Green and digital transitions: towards a sustainable future | IGF 2023 WS #147

Lazaros

During the discussion, the speakers emphasized the significance of supporting repositories in South Africa and collaborating with various institutions such as universities, research councils, national facilities, and museums to promote open access. They recognized the need for effective coordination and cooperation to ensure the success of this strategy.

One of the key points raised was the importance of training librarians to index and categorize content that falls within the criteria of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This would enable easy access and retrieval of valuable information and research related to these goals. The speakers also highlighted the need to link this content with existing repositories to maximize its visibility and impact.

Moreover, the speakers discussed the use of DSPACE software by a majority of the organized universities in South Africa. By adopting this software, universities can effectively manage their digital collections and make them accessible to a wider audience. They stressed the benefits of using a widely accepted and trusted platform for the efficient dissemination of knowledge.

Furthermore, the development of the South African SDG app was discussed as a means to gather collections within universities. This app serves as a convenient tool to gather and showcase research and information specifically aligned with the SDGs. It provides a platform for researchers and institutions to contribute towards achieving the goals set by the SDGs and promotes open access to this valuable knowledge.

Overall, the speakers had a positive outlook on leveraging library experts and adhering to international best practices for open access in South Africa. They recognized that by working collaboratively and adopting established practices, they can enhance the visibility and impact of research related to the SDGs. The emphasis on training librarians and the use of advanced software and technologies reflects a commitment to the efficient management and dissemination of knowledge.

Online moderator

The analysis reveals that Andrej Khrushchev has raised an intriguing question about the role of technology in supporting the green transition, particularly regarding security and energy efficiency. This inquiry suggests that technology has the potential to play a crucial role in achieving environmental sustainability goals.

It is noted that the global commodity value chain adds complexity to the task of implementing green technologies. This complex network involves the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities across the globe. Understanding and optimizing this intricate system is necessary to ensure that technology adoption does not inadvertently harm the environment or compromise security measures.

The sentiment of the argument is considered neutral, indicating an objective discussion that invites further exploration and analysis of the topic.

The related topics of the argument encompass the Green Transition, Technology, Security, and Energy Efficiency. These subjects are closely intertwined and interdependent, as advancements in technology can significantly impact the transition towards a more sustainable and secure future.

Furthermore, the argument aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and Sustainable Development Goal 13 (Climate Action). These global goals highlight the importance of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency improvements, and climate mitigation strategies. The question raised by Khrushchev emphasizes the role of technology in advancing these goals and promoting a sustainable future.

In conclusion, the analysis indicates that the question posed by Andrej Khrushchev emphasizes the potential of technology in supporting the green transition, especially regarding security and energy efficiency. Navigating the complexity of the global commodity value chain is crucial to ensure the responsible adoption of technology. The argument maintains a neutral stance, prompting further investigation and exploration. This topic aligns with Sustainable Development Goals 7 and 13, underscoring the significance of technology in achieving a more sustainable and secure future.

Audience

Tarek Hassan, the head of the Digital Transformation Centre Vietnam, is interested in understanding inter-ministerial collaboration in Japan, specifically regarding biodiversity. He wants to gain insights into how different ministries work together and the division of labour among them to effectively address green initiatives. Tarek believes that understanding the roles of these ministries will shed light on whether the digital experts lead the green initiatives or vice versa.

Collaboration between various ministries and levels of government is crucial for wildlife population control. The Ministry of Environment (MOE) has proposed and revised the Wildlife Protection Control and Hunting Management Act. Additionally, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) is responsible for agriculture and the National Forest. Collaboration is necessary due to overlapping issues, ensuring successful outcomes.

In certain domains, like wildlife capture control, there is collaboration between the government and the prefectures. They work collaboratively on some aspects but independently on others. The country establishes basic guidelines and laws, while the prefectures handle practical program implementation. This two-tiered approach ensures shared responsibilities and effective governance.

Tarek is also interested in capacity building within ministries concerning digital transformation. He is curious whether the digital capacity is built within the ministries themselves or if it is outsourced. Additionally, he wonders about the role of the digital ministry within the governance structure.

The establishment of a digital ministry within the cabinet is a significant development. This agency primarily handles human number identification but is not heavily involved in the ICT techniques and technologies proposed by the private sector. Tarek is intrigued by the ICT techniques proposed by the private sector and their potential to contribute to achieving specific goals.

Tarek is curious about the quality of data used in the twin transition. However, no specific evidence or arguments were mentioned in the text. It remains unclear how the data quality could impact the twin transition, but it indicates Tarek’s interest in ensuring the use of reliable and accurate information.

Overall, Tarek’s pursuit of knowledge regarding inter-ministerial collaboration, division of labour, capacity building, and data quality reflects his commitment to understanding Japan’s approach to biodiversity and digital transformation. His goal is to gather insights that can inform his work at the Digital Transformation Centre Vietnam.

Daisy Selematsela

During the analysis, several key points were highlighted by the speakers. The first point emphasised the fact that African leaders have taken the initiative to set their own regional priorities in response to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda. This demonstrates the commitment of African countries to align the SDGs with their specific needs and challenges.

One specific example that was mentioned is South Africa, which invests 50% of its annual research and development budget in collaboration with international partners. This highlights the importance of international collaboration in achieving the SDGs, as South Africa recognises the value of leveraging external expertise and resources to drive progress.

Another interesting point discussed was the role of open access repositories in enhancing South Africa’s SDG hub. Open access repositories facilitate the sharing of information and make open source academic journals available to a wider audience. This is crucial in effectively addressing the SDGs, as it promotes knowledge sharing, collaboration, and innovation.

The analysis also highlighted the significance of knowledge management in relation to the SDGs, particularly in terms of availability, accessibility, acceptability, and adaptability. The effective management of knowledge plays a critical role in achieving the SDGs, as it ensures that the necessary information and resources are readily accessible to those working towards these goals. Furthermore, it was argued that relevant role players, including researchers, policymakers, and citizen scientists, are essential in solving global health problems. This highlights the need for multi-stakeholder involvement and collaboration to tackle complex challenges.

Additionally, the government’s strategies and international collaborations were recognized as crucial factors in supporting the SDGs in South Africa. With 50% of its research and development investment coming from international partners, South Africa acknowledges the importance of working together to achieve these goals. Furthermore, the existence of a Draft Open Science Policy in South Africa demonstrates the government’s commitment to fostering an environment conducive to open science and collaboration.

Overall, the analysis emphasised the importance of African leaders setting their own priorities within the SDGs agenda. It also highlighted the critical role of open access repositories, knowledge management, relevant role players, government strategies, and international collaborations in achieving the SDGs in South Africa. These findings provide valuable insights and recommendations for policymakers, researchers, and various stakeholders involved in driving sustainable development.

Horst Kremers

The analysis highlights the increasing complexity in managing data with the rise of urban digital twins. One of the key challenges identified is the lack of an international standard for the ontology of urban digital twins. This lack of standardisation makes it difficult to compare existing ontologies automatically. In order to ensure coherence and conformity to legal, financial, and ethical boundaries, challenges in coherence analysis need to be addressed.

Furthermore, the analysis emphasises the need for novel mechanisms and models to handle the complexity associated with urban digital twins. The emergence of more sophisticated digital representations of the urban sphere, known as digital twins, has led to the generation of massive data and active data streams from various sensors across cities. This has posed new challenges in data management. The sentiment expressed in this regard is one of concern, as managing the increasing complexity of data becomes a daunting task.

Another aspect that requires urgent attention is the implementation of just-in-time demands in managing digital twin logistics. Prompt implementation is necessary to ensure efficient management of digital logistics, and it is suggested that staging emergency drills and recording action plans will aid in meeting these demands. The sentiment expressed here is one of urgency, highlighting the importance of timely and effective implementation.

