, regional, and national levels; and advocating for people-centred health systems enabled by digital health.
The Division of Data Analytics and Delivery for Impact and the Department of Digital Health and Innovation work closely together to strengthen links between data and digital issues, as well as data governance efforts. Digital health technologies, standards, and protocols enable health systems to integrate the exchange of health data within the health system. Coupled with data governance, ethics, and public health data standards, digital health and innovation enable the generation of new evidence and knowledge through research and innovation and inform health policy through public health analysis.
Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated WHO’s digital response, collaboration, and innovation in emergencies. Some examples include collaborating to use AI and data science in analysing and delivering information in response to the COVID-19 ‘infodemic’ (i.e. overflow of information, including misinformation, in an acute health event, which prevents people from accessing reliable information about how to protect themselves); promoting cybersecurity in the health system, including hospitals and health facilities; learning from using AI, data science, digital health, and innovation in social science research, disease modelling, and simulations, as well as supporting the epidemiological response to the pandemic; and producing vaccines and preparing for the equitable allocation and distribution of vaccines. To further its digital transformation, WHO established the WHO Academy, offering professional training modules (including AI ethics and cybersecurity), and the WHO Foundation, an independent grant-making organisation that supports innovative health initiatives worldwide.
Digital policy issues
WHO is a leader among Geneva-based international organisations in the use of social media, through its awareness-raising of health-related issues. It has more than 74 million followers on its social media platforms and has received recognition by the Geneva Engage Awards.
The WHO/International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence for Health (WHO/ITU FG-AI4H) works to establish a standardised assessment framework for the evaluation of AI-based methods for health, diagnosis, triage, or treatment decisions.
Data and artificial intelligence
The response to COVID-19 reinforced the centrality of data and AI for the health sector and WHO’s activities. Data and AI policies are covered by the following instruments:
WHO has established the Global Digital Health Certification Network (GDHCN), which allows countries to verify the authenticity of health information using the International Patient Summary (IPS) ISO standard. The GDHCN uses public key infrastructure (PKI) encryption to keep health credentials verifiable and secure across borders. This initiative enables people to carry internationally recognised health credentials for improved travel and healthcare access.
In 2024, WHO partnered with Saudi Arabia to implement a digital health card for Hajj pilgrims, built on WHO Global Digital Health Certification Network’s infrastructure. Over 250,000 pilgrims from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Oman received Hajj health cards as part of a pilot programme. The network now includes over 80 member states that can verify the authenticity of health information between countries.
WHO hosts the Global Initiative on Digital Health and the Global Initiative on AI for Health, a tripartite partnership with ITU and WIPO launched in 2023. The latter works to enable, facilitate, and implement AI in healthcare, with outcomes including benchmarking frameworks for evaluating AI systems, guidance on integrating AI into national digital health strategies, and meetings to align national agencies on safety and oversight for AI-enabled tools.
AI is increasingly prominent in WHO’s governing bodies. Several resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2025 (WHA78) reference AI-related issues, and WHO Global Strategy on Digital Health (2020–2027) – extended by WHA in 2025 until 2027 – includes provisions on regulating, benchmarking, and certifying AI and digital health medical devices. At the Executive Board meeting in February 2026, an item on harmonisation of regulatory approaches for data, digital health, and AI in the health sector was discussed, reflecting growing Member State requests for WHO leadership in this area.
Digital standards
Integration of Health Information Exchange (HIE): WHO collaborates with health information exchange standardisation bodies and organisations, such as HIE and Health Level Seven International (HL7®), to promote sustainable investment in interoperable digital health technologies and systems. Digital health technologies, standards, and protocols enable health systems to integrate the exchange of health data within the health system. Coupled with data governance, ethics, and public health data standards, digital health and innovation enable the generation of new evidence and knowledge through research and innovation and inform health policy through public health analysis. Promoting Better Integration of Health Information Systems: Best Practices and Challenges (2015).
SMART Guidelines – Digital Adaptation Kits: Implementation Research and Technical Support: Digital adaptation kits (DAKs) are software-neutral, operational, and structured documentation based on WHO clinical, health system, and data use recommendations to systematically inform the design of digital systems. DAKs include the package of business process workflows, core data needs, decision support algorithms, linkages to indicators, and functional requirements for a health domain area, which can then be incorporated more easily in a digital system. In creating these operational tools derived from WHO guidelines, DAKs provide a unique way to reinforce recommendations and ensure adherence to clinical guidelines and standards within digital systems for improved service delivery.
WHO Guideline: Recommendations on Digital Interventions for Health System Strengthening: Recommendations based on a critical evaluation of the evidence on emerging digital health interventions that are contributing to health system improvements, based on an assessment of the benefits, harms, acceptability, feasibility, resource use, and equity considerations.
