United Nations High-Level Leaders’ Dialogue

Summary

This discussion was a high-level UN leaders dialogue focused on digital cooperation and the 20-year anniversary of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process. The session brought together representatives from various UN agencies and international organizations to discuss how digital technologies can advance sustainable development goals while addressing emerging challenges.

The dialogue emphasized that digital technologies are tools that must serve people-centered development rather than being ends in themselves. Speakers highlighted the critical importance of addressing the digital divide to ensure AI and emerging technologies benefit everyone, not just developed nations. The World Trade Organization noted that widespread AI adoption could boost global trade growth by 14 percentage points through 2040, but uneven adoption would cut these gains in half and leave low-income countries behind.

Climate change and disaster risk reduction emerged as key areas where digital technologies show tremendous promise. The World Meteorological Organization and UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction discussed how AI and digital tools are revolutionizing early warning systems, impact-based forecasting, and real-time risk assessment. These technologies enable better prediction of extreme weather events and help communities prepare more effectively.

The discussion also addressed the transformation of work, with the International Labour Organization noting that while AI may displace some jobs, it will augment many others, requiring comprehensive reskilling programs. Human rights considerations were emphasized as fundamental to ensuring digital technologies serve humanity’s best interests rather than exacerbating inequalities.

Several speakers stressed the importance of international cooperation and coordination within the UN system to avoid fragmentation in digital governance. The session concluded with recognition that achieving inclusive digital transformation requires collaborative efforts across all sectors and stakeholders, with the WSIS framework providing a proven platform for multi-stakeholder cooperation in advancing technology for sustainable development.

Keypoints

## Major Discussion Points:

– **Digital Technologies for Crisis Management and Early Warning Systems**: Extensive discussion on how AI and digital tools are revolutionizing disaster risk reduction, climate change response, and early warning systems. Speakers emphasized the importance of impact-based forecasting, real-time risk tracking, and ensuring these technologies reach all regions to bridge the digital divide in crisis preparedness.

– **Skills Development and Workforce Transformation in the AI Era**: Focus on preparing workers and leaders for AI-driven changes, including the need for reskilling programs, digital literacy for leaders, and ensuring decent work standards are maintained as jobs transform. Discussion covered both the displacement risks and augmentation opportunities that AI presents across various sectors.

– **UN System Digital Transformation and Coordination**: Significant emphasis on how the UN system itself must modernize and coordinate its digital infrastructure to avoid fragmentation. Speakers discussed building common digital cores, shared AI capabilities, and leveraging collective expertise while maintaining security and trust across the system.

– **Inclusive Digital Development and Bridging Divides**: Comprehensive discussion on ensuring digital technologies benefit everyone, particularly vulnerable populations including refugees, rural communities, and developing nations. Emphasis on connectivity, affordability, and creating digital public goods that don’t leave anyone behind.

– **Governance, Ethics, and Human Rights in Digital Transformation**: Focus on establishing proper regulatory frameworks, combating disinformation, protecting human rights in digital spaces, and ensuring ethical AI deployment. Discussion included the need for international cooperation on standards and the importance of human-centered approaches to technology development.

## Overall Purpose:

This discussion was part of the WSIS+20 review process, bringing together UN system leaders to demonstrate coordinated approaches to digital transformation. The session aimed to showcase how different UN agencies are leveraging digital technologies to advance their mandates while working collaboratively toward inclusive, sustainable digital development that serves the 2030 Agenda and supports vulnerable populations globally.

## Overall Tone:

The discussion maintained a consistently collaborative and optimistic tone throughout, emphasizing partnership and shared responsibility. Speakers demonstrated enthusiasm for digital possibilities while acknowledging challenges realistically. The tone was professional yet passionate, with leaders showing genuine commitment to inclusive digital transformation. There was a strong sense of urgency about coordinating efforts and ensuring no one is left behind in the digital revolution, but this was balanced with confidence in the UN system’s collective ability to address these challenges through cooperation.