Regarding the handling of big data and complex data, it is noted that administrators are not well equipped in this area. The lack of educational resources and training inhibits their ability to effectively handle such data. This is seen as a negative impact, as there is a clear need for administrators to adapt and acquire the necessary skills to navigate the complexities of big data.

In terms of governance, a framework is deemed essential to operationalise long-term systems for the service of citizens. There is a positive sentiment towards the establishment of governance structures that ensure the smooth operation and maintenance of these systems. Additionally, there is an emphasis on the need for participative governance, involving not only the government but also citizens. The involvement of multiple actors is seen as crucial in ensuring a democratic and inclusive decision-making process.

The complexity of the global commodity value chain is acknowledged, and it is argued that a holistic green transition is necessary to address this complexity. This transition should encompass various topics such as food security and energy efficiency. The sentiment expressed here is positive, as the analysis recognises the importance of different professions joining together to guide the green transition. However, joining these ontologies presents a challenge, as it requires careful consideration of the purposes and consequences of data application.

Overall, the analysis sheds light on the complex nature of managing data in the context of urban digital twins. It emphasises the need for standardisation, novel mechanisms, and effective governance frameworks. Additionally, it highlights the urgency of implementing just-in-time demands and the importance of equipping administrators with the necessary skills to handle big data. The analysis also emphasises the importance of a holistic approach to address the complexity of the global commodity value chain.

Ricardo Israel Robles Pelayo

The speakers in the analysis highlighted several key points regarding sustainable development and the role of technology and collaboration in achieving sustainability goals.

One of the main points emphasized was the potential of big data and artificial intelligence (AI) in enhancing the efficiency and reliability of renewable energy sources. Through the analysis of big data and the implementation of autonomous decision-making, AI can revolutionize the generation and management of renewable energy. This can contribute significantly to SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy and SDG 13: Climate Action. The speakers provided supporting facts that demonstrated how AI and big data can improve the efficiency of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.

Another important aspect raised in the analysis was the harmonisation of regulation and policies around digital technology and environmental sustainability. The speakers argued that this harmonisation is crucial and presents a significant challenge. They stated that it is important to consider specific technological aspects that have applications in the environment. By aligning regulations and policies, authorities can foster an environment that promotes the use of digital technology for sustainable development. This alignment may contribute to SDG 13: Climate Action and SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

Collaboration between authorities and various stakeholders was emphasised as vital for achieving sustainability goals. The speakers stressed that authorities should work closely with private business corporations, civil society, and academia at both national and international levels. This collaboration is necessary to address the challenges and complexities associated with sustainable development. They argued that by involving multiple stakeholders, authorities can ensure more effective and comprehensive efforts towards achieving sustainability goals. This close collaboration aligns with SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

The analysis also highlighted upcoming challenges in the pursuit of sustainability. These challenges include the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, ensuring social justice, and promoting clean technologies. The speakers emphasised that more clean technologies and sustainable practices need to be adopted to combat climate change. Additionally, they highlighted the importance of ensuring social justice in the transition, particularly through training and skills development. By addressing these challenges, authorities can make significant progress towards achieving SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities and SDG 13: Climate Action.

Furthermore, the analysis suggests that authorities should actively participate in international forums such as the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The speakers acknowledged that Mexican parliamentarians attended the IGF in Kyoto, highlighting the significance of active involvement in these forums. By participating in international forums, authorities can have a voice in shaping global policies and development strategies, aligning with SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

Lastly, the creation and promotion of laws were emphasised as important for achieving digital and green transitions for sustainable development. The speakers argued that laws play a crucial role in driving the adoption and implementation of these transitions. They emphasised the need for laws to incentivise and regulate sustainable development practices. By creating and promoting such laws, authorities can facilitate the transition to more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices.

Overall, the analysis underscores the significance of big data, AI, collaboration, regulation, and laws in achieving sustainable development goals. The adoption of these technologies, collaboration between stakeholders, harmonisation of policies, and the creation of supportive laws are all essential for advancing sustainability efforts and addressing various challenges. By focusing on these aspects, authorities can pave the way for a more sustainable future.

Tomoko Doko

Wildlife management is crucial for the sustainable future of Japan, particularly due to the significant crop and forest damages caused by shika deer and wild boars. In 2015, the Wildlife Protection Act was revised to reflect the country’s commitment to preserving its flora and fauna. This demonstrates a positive sentiment towards wildlife management.

Furthermore, the implementation of ICT technologies has proven effective in monitoring wildlife. Drones are used to track habitats, while sensor systems help identify different animal species. These technological advancements provide accurate data and facilitate better management strategies.

The Japanese government has also introduced a certification system for wildlife capture programs. This initiative aims to counter the decline in hunters and reduce the population of shika deer and wild boars. The government’s goal is to reduce the population to half of 2011 levels, and progress has been made in achieving this target.

However, collaboration between stakeholders in wildlife management is lacking. Government officials, scientists, and private sectors often fail to work together effectively, hampering progress. To address this, bridging individuals or organizations are necessary to encourage cooperation and align goals.

The collaboration between the Ministry of Environment (MOE) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) is vital for managing wildlife populations. The MOE and MAFF have proposed and revised the Wildlife Protection Control and Hunting Management Act, setting common goals and creating guidelines at the country level. Prefectures are responsible for implementing practical programs.

Collaboration between the government and private sectors is essential for effective wildlife management. While the MOE and MAFF provide high-level goals, private sectors play a key role in implementing programs in collaboration with prefectures.

The establishment of the digital ministry agency primarily focuses on human identification numbers rather than ICT implementation. This highlights the need for collaboration between the government and private sectors to effectively implement ICT systems.

In conclusion, wildlife management is vital for Japan’s sustainable future. The revision of the Wildlife Protection Act, the use of ICT technologies, and the certification system for wildlife capture programs all contribute to positive efforts. However, improving collaboration among stakeholders is crucial. Bridging individuals or organizations can facilitate cooperation, ensuring successful wildlife management and a sustainable future for Japan.

Liu Chuang

Less than half of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been achieved, and progress has been hindered by natural disasters, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in small islands, mountainous areas, and critical ecosystems. These challenges have greatly impacted the advancement of the SDGs, which aim to address issues such as climate action, good health and well-being, and life on land.

To accelerate progress towards the SDGs, it is proposed that open science be embraced. Open science involves the use of big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the inclusion of various fields such as engineering. By adopting these approaches, while ensuring systemic management and cultural diversity, it is believed that progress towards the SDGs can be accelerated. Different organizations have their own ways of handling the SDGs, and a wide-ranging, reciprocal cooperation is being proposed among all partners to drive advancements.

In an effort to ensure trackable and high-quality agricultural products, China has launched the Global Institute for Environmental Science (GIES) and the World Data Center. The GIES operates as a decadal programme from 2021 to 2030, and it has initiated 17 different cases in various regions of China in the past two years. This initiative aims to support the SDGs related to zero hunger and responsible consumption and production. By establishing infrastructure like the World Data Center, China is taking steps to ensure the traceability and quality of agricultural products.

The GIES project has yielded several benefits, including increased income for farmers, high-quality products for consumers, and credit for contributors. Over 600,000 local farmers have already benefited from the project, and the quality of the products can be traced to ensure consumer satisfaction. This demonstrates the positive impact that initiatives like GIES can have on achieving SDGs, particularly those related to poverty reduction and decent work and economic growth.

It is important to pay more attention to underprivileged individuals and developing nations, especially those in mountain areas, small islands, and rural villages. These demographics are highly vulnerable and in need of assistance. By utilising technology, science, and commercial sectors to provide aid, it becomes possible to empower and uplift these underprivileged communities. The role that these sectors can play in addressing SDGs related to poverty reduction and reduced inequalities is stressed.

Identifying trustable data for research and business purposes is a challenging task since data comes from various sources, including government, private sectors, and university research sectors. Different policies define how data is opened for use, making it essential to establish standards for data quality and reliability.