Since 2018, gaming disorder has been included in WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD). While the negative impacts of online gaming on health are being increasingly addressed by national health policies, it has been recognised by some authorities, such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that some game-based devices could have a therapeutic effect. Given the fast growth of online gaming and its benefits and disadvantages, the implications on health are expected to become more relevant.
The health top-level domain name
Health-related generic top-level domain (gTLD) names, in all languages, including ‘.health’, ‘.doctor’, and ‘.surgery’, should be operated in a way that protects public health and includes the prevention of further development of illicit markets of medicines, medical devices, and unauthorized health products and services. Resolution WHA66.24: eHealth Standardizationand Interoperability (2013).
Net neutrality
The issue of net neutrality (the equal treatment of internet traffic) could affect bandwidth and the stability of digital connections, especially for high-risk activities such as online surgical interventions. Thus, health organisations may be granted exceptional provisions, as the EU has already done, where health and specialised services enjoy exceptions regarding the principle of net neutrality. Resolution WHA66.24: eHealth Standardization and Interoperability (2013).
WHO has dedicated cybersecurity focal points, who work with legal and licensing colleagues to provide frameworks for the organisation to not only protect WHO data from various cyber risks, but also provide technical advice to WHO and member states on the secure collection, storage, and dissemination of data. Health facilities and health data have always been the target of cybercriminals; however, the COVID-19 crisis has brought into sharp focus the cybersecurity aspects of digital health.
Ransomware attacks threaten the proper functioning of hospitals and other healthcare providers. The global Wannacry ransomware attack in May 2017 was the first major attack on hospitals and disrupted a significant part of the UK’s National Health System (NHS). Ransomware attacks on hospitals and health research facilities accelerated during the COVID-19 crisis.
A 2021 global survey found that over one-third of healthcare respondents reported at least one ransomware attack in the preceding year, with one-third of those paying a ransom. Even after payment, 31% did not regain access to their encrypted data. Security researchers identified vulnerabilities in at least 17 biomedical companies involved in COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing and therapeutics development, with additional attacks targeting clinical trial software vendors, laboratories, and pharmaceutical companies.
Considering that data is often the main target of cyberattacks, it should come as no surprise that most cybersecurity concerns regarding healthcare are centred on the protection of data. Encryption is thus crucial for the safety of health data: It both protects data from prying eyes and helps assuage the fears patients and consumers may have about sharing or storing sensitive information through the internet.
WHO’s SCORE technical package (Survey, Count, Optimize, Review, and Enable) identifies data gaps and provides countries with tools to precisely address them. SCORE has been developed in partnership with the Bloomberg Data for Health Initiative. As part of SCORE, WHO completed the first-ever global assessment of health information systems capacity in 133 countries, covering 87% of the world’s population.
The project Strengthening National Nutrition Information Systems operated in five countries in Africa and Asia – Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Laos, Uganda, and Zambia – for a period of four years (2020–2024). Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and national nutrition surveys are the major sources of nutrition data for many countries, but they are complex and expensive undertakings that cannot be implemented with the required frequency. It is, therefore, critical to strengthen or establish integrated nutrition information systems (NIS) of countries to enhance the availability and use of routine nutrition data to better support policy development, programme design and monitoring.
A data-driven delivery approach sharpens WHO’s focus to address gaps, close inequalities, and accelerate progress towards national and regional priorities from WHO regions. The WHO Regional Office for the Americas is working to create open data platforms for evidence-based decisions and policymaking. The Core Indicators Portal provides a dataset of around 200 health indicators for 49 countries across the region from 1995 to 2021. The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean is conducting harmonised health facility assessments and tracking 75 indicators through the Regional Health Observatory (RHO). The WHO Regional Office for Africa has prioritised investments in civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) and digital health. Its integrated African Health Observatory (iAHO) offers high-quality national and regional health data on a single platform and District Health Information Software (DHIS2) is now implemented in all but four African countries. The WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia is focused on promoting health equity through workshops that introduce member states to WHO’s Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT). High-quality data on health indicators is available on the Health Information Platform (HIP). The WHO Regional Office for Europe is prioritising support for countries’ national health information systems (HIS) through more robust data governance frameworks. Member states also have access to the European Health Information Gateway, a one-stop shop for health information and data visualisation. The WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific has released a progress report on each member state’s journey to achieving universal health coverage (UHC). Additionally, the Western Pacific Health Data Platform provides a single destination where countries can easily monitor and compare their progress towards national and global health objectives.
Sustainable development
E-waste
WHO recognises e-waste as a growing global health threat, especially for children and pregnant women exposed to toxic substances in informal recycling. In 2021, WHO released its first global report on e-waste and child health, identifying serious risks from lead, mercury, and other pollutants. WHO’s ongoing E-waste and Child Health Initiative – active in Latin America and Africa – develops frameworks for safer recycling, regulatory compliance, and advocacy to protect vulnerable populations.