Speakers

**Speakers from the provided list:**

– **Doreen Bogdan Martin** – ITU Secretary General

– **Tomas Lamanauskas** – ITU Deputy Secretary General, moderator of the session

– **Ko Barrett** – Deputy Secretary General, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

– **Kamal Kishore** – Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction

– **Johanna Hill** – World Trade Organization (WTO)

– **Sameer Chauhan** – UN Nations International Computing Center

– **Michelle Gyles McDonnough** – UNITAR

– **Rosemarie McClean** – UN Joint Staff Pension Fund

– **Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona** – UN Research Institute for Social Development

– **Celeste Drake** – Deputy Director General, ILO International Labour Organization

– **Peggy Hicks** – Human rights perspective (specific title not mentioned)

– **Ciyong Zou** – UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization)

– **Tawfik Jelassi** – UNESCO, former chair of UNGIS process

– **Gilles Carbonnier** – International Committee for Red Cross

– **Kelly T. Clements** – UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)

– **Maximo Torero** – FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)

**Additional speakers:**

No additional speakers were identified beyond those listed in the provided speakers names list.

# UN Leaders Dialogue on Digital Cooperation: WSIS+20 High-Level Discussion

## Executive Summary

This high-level dialogue brought together UN system leaders to examine digital cooperation and mark the 20-year anniversary of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process. The session, moderated by ITU Deputy Secretary General Tomas Lamanauskas, featured a two-panel discussion with leaders from across the UN system discussing how digital technologies can advance sustainable development goals whilst addressing emerging challenges.

ITU Secretary General Doreen Bogdan Martin opened the session by highlighting the significance of ITU’s 160th anniversary and the importance of the WSIS+20 process leading to the December General Assembly review. The discussion emphasised that digital technologies must serve people-centred development rather than being pursued as ends in themselves, with speakers demonstrating remarkable consensus on fundamental principles whilst revealing nuanced differences in implementation approaches.

## Major Thematic Areas

### Digital Technologies for Crisis Management and Early Warning Systems

The discussion extensively explored how AI and digital tools are revolutionising disaster risk reduction and climate change response. Ko Barrett, Deputy Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization, emphasised that the digital divide significantly affects the ability to tackle climate change and provide early warnings globally. She highlighted WMO’s early warning initiative covering more than 100 countries affecting over 700 million people, noting that digital infrastructure is essential for flash flood warnings and impact-based forecasting.

Kamal Kishore from the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction provided a particularly thought-provoking perspective on dynamic risk creation. He explained that “risk is being created as a result of millions of people’s actions” and questioned how to track this in real time. His example of urban flooding illustrated this complexity: “If you look at flash flood or urban flood in the same city in two different seasons, it’s entirely different because the city has changed in that time.”

Kishore advocated for AI and digital tools to track exposure, predict systemic risks, and empower communities in disaster preparedness. He emphasised understanding how risks ripple across interconnected systems – power, telecommunications, banking, and markets – requiring comprehensive analysis of these complex relationships.

### Skills Development and Workforce Transformation

The transformation of work emerged as a central concern. Celeste Drake from the International Labour Organisation noted that 25% of jobs will be transformed by AI, requiring comprehensive reskilling programmes whilst maintaining decent work standards. She emphasised that whilst AI may displace some positions, it will augment many others, necessitating proactive workforce development strategies.

Michelle Gyles McDonnough from UNITAR highlighted concerns about the digital knowledge gap between leaders and the people they lead. She stressed that leaders need digital literacy, ethics, collaboration skills, and continuous learning capabilities to navigate the AI era effectively.

Tawfik Jelassi from UNESCO provided concrete examples of capacity building initiatives, including training African civil servants on AI and digital transformation. He also mentioned UNESCO’s “For an Internet of Trust” initiative and the global fund for investigative journalism as part of broader efforts to combat disinformation.

### UN System Digital Transformation and Coordination

A significant portion focused on how the UN system itself must modernise and coordinate its digital infrastructure. Sameer Chauhan from the UN International Computing Centre argued that fragmentation in UN technology creates bottlenecks preventing effective mandate delivery. He advocated for building a common digital core and shared AI solutions to accelerate UN partner capabilities.

Rosemarie McClean from the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund provided compelling evidence of successful digital transformation within the UN system. Despite initial scepticism about whether pensioners would adopt new technology, over 55% now use facial recognition technology for pension services. This success story, which won the Secretary General’s Award for Innovation and Sustainability and received ISO certification for ethical use of AI, has evolved into the UN Digital ID initiative serving 100 billion in plan assets, 150,000 active staff, and 90,000 pensioners.