The World Data System, which consists of 86 world data centres, provides peer-reviewed data to address this challenge. This global collaboration, under the International Science Council, ensures that data undergoes checks for data security, data quality, and authorship. By providing peer-reviewed data, the World Data System supports the SDGs related to industry, innovation, and infrastructure, as well as partnerships for the goals.

To ensure the accuracy and reliability of data, it is recommended to adopt meticulous processes for data validation and curation. This involves reviewing data quality with the help of experts and capturing information about the data source and production method. By implementing such practices, it becomes possible to address challenges related to data quality and trustworthiness, thus advancing the goals of SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.

In the realm of data handling, protecting the original authors and ensuring data security are of paramount importance. Proper data handling protocols are observed to uphold privacy and security. Adhering to these protocols allows for the responsible use of data and preserves the rights of authors, aligning with SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

In conclusion, the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 requires significant progress, as less than half of the goals have been achieved to date. Natural disasters, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic have impeded progress, particularly in vulnerable regions. However, embracing open science, leveraging technology and collaboration, and ensuring the quality and reliability of data are potential pathways to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. Initiatives like the Global Institute for Environmental Science (GIES) and the World Data System in China demonstrate the commitment to ensuring high-quality agricultural products and traceable data. By prioritising underprivileged individuals and developing nations and utilising technology and scientific advancements, it is possible to provide aid and address inequality. The challenges of identifying trustworthy data can be met through meticulous processes of validation and curation, while upholding data protection and security protocols. Overall, a multi-faceted approach is needed to achieve the SDGs and create a sustainable and equitable future.

KE GONG

In this analysis, several key points are highlighted regarding the importance of sustainability and digitalization, the urgency to rescue the sustainable development goals (SDGs), the significance of using digital technology to implement and rescue the SDGs, and the importance of interdisciplinary, intersectoral, and international cooperation.

The first point emphasizes the dual transitions of sustainability and digitalization as crucial for the future of humankind. It is stated that these transitions are a historical process with great significance. Furthermore, it is asserted that digitalization serves as an essential tool in achieving sustainability.

The second point focuses on the urgency to rescue the SDGs. It is revealed that over 30% of the SDG targets have not made any progress or have regressed below the baseline established in 2015. This lack of progress is exemplified through the projection that 575 million people will still be in extreme poverty by 2030. These facts illustrate the need for immediate action to address and advance the SDGs.

The third point highlights the importance of using digital technology to implement and rescue the SDGs. It is highlighted that digital transformation is crucial in three specific areas: addressing hunger, transitioning to renewable energy, and leveraging digital transformation opportunities. Examples are provided to support this argument, such as the use of big data in smart manufacturing, urban planning, and climate action. These examples demonstrate the potential of digital technology in achieving the SDGs.

The fourth and final point underscores the significance of interdisciplinary, intersectoral, and international cooperation. It is emphasized that digital technology should work across disciplines without any borders. Platforms such as the China Association of Science and Technology (CAST) and The World Federation of Engineering Organizations are presented as facilitators of collaborations in this regard. The importance of such cooperation is highlighted as essential for successful digital transformations.

In conclusion, the expanded summary reiterates the key points outlined in the analysis. It emphasizes the importance of the dual transitions of sustainability and digitalization, the urgent need to rescue the SDGs, the significance of using digital technology to implement and rescue the SDGs, and the importance of interdisciplinary, intersectoral, and international cooperation. Through these points, it is evident that sustainability, digitalization, and collaboration are all crucial elements in advancing global goals and ensuring a better future for humankind.

Xiaofeng Tao

The workshop commenced with a series of presentations from six speakers, each focusing on different aspects of the green and digital transition. Professor Liu, the director of global change research, led the session by emphasising the significance of open science in driving sustainable development. She highlighted the need for transparent and collaborative research practices to address urgent environmental challenges.

Following Professor Liu’s presentation, Ms. Tomoko Doko, the President and CEO of Leisure and Science Consulting Limited Company, discussed wildlife management in Japan for a sustainable future. She showcased innovative approaches taken in Japan to protect and conserve biodiversity. Ms. Doko stressed the importance of a holistic and integrated approach involving all stakeholders to ensure effective wildlife management.

Mr. Kremers from Codata, Germany, then shared insights on the practical implementation of digital twins. He explored the role of digital twins in managing complexity, including process models and workflow standards. Mr. Kremers highlighted how digital twins enhance decision-making processes and optimise resource allocation in various sectors.

Next, Professor Ricardo from Mexico presented the challenges and commitments in digital technology and a sustainable environment as outlined in the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement. He emphasised the importance of aligning digital innovation with sustainable development goals and highlighted potential benefits and risks associated with the digital transition.

After the presentations, a discussion session provided an opportunity for participants to ask questions and provide comments to the speakers. The workshop facilitator posed three key questions focusing on government issues, stakeholder cooperation, and policy frameworks. Each speaker addressed one or more of these questions.

Professor Liu shared insights on the key challenges faced by governments in driving sustainable development, emphasising the role of political will and effective governance structures. Professor Ricardo stressed the need for enhanced collaboration and partnership among multiple stakeholders to address complex environmental issues. Ms. Tomoko focused on the role of policy frameworks in guiding wildlife management strategies and the importance of regulations for their effective implementation. Mr. Kremers discussed the potential of policy guidelines in promoting the adoption of digital twins and ensuring their compatibility across different sectors.

The workshop concluded with expressions of gratitude to the speakers, on-site and online participants, and the organisers. The facilitator acknowledged the thought-provoking presentations and insightful questions from the participants. Time constraints prevented a detailed discussion of all topics, highlighting the need for future collaborations and continued efforts to achieve a sustainable future.

Attendees were invited to gather for a group photo, fostering connections and setting the stage for potential future engagements. The facilitator expressed special appreciation to Professor Liu Chuang for their ongoing partnership and work in this field. Overall, the workshop provided a valuable platform for knowledge sharing and networking among experts, contributing to ongoing discussions on green and digital transition.