Strengthening health information systems for refugee- and migrant-sensitive healthcare
Health information and research findings can provide a platform for understanding and responding to the health needs of refugees and migrants and for aligning the efforts of other sectors and sources of international assistance. However, the systematic national data and evidence comparable across countries and over time available for policy- and decision-making on health of refugees and migrants from around the world are inadequate. The WHO Health and Migration Programme (PHM) supports the strengthening of member-state information systems, providing specialised technical assistance, response, and capacity building.
Human rights principles
Improving access to assistive technology
Assistive technology enables and promotes inclusion and participation, especially of persons with disability, ageing populations, and people with non-communicable diseases. The primary purpose of assistive products is to maintain or improve an individual’s functioning and independence, thereby promoting their well-being. Despite a growing number of people in need of assistive products in every country, only 5%–15%, or one in 10 people has access to assistive products. WHO coordinates the Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE) as a step towards realising the SDGs and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), and implementing resolution WHA71.8 on assistive technology. The GATE initiative has the goal to support countries in addressing challenges and improving access to assistive products within their context. To achieve this, the GATE initiative is focusing on five interlinked areas (5Ps): people, policy, products, provision, and personnel.
Content policy
Infodemics
An infodemic is an overflow of information, including misinformation, that prevents people from accessing reliable information and hampers the ability of people to know how to protect themselves in the context of health. Infodemics cannot be eliminated, but can be managed by producing engaging, reliable content and using digital, traditional media, and offline tools to disseminate it; engaging key stakeholder groups in cooperative content creation and dissemination; empowering communities to protect themselves; and promoting community and individual resilience against misinformation. Digital health technologies and data science can support these activities by analysing the information landscape and social dynamics in digital and analogue environments; delivering messages; supporting fact-checking and countering misinformation; promoting digital health, media, and health literacy; and optimising the effectiveness of messages and their delivery through real time monitoring and evaluation (M&E), among others.
WHO-trained infodemic managers, over 1,300 of them from 142 countries, are already making great strides in member states and together around the globe as a global community of practice. In Serbia, the Laboratory for Infodemiology and Infodemic Management has been established at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade. With the support of the WHO Country Office in Serbia, two infodemic managers working at the Institute of Social Medicine have gathered a multidisciplinary team that will be conducting research and supporting infodemic management in the country and the region.
Digital tools and initiatives
Interdisciplinary
Public health challenges are complex and cannot be effectively addressed by one sector alone. A holistic, multisectoral, multidisciplinary approach is needed for addressing gaps and advancing coordination for health emergency preparedness and health security and is essential for the implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005.
WHO Classifications and Terminologies: operates a one-stop shop for WHO classifications and terminologies and delivers and scales use of terminologies and classifications. WHO maintains a portfolio of digital tools and methods for emergency preparedness and response, for example:
Go.Data is an outbreak investigation tool for field data collection during public health emergencies. The tool includes functionality for case investigation, contact follow-up, and visualisation of chains of transmission including secure data exchange and is designed for flexibility in the field, to adapt to the wide range of outbreak scenarios. The tool is targeted at any outbreak responder.
Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) is a unique collaboration between various public health stakeholders around the globe. It brings together new and existing initiatives, networks, and systems to create a unified all-hazards, One Health approach to early detection, verification, assessment, and communication of public health threats using publicly available information. Creating a community of practice for public health intelligence (PHI) that includes member states, international organisations, research institutes, and other partners and collaborators is at the heart of the initiative; saving lives through early detection of threats and subsequent intervention is its ultimate goal. Since January 2022, the lead of the EIOS initiative is hosted within the new WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. As one of the Hub’s flagship initiatives, EIOS is one of the main vehicles for building a strong PHI community of practice, as well as a multidisciplinary network supporting it.
Digital proximity tracking technologies have been identified as a potential tool to support contact tracing in outbreaks and epidemics. However, these technologies raise ethical and privacy concerns. The document Ethical Considerations to Guide the Use of Digital Proximity Tracking Technologies for COVID-19 Contact Tracing – provides policymakers and other stakeholders with guidance as to the ethical and appropriate use of digital proximity tracking technologies for COVID-19.
The new Survey Count Optimize Review Enable (SCORE) for Health Data Technical Package was published during one of the most data-strained public health crisis responses ever – that of the COVID-19 pandemic. SCORE can guide countries to take action by providing a one-stop shop for best technical practices that strengthen health information systems, using universally accepted standards and tools.
WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence supports countries, and regional and global actors in addressing future pandemic and epidemic risks with better access to data, better analytical capacities, and better tools and insights for decision-making.