Tomas Lamanauskas highlighted how the WSIS framework enables UN system coordination through the UN Group on Information Society and WSIS Action Alliance, providing a proven platform for multi-stakeholder cooperation over two decades.

### Inclusive Digital Development and Bridging Divides

The discussion comprehensively addressed ensuring digital technologies benefit everyone, particularly vulnerable populations. Kelly T. Clements from UNHCR brought attention to the 123 million displaced people who need connectivity for survival, services, and solutions. She outlined the Connect for Refugees initiative, which aims to connect 20 million refugees and host communities.

Johanna Hill from the World Trade Organisation provided quantitative evidence of the digital divide’s economic impact. WTO simulations found that widespread AI adoption could boost global trade growth significantly, but warned that uneven adoption would cut these gains in half and prevent low-income countries from realising AI-related productivity gains.

Hill identified three critical challenges: the digital divide, lack of inclusive governance, and regulatory fragmentation. She emphasised the need for more inclusive governance spaces where developing countries can meaningfully participate in AI and digital policy decisions.

Maximo Torero from FAO introduced the concept of “Three Cs” – connectivity, content, and capabilities – as essential elements for effective digital technology deployment. His perspective grounded the discussion in practical reality, noting that “AI is not food. So we cannot eat AI” and highlighting resource trade-offs in digital expansion, including energy consumption concerns.

### Governance, Ethics, and Human Rights

Human rights considerations featured prominently throughout the discussion. Peggy Hicks from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights emphasised that the human rights framework provides the foundation for AI development that serves sustainable development goals rather than just generating profits.

Tawfik Jelassi connected technical challenges to broader social cohesion concerns, stating that “without facts there is no truth, and without truth there is no trust, and without trust there is no shared reality upon which we can act.” He identified disinformation as a critical global risk requiring platform governance that combats misinformation whilst protecting freedom of expression.

Gilles Carbonnier from the International Committee of the Red Cross raised unique concerns about digital technologies in armed conflicts. He noted that international humanitarian law must apply to digital technologies and highlighted that the Global Digital Compact lacks mention of armed conflicts. He proposed developing a digital protective emblem to mark and protect humanitarian servers and websites.

## Key Areas of Consensus

The discussion revealed strong consensus around several themes. All speakers agreed that the digital divide creates significant barriers to accessing the benefits of digital technologies. Multi-stakeholder collaboration was universally recognised as essential for effective digital governance, with speakers emphasising coordinated efforts across governments, civil society, private sector, and international organisations.

Human rights and ethical frameworks received unanimous support as necessary guides for digital technology development. Skills development and capacity building were universally recognised as critical for digital transformation, with speakers agreeing that comprehensive programmes are needed for leaders, workers, and civil servants.

## Implementation Tensions

Whilst showing remarkable consensus on fundamental goals, some tensions emerged around implementation approaches. The most significant disagreement concerned the UN’s role in AI and digital technology development versus application.

Sameer Chauhan advocated for the UN building common AI capabilities and technology infrastructure. In contrast, Maximo Torero argued that the UN’s comparative advantage lies in understanding demand-side challenges rather than supply-side AI development, stating that “our comparative advantage is on the other side, on the demand side.”

Torero also uniquely raised energy consumption concerns, noting resource trade-offs between digital expansion and basic electrification needs, representing an unresolved tension between digital advancement and resource constraints.

## Research and Development Needs

Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona from the UN Research Institute for Social Development highlighted critical research needs for understanding ICT impact on education, social protection, and inequality reduction. She emphasised that more research is needed on AI’s impact on social development and how digital platforms can promote social justice.

Ciyong Zou from UNIDO provided insights into how AI is reshaping manufacturing into a service-based industry, requiring new industrial policies and enabling environments rather than traditional approaches.

## Unresolved Challenges

Several significant challenges remain unresolved, including regulatory fragmentation and diverging approaches to data governance and AI standards. The balance between AI energy consumption and rural electrification needs represents a fundamental resource allocation challenge requiring careful consideration.

The application of international humanitarian law to digital technologies in armed conflicts remains inadequately addressed in current frameworks. Managing comprehensive workforce transitions and addressing market concentration in AI technologies whilst creating public goods present ongoing governance challenges.