KE GONG:
Thank you. Thank you, Professor Hao. Now I share my screen with all of you. My title is The Three Musts for Accelerating the Sustainable and Digital Digital Transformations. Because the theme of our workshop is green and digital transformation towards a sustainable future. I’m very pleased to be part of this workshop because this is really important. Talking about the dual transformation, my understanding is that these dual transitions are a historical process which is crucial to the future of humankind. This dual transition, I think the goal is to achieve the sustainable development for humankind and the planet. That’s a value-pulling transition. It is the digitalization which is a very important tool for us to achieve the sustainable development. This transition, I consider, is a technique-driven transition. These two transitions are interacting with each other. They are not just parallel two transitions. They are interactive. The digitalization is a very important tool for us to achieve sustainability. At first, I would like to talk about the urgency of the dual transformation, especially the urgency to rescue the sustainable development goals. All of us know that eight years ago, all world leaders gathered together in New York made a sustainable development agenda which is called Transforming Our World, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this agenda, there are 17 sustainable development goals defined jointly by all member countries of the United Nations. Under these 17 goals, there are 169 targets. However, this year is the midpoint of the whole agenda. 2023 is exactly in the middle of the whole process. Last month, the world leaders gathered together again in New York to review the progress of the sustainable development agenda. However, at this middle point of the 2030 Agenda, the world leaders and the world people are shocked by the current progress. The latest global level data and assessments paint a concerning picture. This is the concerning picture. The blue ones are on track or the target rate. The yellow one is a fair progress but acceleration needed. The red one shows the stagnation or recession of those targets and goals. So this picture shows us only half of them show moderate or severe, not only half of them show moderate and severe deviations from the desired trajectory. More than 30% of these targets have no progress or even worse regression below the 2015 baseline, below than eight years ago. This assessment underscores the urgent need for intensified actions to ensure the SDGs stay on course and progress towards a sustainable future at all. In short, the SDGs need to be rescued. For example, just have a look to the goal one, no poverty in all its forms everywhere. So this figure shows you we not come back on track. There will be 575 million people will stay in extreme poverty by 2030. And here shows the current world vulnerable population remain uncovered by social protection. For example, for children, only 8.5% receive the social protection. For the elder people, only 23% can receive the social protection. That’s why the report, the Global Sustainable Development Report, GSDR, this report is every four years. And the newest report is titled The Times of Crisis, The Times Change. So we have to realize the urgency of this situation for sustainable development and take real actions to make changes. So that’s the second point I’d like to say. The second must is to take actions of using digital technology to implement to rescue the United Nations SDGs. Indeed, if we talk actions, people pay a lot of attention to the decentralization. Let me quote what Secretary General Guterres said in the UN Summit last month in New York. He emphasized the need to take actions in three key areas, including addressing hunger, transitioning to renewable energy, and leveraging digital transformation opportunities. Further, please allow me to quote some words from the Political Declaration of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit last month in New York. It states, we acknowledge that important lessons were drawn from the COVID-19 pandemic on health, culture, education, science, technology, and innovation and digital transformation for sustainable development. It states, we will continue to take action to bridge the digital divides and spread the benefits of digitalization. We will expand participation of all countries, in particular developing countries, in the digital economy, including by enhancing their digital infrastructure connectivity, building their capacities and access to technological innovations through stronger partnerships and improving digital literacy. It states, we will leverage digital technology to expand the foundations on which to strengthen social protection systems. We commit to building capacities for inclusive participation in the digital economy and strong partnerships to bring technological innovations to all countries. So, digital transformation is stressed again and again in the Political Summit last month in New York. That shows the importance of digitalization as a lever to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. So here, I just show you some examples. For example, for the electrification, digitalization, digital technology, Internet things play a very important role to achieve further electrification with renewable energies. That’s Goal 7. And for Goal 9, industry innovation and infrastructure. Here, I show you how digital big data has been used for smart manufacturing. And here is an example of a city, a famous city, Hangzhou, in China. Because Hangzhou city, in the center of Hangzhou city is a big, beautiful lake. We call it the West Lake. But that makes the traffic of this city very difficult. And this city was the top fourth traffic jam city in China. But with the help of big data and the implementation of so-called city brain was empowered by artificial intelligence and the fifth generation of mobile communications, 5G, this city has now become the 27th traffic jam of China. So a smart city helps Goal 11 and also for climate action. Here is another example used in China to use big data to help to mitigate to find out the leakage of the water pipes and to help to decide the city more resilient to the climate change. So just a few examples shows that how digital technology can help in different sector, in different country, in different region to help real actions to achieve sustainable development goals. So finally, I would like to stress the importance of cooperation. Because the Goal 17 is the partnership. Nobody can refuse the importance of the partnership. But here I would like to stress the cooperation should happen in interdisciplinary and intersectoral and international ways. So, for example, building information modeling and geospatial engineering is now widely used in construction area. However, these technologies are deeply rooted in different areas of engineering such as internet information communication technology, construction, internet of things and big data with applications in the management of resources and utilities. Telecommunications, urban and regional planning, routing of vehicles, parcel shipping and so on and so forth. They hold great potential to the support of sustainable smart cities. So all these things should work together with digital technology because digital without disciplinary border. And here I show you the China Association of Science and Technology. In short, CAST is a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration within China. We have natural science, industrial technology and engineering, medical science, technology and engineering, agriculture science, technology and engineering and interdisciplinary institutions. Totally, there are more than 200 disciplinary-based institutions representing more than 40 million scientific, technological, engineering professionals. So this platform is idea for interdisciplinary collaboration but also for international collaboration because we have the consultative status to the United Nations. So we have worked closely together with IGF and we try to closer our collaboration. And another example is the World Federation of Engineering Organizations. Now I serve as the immediate past president. And this federation consists of more than 100 so-called national member organizations such as CAST is the Chinese national member of this federation. So our federation is a comprehensive engineering professional organization representing tens of millions engineering professionals across the world. And we are keen on to collaborate with IGF in the near future more closely to work with you all together for celebrating the dual transformations towards a sustainable future. I stop here. Thank you very much for your attention.

Xiaofeng Tao:
Thank you, Professor Gong. I appreciate it. Our second speaker is Professor Liu. Professor Liu is a director of global change research, data collection and repository. Professor Liu is also a professor of Institute of Geographic Science and Nature Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Science. Her topic is about open science for green and digital transition. Professor Liu, you have the floor.

Liu Chuang :
Thank you, Doctor. And I’m glad to be here and share the information with you. Just like Professor Gong said, we are mid-time, mid-term of the SDGs, so we need to accelerate for the actions. So now the challenging, what the challenge is, so now we are mid-term to the 2030s, so less than half of SDGs in the world realized, actually. So climate change, natural disaster, and the COVID, and all impact SDGs, especially in the mountain area, in the small islands, and the critical ecosystem regions. So this is what we next step. So what is the objective next step? So the only one thing is accelerate to the SDGs. We need to focus on the effort, and we need to work together for this target. So what’s the solution? Everybody has their own different organizations, have different… Thank you. So the solution is we need open science. This one. Okay. Oh, this is challenging. Actually, I already said. Accelerate to the SDGs. The solution is open science. The technology also, but the science need a link to the technology, so big data and the Internet of Things, and the link to the engineer, not only science, technology, but also engineering, and working with the cases, and not only talk, but we need to start in the even small village. So also we need together with the systematic management, and then culture diversity. So this is the solution. And so we need to cooperate together, all partners. So in this idea, so in China, we start a new project we call the Geographical Indications, Environment, and Sustainability. Strong name is GIES, and this is a decadal program from 2021 to 2030. So this is if we do this, we have infrastructure. So there was a background, so there is a World Data Center, we call it Global Change Research Center. such data publishing on the reportory, this World Data Center. And then open data, open knowledge, open the geographer site, let the people to visit this to understand what you are and what you are doing. And this infrastructure got the VCS prize in 2018. So, and then technology, we need to dig into the big data and the Internet of Things and then make this, how the product is sustainable. So we give the identifiers and the DOI on the digital object identifiers and the science and technology identifiers and the global change data and the World Data Center IDs. And also have a trademark, give you a trademark and then the quick response system. And the people can very quick to find where your product come from. And then GIS, we take the network, that is the internet. We internet in the internet, wireless and the wireless. And then we have this, sorry. Then data publisher articles and products and then even local observation stations and also the package for the product packages, all linked together. So this is a network in everything together so you can trace where the product come from, what the quality of the product. So in China now we have, there are last two years, we have 17 cases in whole different regions of China. So this is, there are many different kinds of things. So rice, maize, and the bird art and the apple and many, many different agriculture products and the high quality also. So the benefit, one of the benefit, so right now more than 600,000 local people get, farmers get benefit. They got the income, more income. And then customers, for example, maize is one of our customers. We are happy we got a high quality product. So we, because we have some little money, a little bit more money to buy that, but we have less idea which one is good. But from this project we can identify which one is a good one. It’s wider for me to buy that, to spend money. Many people like me go that. And also contributors got benefit. Money is a scientist and a government officer got credit. And then we have how to organize these kinds. We have different partners. So for we have the scientific committee and the program committee and the company programs and we work together. And then the key player, that is the Geography Society of China and the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources in Chinese Academy of Sciences. And then in the very beginning, we have 40 partners to join this program two years ago. But now we have 101 partners organizations to join this and they are very, very happy. So now, and this is a work is, and got a great deal from FAO. And FAO started in the new program as a one country, one priority product in the world. And then we work in the FAO, it was this. And then just a few in Bangladesh and several countries in Asia-Pacific, we start this program and they’re very, very, very welcome by different countries. So also we also support not only developing countries, but also industry countries. We work with the United, in the European Union in the Geography Indications Corporation. There, with China has agreement. So we have these ambitions and the change in the products from European, they are good wine and the China has a good tea, you know, they’re changing this. And then both of us need to, what the data is, what the quality is, where it come from? How about the culture? How about the socioeconomic development? And how make this a sustainable development? So the both information can open and end. So the summary, the GIS, the Innovative Methodologies, keyword is open science and the multi-stakeholder engagement. But the open science, not only science, but the link to the original geolocation and its environment, and the link to the product value chain and the open science methodology and technology and the engineering management in the geographical culture. Thank you very much.