WHO Health Data Hub (WHDH) is a single repository of health data in WHO and establishes a data governance mechanism for member states.
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) registers all births and deaths, issues birth and death certificates, and compiles and disseminates vital statistics, including cause of death information. It may also record marriages and divorces.
The open-access WHO Snakebite Envenoming Information and Data Platform is already working to shorten the time between a snakebite and receiving antivenom. It does this by mapping the distribution of venomous snakes, known antivenoms, and the proximity to health facilities that stock them.
Public health strategy, planning and monitoring
Global Benchmarking Tool is designed to benchmark the regulatory programmes of a variety of product types, including medicines, vaccines, blood products (including whole blood, blood component and plasma-derived products) and medical devices (including in vitro diagnostics). It is supported by a computerised platform to facilitate the benchmarking, including the calculation of maturity levels. The computerised GBT (cGBT) is available, upon request, to member states and organisations working with WHO under the Coalition of Interested Partners (CIP).
The organisation also integrates digital health interventions in its strategies for certain diseases. WHO’s Global Observatory for e-Health (GOe) aims to assist member states with information and guidance on practices and standards in the field of e-health.
The Health Equity Monitor is a platform for health inequality monitoring, which includes databases of disaggregated data, a handbook on health inequality monitoring, and step-by-step manuals for national health inequality monitoring (generally and specifically for immunisation inequality monitoring).
The Health Assessment Toolkit is a software application that facilitates the assessment of health inequalities in countries. Inequality data can be visualised through a variety of interactive graphs, maps, and tables. Results can be exported and used for priority-setting and policymaking.
Health facilities data
Harmonized Health Facility Assessment (HHFA) is a comprehensive, external review tool for assessing whether health facilities have the appropriate systems in place to deliver services at required standards of quality.
RHIS provides frequent, up-to-date information on service performance at all levels of the health system, enabling regular analysis of progress and timely identification of problems.
Digital health solutions
The Digital Health Atlas is a global registry of implemented digital health solutions. It is open and available to anyone to register and contribute information about digital implementations. The registry provides a consistent way to document digital solutions, and offers functionalities in a web platform to assist technologists, implementers, governments, and donors for inventory, planning, coordinating, and using digital systems for health. The Digital Health Atlas includes a special focus on listing digital technologies related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The repository of information is open to all users to register projects, download project information, and connect with digital health practitioners globally.
Be He@lthy, Be Mobile (BHBM) is helping millions of people quit tobacco, and control diabetes and cervical cancer. It helps people at risk of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and those who care for older people.
WHO has launched a women’s health chatbot with messaging on breast cancer. The new chatbot uses the Viber platform to deliver health information directly to subscribers’ mobile phones. People subscribing to the new chatbot will find information on how to reduce the risk of breast cancer, symptoms, and treatment options.
WHO’s prototype of a digital health promoter, S.A.R.A.H., started off as a chatbot to fight misinformation around COVID-19 and offered information on living healthily during the pandemic. The platform has since been expanded to provide messages for individuals at risk of hypertension and diabetes, offering accessible health information in multiple languages via messaging apps like WhatsApp.
Health-related research
The WHO BioHub System offers a reliable, safe, and transparent mechanism for WHO member states to voluntarily share novel biological materials, without replacing or competing with existing systems. Sharing of biological materials with epidemic or pandemic potential will be done through one (or more) of the laboratories designated as a WHO BioHub Facility. This will allow WHO member states and partners to work in a better and faster way, to advance research, and to be more prepared for health emergencies as well as ensure fairness in access to benefits arising from this sharing.
Resources
Resolutions and deliberations on eHealth
The Global Strategy on Digital Health (2020-2025) aims to support potential, national or regional digital health initiatives with a robust strategy that integrates financial, organisational, human, and technological resources.
Resolution WHA71.7 (2018): The resolution urges member states to prioritise the development and greater use of digital technologies in health as a means of promoting Universal Health Coverage and advancing the SDGs.
Report EB 142/20 (2018): The Executive Board in January 2018 considered the updated report ‘mHealth: Use of appropriate digital technologies for public health’. This updated version of the report also includes the use of other digital technologies for public health.
Report EB139/8 (2016): The Executive Board considered ‘mHealth: Use of mobile wireless technologies for public health’, reflecting the increasing importance of this resource for health services delivery and public health, given their ease of use, broad reach and wide acceptance.
Resolution WHA66.24 (2013): The World Health Assembly recognised the need for health data standardisation to be part of eHealth systems and services, and the importance of proper governance and operation of health-related global top-level Internet domain names, including ‘.health’.
Resolution WHA58.28 (2005): The World Health Assembly in 2005 recognised the potential of eHealth to strengthen health systems and improve quality, safety, and access to care, and encouraged member states to take action to incorporate eHealth into health systems and services.
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