## Conclusion and Way Forward

The discussion demonstrated the UN system’s strong institutional coherence on digital governance approaches whilst revealing the complexity of implementation challenges. The WSIS framework’s 20-year track record provides a proven platform for multi-stakeholder cooperation, with the WSIS+20 process leading to the December General Assembly review and the Global Digital Compact offering pathways for continued collaboration.

The dialogue reinforced that achieving inclusive digital transformation requires collaborative efforts across all sectors and stakeholders, with technology serving human needs rather than being pursued for its own sake. The consensus around human-centred approaches, combined with practical evidence of successful implementation, provides a strong foundation for continued progress towards digital cooperation that leaves no one behind.

As Lamanauskas noted in managing the session’s collaborative spirit, the discussion’s emphasis on the UN system’s comparative advantage in understanding demand-side challenges positions international organisations as crucial intermediaries between technological capabilities and human needs, ensuring that the digital revolution serves sustainable development and human welfare.

Doreen Bogdan Martin: Thank you. Thank you, Selena. Mr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. We have heard over the past couple of days from ministers, from regulators, from our WSIS Prize winners, and now it’s time to hear from our UN family. And I think, Mr. President, it’s sort of perfect timing as you called out all of us to come together to be cohesive and to be coordinated. This gathering, this panel, I would say, is sort of extra special for us as a system because, of course, this week we are marking two decades of the WSIS process. And as we look to renew our commitment to the WSIS vision of a people-centered, inclusive, and development-oriented information society, we need to take stock and reflect. Over the past 20 years, the WSIS has proven that multi-stakeholder cooperation works, and the collaboration between these organizations that you will see on this panel is proof. Together, we have created this time-tested platform where governments, civil society, academia, the private sector, international organizations, and the UN system can drive progress towards a shared goal. A shared goal of putting technology at the service of sustainable digital development for all. Today’s session reflects the breadth of that cooperation across the entire UN system and beyond. Colleagues, since we came together at last year’s WSIS, so much has transpired. Last September, UN member states adopted the Pact of the Future and the Global Digital Compact, and the GDC, of course, is a key milestone on the way to the WSIS Plus 20 review that will conclude in December at the General Assembly in New York. Of course, the UN80 process is also underway, and our own digital transformation as a UN system where we seek to reaffirm our relevance in a rapidly changing world. Together, the UN80 initiative, the Global Digital Compact, they help to provide this transformative framework for a more inclusive, more efficient, and impactful United Nations. Today, you’ll hear from my colleagues about institutional knowledge, about their own personal commitments in how we can advance this inclusive, equitable, and sustainable digital development. These values are at the core of the WSIS, the WSIS vision, the WSIS action lines as we mark these milestone moments. So, I invite you, ladies and gentlemen, let’s leverage this WSIS Plus 20 process. Let’s also leverage the UN80 process. For my own organization, we will leverage our 160th birthday and work together to ensure that we strengthen collaboration across the UN system because, as the President said, together, and we must be together, we can carry this WSIS vision forward well into the next two decades, aided, of course, by the objectives and the principles that I mentioned in the Global Digital Compact. With that, ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to turn to my deputy. We have Thomas Lemanouskas, the ITU’s Deputy Secretary General. He’s going to lead us in this session. Thomas has also been championing our green digital action, our submarine cable resilience, and we heard from the President, who was also with you in Sevilla at the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, our work around digital infrastructure investment, which is key to helping ensure that we connect the unconnected, and we bring those 2.6 billion people online. With that, ladies and gentlemen, I will hand the floor over to Thomas, who will lead us in the next part of our deliberations. Thank you.