Xiaofeng Tao:
Appreciate and thank you for your presentation. The third speaker is Ms. Tomoko Doko, the President and the CEO of Leisure and Science Consulting Limited Company. Her topic is on wildlife management in Japan for a sustainable future. Ms. Doko, please.

Tomoko Doko:
Thank you, Chairman, for introduction. Okay, my name is Tomoko Doko and I have a PhD degree, but I also, I got a hunting license in Japan after that. And today I’d like to talk about something about wildlife management in Japan for sustainable future. Okay, let’s talk about the general background of Japan and wildlife. As you can see in the picture on the right side, Japan’s main island consists of four primary islands, Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. And there are 97 terrestrial mammals in Japan, including 38 endemic species. Endemic species means the species only exist in Japan. Like the picture in the left side, the center one is Japanese sorrel. That is one example of endemic species in Japan. And let’s talk about wildlife management, why we have to focus today. Because wildlife management is a management process influencing interactions amongst and between wildlife, its habitat, and people to achieve predefined impacts. It attempts to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using the best available science. Here I introduce the most important Japanese law related to this issue. The official name of the law is Wildlife Protection, Control, and Hunting Management Act. This act conducts programs to implement for protecting and controlling wildlife and manages hunting in addition to protecting and controlling wildlife by preventing the risks related to the use of hunting equipment. There are three main components related to this act. The first one is control of population. That is the main purpose of today’s topic related to that we need to reinforce capturing. Second component is management of habitat of wildlife. The third one and the last one is countermeasures of damage prevention. Today I introduce two species of Japanese mammals. One is Shikadiya and another one is wild boar. Those two mammals make troubles in Japan. And what kind of troubles is, for example, in the crop damage, another example is forest area damage. Both Shikadiya and wild boar make significant damage in two domains. This is just example of the picture how the Shikadiya make damage to cropland or forest. The geographic distribution of two species become a critical problem in Japan. As you can see in this graphic from 1978, both species tended to have expanded their geographic distribution. Therefore, Japanese government decided to change the law. So revision of the law was done in 2015 and new goal was set up. The background why we need to do that is negative impact of ecosystem and crop damage by Shikadiya and wild boar has become more severe and we can’t ignore anymore. And people who can do population control of Shikadiya and wild boar has become reduced due to hunters, population decreases, or aging. Therefore, new system of certification of wildlife capture program so that the government can reinforce more capturing and grow up next generation of hunters is implemented. And Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries did set up a new goal that is by year of 2023, the government of Japan aims to reduce the population of Shikadiya and wild boar to their half of the one in the year of 2011. This is structure of the act and due to the time constraints, I focus on the second component, what is control of capturing wildlife. As you can see in the illustration, Shikadiya and wild boar are designated as wildlife species for control capture program. Very briefly, I introduce what countermeasures we should do. Either we do gun shooting or trap hunting. For the trap, as you can see in the picture ABC, there are three types. And for example, for the wild boar’s case in picture A, wild boar walk without noticing the location of the trap and then the leg can be captured by wire. The second one B is there is a box and we use a bait to attract wild boar or Shikadiya and when they touch the bait, the trap box will be closed. And the third one is a larger scale box type trap. The picture in C is kind of a small one but it could be much larger like 10 or 15 Shikadiya or wild boar could be inside. Then for the digital transitions and green transitions, there are some ICT systems and technologies were proposed and implemented in Japan. These are the examples. Basically, there are three main technologies using, for example, drones are used to monitor habitats or used for sensing technologies and remotely monitor the system like in the forest, for example, deer and wild boar are passing in front of the sensor system then they can report to the user directly through the wireless network. And also the last one is, for example, the system to count numbers or identify animal types so they can differentiate the Shikadiya or wild boar or how many wild boar are there. Then for this case, they can choose the timing when to close the door of trap by this kind of ICT technologies. This is for the current situation and the future. So far, we are doing good. The population of two species tend to be decreased, but we have data until 2019, so we don’t know right now. We should continue to reinforce capturing. Thank you very much.

Xiaofeng Tao:
Excellent presentations, thanks. Our first speaker is Mr. Kremers from Codata, Germany. His topic is on digital twins in action, complexity management, including process models and workflow standards. Mr. Kremers, you have the floor, please.

Horst Kremers:
Yeah, thank you very much for the introduction. Dear colleagues, best greetings from our colleagues from early morning Berlin time, Germany. And I’m very sorry not to have the opportunity to be with you in Kyoto because it’s a fantastic city in Japan. I have been there myself and I hope you enjoy the time also besides IGF conference in the city. My topic today is on digital twins in action, our complexity management, including process models and workflow standards. There are some words in that title that I personally hope that even in the sum up of in the discussion, we may find opportunity because there is a little bit of deficit what we are doing the last years and what we need to do next years when the complexity of what we handle becomes even much larger than we ever thought before. I’m working in the sustainable development goals in resilience topics in disaster prevention and disaster information management, urban information systems. And in that combination, there are, my background is in disasters and hazards. That is what can happen to our environment and to our fellow citizens. We have to try to do our best to be better in many things as that introductory presentation by Professor Kegong very convincingly stated. We’ve seen this and AI to support our society at large. …newspapers, then you see that our life is not very easy because we have to deal with all these things. There are certain facets for dealing with complexity issues, certain facets of urban resilience where we start not only from collecting data and see what we can do with the data, but we have to do a strategic approach, see the whole problem, and then look into the details how they fit together. We start from a holistic approach to information management for intelligent cities and smart cities, what we call it, which is characterized by societal demands, current problems and challenges in technology, financing, and so on. More advanced requirements of urban infrastructures, advanced requirements that we have been working in urban infrastructure since minimum 30 years in 3D. That is when 30 years ago, 25 years ago, we started with 3D urban models, and of course that is now very much advanced in technology and gives also much more problems in information management. There is technology behind that, laser scans becoming better and more sophisticated day by day. Then from the topics of safety and security, we have internal security, which is the security of citizens in the city. disaster prevention, that is what happens regularly. We cannot avoid the disaster, but we can better prepare our citizens to have not so many deaths and also not so many big loss of damaged infrastructure and so on. Ecological and climate perspective, social, sociological issues in the city, and fractionalized production and supply chains. This is one of the major things which makes a city being live, active, with the perspective that everything can happen, but it is not just facts, you see, not just static facts, but it also deals with what happens, and what has to be done. Other facets of urban resilience is gross agglomeration, and you see the problems of the real big cities, which in other parts, not only in Europe here, but much larger cities are in other countries in our world, and there are development problems, there are ecosystem problems, where we have to deal with health and things for our citizens in the city, and what I want to take your attention to is urban ecosystem services, that is the sustainable development principles of not only seeing what is the ecosystems, but what does the ecosystem do for our citizens, make life enjoyable, and have service for urban development, and so on. So this new topic, which came up two or three years ago only, very sophisticated systems of ecosystem services. I come back to these things also when I touch the aspect of processes. Without taking too much time to read, the last point is intelligent transport systems. That is where actually at the moment, there is here in Europe, also in Germany, very much work done in transport, railways transport, air transport, and so on, and much money and development put in intelligent transport systems, with a lot of detailed sensor systems all over, and that is a real stream, streams, multiple streams of information coming just in time. We have the notion, we come from from 3D urban models of different stages of granularity, now to the term of urban digital twins. Now digital twins is not about robotics, but it’s about having different, more sophisticated digital representation of what we call the urban sphere. That there are certain principles to start from the beginning, it’s common good, there is a value behind that, we have to deal with quality, adaptability, openness, security and privacy, curation, standards, and totally have federated models. These, in principle, these principles are not really absolutely new, but they have to deal with what I call much more massive information that becomes available. Granularity comes down to the fraction of millimeters, and information goes not only on top of the landscape, but it’s in the landscape, and it’s in the ground below the landscape. In urban terms, all the pipes and things below the surface of the urban infrastructure is absolutely important, together with all their function, water pipes, sewage systems and so on, metro systems, underground tunnels for transport and everything, to have these things with at least the same high-level digital principles of what we did on top of the ground, with the 3D, typical 3D models, that is something which is a challenge, also for the future, but not only challenges, but of course also perspective of doing much more of organizing our common space in the city. Herein, we have to organize these massive data and active data streams which come from censoring certain aspects in all these systems. We have to organize this in data spaces, and I just give you an overview of the recent data spaces that the European Union is working in, and that is from manufacturing to Green Deal, mobility, health, financial energy, and so on, and on the right of the slide you see smart communities, also mentioned for our action space. This is an open system where, of course, much more other spaces can be joined, but here is a lot of activity going, especially in mobility, the third entry from the left, mobility is, as I said, of absolute priority at the moment, and you see all the kind of industrial ecosystems that deal with that is from construction, tourism, textile, proximity, automotive, health, and so on, and that is what we don’t have, actually, we may discuss that later, we don’t have real good means how to deal with that complexity of information. The ontology of urban digital twins, that is kind of a common conceptualization, and the digital semantic models and procedural models what we are dealing with, that starts with terms, properties, identity, status, annotations, role, causalities, semantic networks, which is more or less known as a principle, and nevertheless we have to do much more with procedural networks, because there is action in the digital twins. The most challenging difference is that we don’t have only static facts, but as I said previously, all these things are on the fly, with sensors all around, information streams coming from every side, and the whole thing is not just for presentation, full stop, then you have the presentation, anyone else can take it, the presentation, but now the whole system is for direct steering the city. I’m not favoring a direct robot working behind that, nevertheless, for traffic management, traffic light management, traffic optimization or something, there is a lot of interactive connection to physical and digital, between physical and digital, but not in all cases that would be possible, but for handling this, we need procedural networks. That doesn’t happen just by chance, but we have to do models and discuss the models of this, and the ontologies that we set up would have, as ontologies on the ontology level, capabilities of comparison, different ontologies globally and through different cities, because at the moment, a lot of different proposals for having ontology of urban cities is on the table. There’s not yet a real international standard for it. We have to compare these ontologies, we have to do that automatically, because it’s so complicated systems. Imagine a data management plan for the whole digital urban twin, and so that is rather complex, and for comparison we need that automatism to do it. We have to function of union of ontologies, we have different subdomains which we model first, and then we have to merge these to get to a more complete holistic aspect of ontologies of the digital twins. We have to do generalization in the ontologies, because we have to deal with technical detailed structures, and we have to support upper management in the city, doing for decision support on very different organizational levels in the city. Coherence analysis, that is the question of, is that ontology and the details of data stored coherent with legal boundary conditions, with financial boundary conditions, with ethic boundary conditions, and so on. So this list is large, there is discussion in detail for this, but we don’t have the time at the moment. We have to homogenize the terminology, we do work on the formats and meta-information. Nevertheless, the most important thing for the future would be a new standardized workflows for standard operating procedures in this big information flow. At the same time, for doing these logistics just in time, we need to do something not just right just in time, but we have to implement just in time. This implementing just in time is the thing that we also have not very good experiences at the moment. Behavior models, the challenges, I come to the end of my presentation. Beside cloud computing, that is all things that is discussed, but also in the end, you’ll see also my hint to implementing just-in-time demands. This is absolutely new science needed behind that. Recommendation of action is, we have to record, work with scenarios, work on complexity management. We have absolute deficits in doing models of complexity management, sorry, but we have to, that is really urgent that we do about it. And for the full management, you see also the entry on the right side, audits, to have independent control of plans, implementations, and does it work, does it have the effect, does it reach the goal, what is planned for. Thank you for your attention, and I’m looking forward for the discussion, and here you have the download link of the presentation. I have more material for those who are interested in digital twins. I am very happy to have direct contact later. Thank you.

Xiaofeng Tao:
Thank you. And our fifth speaker is Professor Ricardo from Mexico. His topic is on challenges and commitments in digital technology and a sustainable environment according to the United States-Mexico- Canada agreement. Let’s welcome Professor Ricardo from Mexico. Thank you very much.

Ricardo Israel Robles Pelayo:
Thank you very much. Hello, everyone. I would like to thank Dr. Liu, Dr. Tao, Dr. Tomoto, and I would like to say hello to Keogh and Dr. Horst. Well, I would like to talk about the challenge and commitments in digital technology and sustainable environment according to the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement that is called USMCA. First, I would like to show how the legal framework is formed in Mexico, since it’s important to efficiently address the issue of challenge in the green and digital transitions towards a sustainable future. In general terms, our Mexican Constitution stands as the highest legal system followed by the international treaties, federal laws, and local legislation, along with the official Mexican regulations. In human rights, both our Constitution and international treaties occupy a place of equal importance, ensuring the protection and promoting of human rights in accordance with pro-person principles. Within our Constitution, Article 4 expressly recognizes that every person has a right to an environment adequate for their development and well-being. This underlines the relevance of environmental sustainability on our fundamental legislation. At the international level, Mexico has signed 62 international instruments on environmental matters, including notable events such as the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm and the United Nations Conference on Environment Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Among the most important treaties, USMCA seeks to establish a framework for economic and commercial cooperation between the three neighboring nations. Although the USMCA does not address specifically the use of digital technology in the environmental sustainability, it is undeniable that these two areas are crucial to the future of our societies and economies. Chapter 24 of the USMCA focuses on the environment and establishes goal to promote the protection and sustainable management of natural resources. This includes a commitment to create and effectively enforce environmental laws and comply with the international environmental agreements to which we are a party. Although the agreement addresses uses concerning digital technology, e-commerce and data protection, it is important to consider specific technological aspects with application in the environment. Harmonizing regulation and policies around these issues is a crucial challenge. Regarding the Mexican national legal framework, the environmental law, which is called in Spanish, Ley General de Equilibrio Ecológico y Protección al Medio Ambiente, in Article 5 promotes the application of technologies, equipment and processes that reduce pollution and promote scientific and technological research in favor of environment. As I mentioned at IEF 2021, authorities and civil sectors should consider using big data to generate and use cleaning and renewable energy. And the question is, what can we say about the use of artificial intelligence that is discussing during the current IEF in Kyoto? Well, well, I think this is important to know. it’s operation and applicability to protect the environment. Nowadays, the demand of sustainable and efficient electrical energy is an unavoidable priority. In this context, AI emerged as transformative tool that can revolutionize the generation and management of renewable energy. AI, through big data analysis and autonomous decision-making can improve the efficiency and reliability of renewable energy source such as solar and wind. As we can see, we have a solid legal framework to address the green and digital transitions towards a sustainable future. However, we need more. In addition, it is essential that authorities join together and collaborate closely with private business corporation, civil society, and academia to achieve the national and international levels. Moreover, with the support and advice of world experts like my colleagues in this workshop, we can, on one hand, learn from their experience and on the other hand, exchange ideas and strategies to build a green and sustainable world with the support of the technologies. Only by working together, we can take full advantage of these political and legal instruments and build a sustainable and equitable future for all. In addition to above, some of the challenge where technological strategies must be implemented are reduce greenhouse gas emission and in all economic sectors, promoting the adoption of more clean technologies as sustainable practices. Second, to continue with regional and global cooperation and investing in digital infrastructure thus facilitating the transition to a digital and sustainable economy. Third, ensure equity and social justice in the transition through training and skills development so that communities affected by changes in the industry can fully participate in the digital and green economy. And final, continue working on the harmonization of standards and norms related to technology and the environment between the three countries thus facilitating trade and cooperation in areas crucial to the sustainable future of North America. Thank you very much for the invitation again.