Tomas Lamanauskas: So, thank you very much, Doreen, really, for this amazing introduction and, indeed, setting the stage so well for our High-Level Leaders Dialogue of United Nations leaders. And, indeed, it’s a real pleasure to have today here, I think, at least 40 UN delegations, and 14 of the leaders will be here today at this stage with you in a two-part panel to make sure that we are able to hear from anyone. And, of course, UN System – WSIS Framework also allowed UN System to organize itself very well with the UN Group on Information Society, where we don’t just meet once a year, we actually deliver. We deliver through the framework of WSIS Action Alliance, make sure that, as the President said, the digital solutions are not just a technology, but actually impact everyone’s lives. So, with that, the first set of speakers, if I could invite on the stage, is Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction. I think we’ll have Kamal on the stage, I hope, no? Okay, please, Kamal. And then, yes, indeed, we already have – so, then we have, I see already, colleagues are coming. I have on my list also Joanna Hill from World Trade Organization. I have on my list these – so, Joanna is here. I have Sameer Shahan. So, Sameer is here. I have Michele Zayas-McDonough from UNITAR. I have Rosemary McLean from UN Joint Staff Pension Fund. We have Magdalena Sapulveda-Carmona from UN Research Institute of Social Development. And we have Co Barrett, that’s next to me, as well from World Meteorological Organization. So, welcome here, and I’ll take the seat next to you to moderate. Thank you. So, I really appreciate, colleagues, and indeed, we have a very dynamic session, so I’ll have to remoderate this also job to be unpopular. So, one of my parts of being unpopular is reminding you three minutes, and we’re running slightly over the schedule, so I’ll really be a bit of annoying if we go above, but I feel that we have a lot to say now, and of course, these three minutes will work just well for us. So, maybe I’ll actually start from the order we’re sitting, to make sure that we just go smoothly. So, we’ll start, actually, with Co Barrett, Deputy Secretary General of the MLMO, World Meteorological Organization, and ITU’s great partner. We have a lot of initiatives, very importantly, also early warnings for all, and we’ll hear also later on from Kamal, I guess, on this as well. So, indeed, Co, in what ways does the digital divide affect our ability to tackle the global climate change? You know, the challenge of today. So, let’s get started with you, please.

Ko Barrett: Thanks, Thomas. Hello, colleagues. Well, I think it’s fair to say that the climate crisis is escalating. Last year was the first time that the global average temperature for the planet was over 1.5 degrees C. Temporarily surpassing an important target within the climate negotiations, but it’s also fair to say that most of us don’t feel climate in terms of average global temperatures. We feel it in terms of extremes, and these are becoming more frequent, more intense, and more destructive. It’s not a future threat. We’re seeing it every day. I venture to say that most of us will know someone who’s been directly affected by an extreme in the very near future, if not already. So, we have this major escalating problem, but we also have tools to address this problem. We have satellites that are constantly observing the Earth. We have supercomputers that are generating forecasts and early warnings. We have data-driven models that can help communities to prepare and act, and all of this is made potentially faster and better with artificial intelligence and machine learning. Within our organization, we have the key challenge of predicting weather and climate extremes through temperature, through rainfall, through winds, but really, we need to translate those parameters into impacts. We call it impact-based forecasting, because most of us, while it’s helpful to know how much rainfall is expected, what’s really essential to know is whether there will be a flash flood. So, we’re involved in some active partnerships where we are working to provide advanced early warning for flash floods that are now extending into a week ahead of time. Im and the team at the time in more than 100 countries affecting over 700 million people. But, and I’m sure this will be a theme for all of us, that digital, those digital advances are not even across the globe. And we actually need to make sure that every region can access critical data, early warnings and the digital infrastructure that’s required. You know, we, Kamal, ITU, IFRC, WMO, our organizations are all involved in the early warning for all initiative, which works across an entire value chain of providing information from determining the risks that are anticipated, in our case, providing forecasts, working with ITU to get that information into the hands of people who need to have the warnings, and then working with our other partners to make sure that we’re anticipating the kinds of response we’ll need. So, I think, you know, it’s important to address this digital divide and make sure that we’re bringing everyone along with us. Thanks.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you very much, Ko. And indeed, you already mentioned disasters and including flash floods and others, you know, so we have a very good match now after you, so Kamal, you know, from DRR perspective, you know, so how we use AI, other digital technologies to lower disaster risks, to pursue the risk-informed development, and also to manage those challenges better,