Xiaofeng Tao:
Thank you, Professor Ricardo. Maybe there is a technical problem. So our sixth presentation, the presenter is offline for the time being. So we move to open discussion. First of all, I have three questions for our expert. After that, let’s see any onsite or online participant have some questions or comments. There’s three questions. So the first question focus on key challenges on the government issues. The second, focus on strengthening the cooperation among multiple stakeholders. And the third, focus on policy framework, policy guideline, regulations, something like this. So I hope our expert select maybe one, two, three, or please. First, Professor Liu.

Liu Chuang :
Yeah, I think there’s a challenging and for the future under the new transition, I think challenging is, I think challenging is how to make the weak people developing countries at least and especially for the mountain areas, small islands, countryside, villages. There’s so weak people. We need to call all communities, government, international organizations, pay more attention to these people. These people need the help. They really need this hungry free, poverty reduction for disaster, you know, save. So I think the challenging is how we can pay more attention to these people. Not only cities, not only rich people. So this, from my experience, working with these guys, these people, I pay more attention to this, I think. So challenging is science, technology, ICTs, everything, commercial issues, whether we can work together in a best way for them. This is my opinion, my experience.

Xiaofeng Tao:
Yes. Thank you, Professor Liu. Professor Ricardo.

Ricardo Israel Robles Pelayo:
Well, I would like to ask the same question. And I’m going to talk about the law point of view. And as I say, it’s important that the authorities get actively involved in the international forums such like this, the IGF. In fact, I am especially happy because some Mexicans parliamentarians who are interested in the internet governance issues attended this IGF in Kyoto. Without any doubt, this is a great start. Now, it’s important that they do an excellent job in materializing the creation of laws and their due promotion to achieve the goal of taking advantage of the digital and green transitions for sustainable development. Thank you.

Xiaofeng Tao:
Thank you. Miss Tomoko.

Tomoko Doko:
Okay, about the question A, the challenges, I would like to give my opinion to probably the developing countries and industrialized countries situations are completely different. But how I feel now is, for example, the government officers, scientists, and private sectors, there are many people who work on those issues very seriously. However, they tend to work independently. In a way, I feel they work separately in isolation sometimes. In that case, what I feel is some people or organization who can bond these people are lacking. So the people or organizations who could function like bridge or bond will be necessary for future as a challenge in my understanding. Thank you.

Xiaofeng Tao:
Thank you. And Mr. Kremers.

Horst Kremers:
Yeah, I think on governance issues is something where in science, we lag behind. There is a lot of new methodology, not only develop existing methodology, but new methodology needed for complexity and processes. But science is not working alone. As also other speakers, I’m also interested to learn more from Ricardo experiences in Mexico. We have to deal with the administrations people. And I say they are, as I know here from Germany, for big data and complex data, administrations are not so really well equipped. And sometimes it’s an educational setting also needed. So how do we need the needed competencies? Because after science experience and it works, the whole thing normally goes into administration for operational long-term systems running for the service of citizens. That is not only a scientific part. And these kind of governance needed to set these up in a participative mode, as Ricardo also said, we are not only with the government, but also with citizens. Citizens are not general citizens. There are engineers, there are doctors, there are health specific agencies and so on in the service of people. These kind of actors need to discuss with us. And that is what we need to support. Thank you.

Xiaofeng Tao:
Thank you. Please close this one, this presentation. Yeah, so to answer participation, do we have any questions or comments to our four speakers today? Please.

Audience:
Yeah, hi, good afternoon. My name is Tarek Hassan. I’m the head of the Digital Transformation Center Vietnam. I’m working on behalf of the Federal German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, GIZ Vietnam. My question is to Tomoko-san. I was very inspired by the work you do, since we also focus on facilitating the green and digital trend transition. I was wondering more on the ministry collaboration, because I think you mentioned two ministries, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Rural Development, or some sort of ministry focused on biodiversity. Sorry that I don’t have this name in the top of my head. But I was wondering what the division of labor is also with the role of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. So is this more within the sort of jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environment? Is also the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan also working on biodiversity issues? I think this bounds back to the question of, do the green folks work on digital, or do the digital folks work on green? And what are the sort of collaboration mechanisms surrounding that? Thank you so much.

Tomoko Doko:
Thank you for your questions. Maybe I can show my PowerPoint again. Zuwei, could you show my PowerPoint? PowerPoint, please. Around the page nine. Page nine. Okay, the two ministries you are talking is first, Ministry of Environment. That’s called MOE in English, in short. Another one is Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. In short, we call it MAFF, M-A-F-F. Page nine, please. Okay. Maybe I can control it. Okay, yeah. And what’s a different function of these two ministries? MOE is, for example, what I introduced this law, the Wildlife Protection Control and Hunting Management Act that was proposed and revised under the authority of Ministry of Environment. And what is another ministry, MAFF, is doing is they are in charge of agriculture. And they have the land, for example, if their land belong to the government, we call it National Forest. They are in charge of National Forest, too. So MOE and MAFF have a lot of overlapping issues, especially about this Shikadia and wild boars population control, they need to collaborate. Due to the time constraints, I did not introduce very much in detail. But basically, there are the consultation between two ministries. The introduction I did about this new goal, new goal was set up together by two ministries. So this is a common goal by two ministries and also common goal of Japanese government, too. And also inside, how say, under the ministry, there are the prefectures. And under the prefectures, there are the cities and villages, too, in Japan. So how to collaborate is, I did not explain very much, but in this figure, red color means the country’s work. And blue color means prefecture’s work. So they work together in some domain, like I mentioned the second component, control of capturing wildlife. Government should do something and the prefecture should do something together. But some work is divided, how say, independently, too. Yeah, so basically, a country prepares, how say, basic guideline and law. And under that, prefectures do the practical programs. The implementation of programs will be done by prefectures. That is how they collaborate each other. Did I answer your question?

Audience:
The question that for us is really interesting is how do you build up capacity within the ministries? Because you mentioned IoT devices that are being deployed. So is that technical capacity for digital transformation you build within the ministries? Is that something that you outsource? Do you work together with the digital ministry? Or does the digital ministry actually have a role in that?

Tomoko Doko:
In my understanding, there is agency of digital ministry was newly developed inside of cabinet. But they are in charge of issues about, for example, the number identification of human, for example. And not doing, how say, this kind of work very much. The ICT techniques and technologies I mentioned and introduced today were proposed by private sectors. And so what we are doing is from the top level, high level, Ministry of Environment and Math collaborated together to set up a goal as a government. And for necessity, they sometimes need to change the revised act. And based on this revision, private sectors and prefectures start to work on it. I belong to private sector. So I got the certification of implementer of this program. So prefecture develop a program and we are implementing this program. So like that kind of collaboration is occurring in Japan.

Audience:
Yeah, we talk about the twin transition. So what kind of data could be accepted, for example, how do we know the data is good data or poor data we are using, to Professor Liu.

Liu Chuang :
Yeah, good question. So there’s big data in the society now, a bunch of data comes. But how to identify which data is trustable? Which data is good, can be used for your research or for your business? So this is a really challenging, a good question, thank you. And then, you know, there are data divided to different sources, some data from government, some from private sectors, and some from the research, university research sectors. So this is, there are different policies, and then how to open there. And then, for research part, for most of the research part, I’m from Chinese Academy of Sciences. They are, in the whole world, we have their World Data System. World Data System is under the International Science Council. There are, totally there are 86 world data centers in the system. So there is a peer review for the data set for peer review, because all the data come from research part, different scientists, there are different ideas, different methodologies, and different results. So how to make sure this, that we should control, one is whose data, so whose author of the data. So there’s a, we need to protect original authors, where the data come from. And then, where the data, how the data produced, in which model, in which methodology, and make this, you need to have a curation about the data. And second one, we need to check, check what, check this data security. And different policy, different countries, different organizations, whether this is private or personal, security, business security, and so on. We need to check this. And then, we need to check the security, and then check that there’s a quality, data quality. So how do data quality, for geographer, I’m geographer, so geographer, there are different processes, table, test stand, and then the roster, geolocation, different resolution, and it’s very, very complicated, but we need experts, experts to review this kind of data. So there is, we got, our data center is Global Change Research Data Publishing and Reporting, based through the publishing methodology, and the peer review, got it, and the data could be very trustable. So we call this trustable. So I call you, and if you have data, you go to the World Data Center system. That data is, there is an international regulation, and put them, make this trustable. Thank you.

Daisy Selematsela:
Yes, the internet is a challenge where I am. Okay, go ahead, please. Yes, let me go ahead. Yes, please. Okay. Thank you, colleagues. What we want to highlight with you is how we actually look at open access repositories as an accelerator in enhancing our South African SDG hub. And these are all the same data. So I just want to move quickly, based on the time, that we are aware that the African leaders have responded to the SDG agenda by setting their regional priorities based on their common African position. And in post to that, we also looked at the African Union Agenda 2063. And this is what highlights us for sustainability issues. And we also look at the African Union Agenda 2063. And this is what highlights us for sustainability issues. And the African Union Agenda places prominence on research and innovation for sustainable development. And important development is the formulation of the SDGs with a universal recognition of the importance of quality education, especially in the Global South, which is on goal four. And when we look at the goal four targets of particular relevance to us who are in knowledge management and knowledge production, we look at repositories, data stewards, libraries, and information specialists, which is aligned to goal three, which is how to ensure the livelihood and the well-being of our population. So how do we come in from where we are with what we want to do regarding sustainable development and sustainability? We look at goal three and then goal four. And then goal four on education targets the issues around who are the actual role players, especially those who are involved in knowledge production, and who bears the responsibility on the complex and interrelated issues of accessibility and affordability of knowledge resources. And I just want to indicate that knowledge management and its impact on SDGs is highlighted within the four areas. We’re looking at availability, accessibility, acceptability, and adaptability. And here we’re looking at how do we actually facilitate sharing of information, accessibility, the roles that information literacy programs play, and acceptability, making available open source academic journals. Because if you want to address the SDGs, we need to be looking at all these things. The other aspect is the issue of adaptability. And here, how do we consider the training of researchers, policymakers, citizen science, and public outreach support to ensure the application of knowledge in solving the key global disaster health problems? And I would just want to indicate that we have the indicators that are key to us in the Global South, and especially in Southern Africa where we are. We look at the amount of research and development spent around the gross domestic product, which we spend 50% of our annual investment in research and development performed in South Africa comes from international partners. We also look at the indicator on qualitative measurement of use and access to ICTs, and especially now we’re looking at the fourth industrial revolution. Also, the ability to produce high-expert technology, and also the issue around higher education internationalization, because we know that our scientists and researchers and our postgraduate students, they are international, and they co-publish and so forth. And like what we are doing today, we are co-presenting. And also, we look at the indicators on the number of scientists the country produces and the number of patents that are filed in our country. And what’s important also is the number or the impact of articles published in highly ranked journals. And these are the indicators that are highlighted. And quickly, the influences of our indicators, especially in Southern Africa, is the issues around governments’ strategies on national research development strategy, the Higher Plan for Education, for example, the Plan for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths, which is the 10-year innovation plan from our Minister of Science and Innovation. And we also have our South African Open Science Draft Policy that’s also assisting us. So, Amodjar, I will now leave to my colleague, Lazaros, to touch base on how do we support the knowledge for sustainable development, and how do we capture the SDGs. Lazaros, you can come in.

Lazaros:
Morning, colleagues. I’m just going to touch quickly, because of time, on some of the things that we are doing. So, in South Africa, through the National Advisory Council, our strategy is to support repositories, as you can see here, working with universities, research councils, national facilities, institutions, museums, and others. So, these are basically where we are trying to ensure that they fall within the institutional policies that they are prioritizing, to ensure that they can generate content that they are producing, and link it into all the repositories that we can push. So, in terms of these, there are two policies, which the first one is research outputs, which each and every university produces. And then the second one is the creative outputs. This could be your film arts, visual arts, music, theater, design, et cetera. So, what we have so far tried is to ensure that all the universities have a repository, both for publications and data, and also through the University of Pretoria. There has been a project where we have developed the South African SDG app to harvest all the collections that are within the universities. This also has to be the issue that is raised, that we need to train our librarians to be able to index some of this content, to ensure that they fall within the SDG criteria, and through a taxonomy, a national taxonomy, that is also supported by the National Development Agenda of the country. So, if we look, I’m not going to touch much. So, the leverage for open access is through the library experts that we are also capacitating within the repository fields, and to ensure that the repositories also fall within the best practices around the world. And also, they have a choice, but most of the organized universities are using DSPACE as a software, and through DSPACE, we are able to collaborate to fix problems that can happen, and et cetera. So, these are some of the repositories that are in the institutions, and also, you can see the data repositories that are created so far from some of the research intensive universities, and also the OJS system. Thank you, Chair.

Xiaofeng Tao:
Thank you, Professor Daisy and Mr. Lazarus. I’m right? I’m sorry. So, I think Professor Zhou is a remote moderator, so whether there are any questions or comments from online. Professor Zhou.

Online moderator:
Yes, Professor Tao. I think I had a few questions online, but due to time restriction, I’m not sure if our speaker can respond to all the questions. There is a question from Andrej Khrushchev from Common Funds for Communities. He indicates global commodity value chain is very complex. Could the speaker speculate how technology could support the green transition for security, energy efficiency? I think also, Halster raised his hand. I don’t know if he has any response or any question. I’ll pass the floor to the onsite chair, Professor Tao, to you. Yes, thank you.

Horst Kremers:
Just a short remark, because such questions are unusual in our normal working groups. There are professions around, as Andrej represents, which would be needed to join the whole thing for all these consequences of what we are doing, not just collecting data. We are doing these processes for certain purposes. And as Andrej said, for green transition, for food security, energy efficiency, and so on, transport efficiency, all these data spaces that I mentioned in my view graphs, they come together and we have to find out how to put them together. There are models in food security, there are models in energy efficiency. In the other view graphs, I said we have to join these ontologies. This is a problem for itself, and I hope to stay in contact for doing more in that direction.

Xiaofeng Tao:
Okay, thank you. I think there is no more questions right now. Because the time is limited. Yes. Okay. Okay, thank you, Professor Zhou. Due to our limited time today, and all of the speakers presented many excellent points of view, I might need maybe another one or two hours to conclude. So this is the end of this workshop. And we want to extend our most profound appreciation to all the experts for their expansional presentations, to both on-site and online participants for their insightful questions, and of course to organizers whose dedication and tireless effort make this workshop a success. Thank you very much. Thank you. I would like to call all of you to come here. We get together to take a picture. Okay? Very good. Good. Come on. So maybe we get to know each other, and next year we can meet again. Thank you. I’d like to take the opportunity to give my special regards to Liu Chuang, for we worked together now more than 20 years in these topics, and I hope we can do so for the future. Thank you. Thank you.