Kamal Kishore: please. Thank you very much, Thomas. That’s an essay-type question to be answered in three minutes. So, Ko talked about the revolution that is taking place in how we predict hazards, hydromet hazards, but the same is happening for geophysical hazards as well. There is huge promise in how we generate earthquake alerts, for example. There are models, AI models, that are providing some lead time now, not a lot, a few minutes, maybe a minute, but enough to sort of protect your infrastructure from earthquakes. So, on the side of hazards, there is really, we are not at the cusp of a revolution, we are in it. But what I want to talk about beyond early warning and looking at impacts is three things. Number one is that it is really important to remind ourselves that the impact of hazards occurs not only because of the hazards themselves, but also how we build our societies, where we build them, what kind of built environment we generate, how fragile it is that determines the risk, and that is dynamic. You know, risk is being created as a result of millions of people’s actions. So, how do we keep track of that in real time? If you look at flash flood or urban flood in the same city in two different seasons, it’s entirely different because the city has changed in that time. People have done things, you know, permeability of surfaces has changed. So, I think the huge potential of AI is to track our exposure, people, economic activity, capital assets, where they are, and how fragile they are, and how do they come together to generate risk, and how we can modify their trajectory, which takes us away from risk to resilience. The second thing, which is the sort of increasing characteristic of the risk in 21st century, is that it is systemic. You know, it really ripples across multiple sectors. When power lines go down, telecom goes down. When telecom goes down, ATM machines don’t work. When ATM machines don’t work, people don’t have access to cash. When access to cash is disrupted, markets don’t work. So, we can use now large data sets across systems to look at systemic nature of risk. And the third and final thing is that this is our opportunity to put agency in the hands of people. You know, urban citizens, you know, they are not just passive recipients of assistance. They are active players in our resilience building story. So, how do we galvanize that using AI tools in a sort of, in a constructive way, in a way that measurably reduces risk and build resilience? So, it’s really an exciting time in Sendai framework. We’ve done extremely well, reduced mortality decade by 50%. The next frontier is reducing the loss of livelihoods, reducing economic losses. And that cannot be done without using the full potential and promise of AI.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you. Thank you very much, Kamal. Indeed, how to manage risk, you know, very well covered how to manage risk with technologies. And of course, some of those risks seem sometimes slower coming, you know, like risks to our digital trade and economy, you know, but in the same time as impactful. So, that’s why I’m moving now to Joanna, indeed, to ask how do you harness, how do you think we should harness digital technologies, AI, other emerging technologies to really sustain our global growth and development and economy? And also, what is the WTO role in that to help with

Johanna Hill: harness? Thank you for the invitation. We are facing three critical challenges that require a coordinated global action. The first one being the digital divide. Digital trade and frontier technologies should benefit everyone. And without an intentional effort to bridge the digital divide, AI and other frontier technologies could worsen socioeconomic inequalities rather than alleviate them. Moreover, the full potential of AI can only be reached if there is a wide diffusion and adoption. And WTO simulations found that if we had a widespread adoption of AI, it could boost global trade growth by up to nearly 14 percentage points through the year 2040. Nevertheless, if this adoption were to be uneven, then we risk that these gains would be cut in half and low-income countries would not realize the many AI-related productivity gains and trade cost reductions that they could expect. So, at the WTO, we are doing our part. We are working with partners in the UN system. We’re working also with the World Bank and others to help boost the hard and the soft infrastructure in regions like Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and others. Second challenge we are facing is the lack of inclusive governance. To date, many decisions around AI and other digital policy matters are not always taking place in a space where all developing countries, especially LDCs, can have a voice. And the third challenge that we are seeing is one related to regulatory fragmentation. We are seeing diverging approaches to data governance and AI standards, and this could really raise compliance costs and hinder innovation. Trade, of course, we hope, can be part of the solution. It’s involved in every part of the development and deployment of these technologies, and digital technologies like AI rely on the hardware and cross-border data flows. Open and competitive telecom services, of course, are key for development and deployment. And let me give you some examples of where the WTO comes in and plays a role. We have the Information Technology Agreement, which removes tariffs on $3 trillion worth of trade in high-tech physical goods that make most of the digital economy possible. And our rulebook, of course, gives governments the tools to leverage trade policies to promote aspects of the digital economy and address cross-border externalities. And a final example I’d like to give is our Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement, which provides guidance to members to design technical regulations in a transparent and proportionate manner, encouraging regulatory harmonization. And though we see, of course, the challenges that we’re facing, we also see the WTO being a forum for discussions on this wide range of topics.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you, thank you, Ramanjana. And now we talked a lot about how we can help the others, the world. So now we’ll move how we not become what I think in my language is called shoemaker without the shoes, you know, how UN can actually, you know, live what we preach and have a digital technology at our heart. So Samir, you’ll be the best person to answer that from UN Nations International Computing Center. So indeed, how we leverage digital for the UN’s needs, how it works in our internal fragmentation and make it work better for us. Sure, thank you for having me here. So as you rightfully said, we are the in-house

Sameer Chauhan: function that supports all of the UN system with technology. And yes, there has been a degree of fragmentation. I think historically, each organization built their own tech stacks, depending on their mandate, depending on the needs of that particular organization. But today, because technology is so front and center, we’ve already heard from the speakers ahead of me, and I’m sure it’ll be a common theme. Everybody needs to leverage technology, leverage digital, leverage AI to deliver on their mandates. Fragmentation now is a huge bottleneck. If everybody starts to invest in their own stack from the ground up, we cannot deliver to the mandate of the entire UN system. Also, because all of these crises or the challenges we’re facing are interconnected. So we need an interconnected response to them. And in my opinion, what we need is a strong digital core, a digital core that can be used to support all of our partner organizations in scaling up much more rapidly, reusing and leveraging the capacities that have already been built for other partners, and just shortening the curve, shortening the time it takes for them to deliver impact on the ground. So some of these AI technologies or other blockchain crypto-based technologies, quantum technologies, etc., we can I think we need to build a common core where we build that common capacity, common capability that each partner can tap into and utilize. I think that will allow everybody to move that much more quickly. I think we can also show open source models that work because I think we need to, in the UN we have the ability to demonstrate that there are different approaches and I think the member states look to us to lead the way in that thinking and I think if we prove it ourselves we can then demonstrate to the world this is how technology can be used for good going forward. Another point I’d like to make is across all of this there’s a very strong element of trust and security and that again is if we have a common approach, a common capability that everybody can leverage across their digital infrastructure we can secure the entire system because today we stand at a point where the level of security that we can provide across the digital infrastructure is inconsistent. Some partners have the ability to secure it to a much larger extent than others so we really need to make it a level playing field where we don’t have the weak links because typically what happens is we get attacked at the weakest link. So if we can stabilize that and secure that I think that will be the right way forward and on AI my parting comments is there’s some brilliant innovation happening across the partner community. We heard examples already, we’ll hear more. What we are trying to do at UNICC is build a common repository where all of those shared solutions can be brought together and made available to the rest of the partnership. So again with the idea of shrinking the opportunity cost and getting to outcomes much quicker.

Tomas Lamanauskas: So thank you, thank you very much Samir and indeed so we have technology and we have platforms but now we need people and we need leaders who are pushing those technologies. So I think Michelle that’s the question for you. What new skills and competences leaders should have both in the UN system and broader government to be able to actually make this digital revolution of the world a reality for everyone and what do you do about that? Thank you, thank you for the question.

Michelle Gyles McDonnough: This is the most pressing of them and as His Excellency the President of Estonia said as countries travel along their different national pathways to a digital transformation we need more than technology. There are policies and regulations, partnerships, capacities if we’re to secure a safe and prosperous digital future. Now in doing that we believe that there are a number of key skills and competences that not just UN leaders but global leaders across all organization types need to have and I’ll just flag a few. Leaders need strong digital literacy and fluency. A partner in another discussion yesterday highlighted studies that reveal the large and growing gap in digital knowledge between leaders and organizations and the people that they lead and this is only growing as I’ve mentioned. So while leaders need not be engineers or AI or quantum experts they must grasp the fundamentals of emerging technologies to understand the impact on their businesses, on public institutions, on the people they lead so that they can make strategic and informed decisions that can advance the digital transformation and close the divide. The secondary is around ethics and foresight because the pace of technological change is relentless and leaders should be able to anticipate these technological shifts not only at a technical level but also their ethical, human rights and social consequences and this means that we need leaders who can prioritize human-centered approaches that are aligned with what we’re trying to, you know, the action lines of WSIS and the 2030 Agenda. Two more, we need networkers, collaborators and partnership builders. A key message throughout this week is that, you know, digital governance is truly global. We can’t do this on our own and complexity and shared challenges call for a networked approach so it needs leaders who can work across sectors, across institutions in their national landscape but also across borders and find common ground respecting the diversity of voices and also promoting more inclusive decision-making. And the last competency I want to flag is the competencies of adaptability, systems thinking and continuous learning. The landscape of digital and scientific and technological development as we said is constantly shifting and skills can’t be static or slow to adapt so an embracing lifelong learning is crucial for leaders themselves as well as for the institutions that they lead. For us at UNITAR, we focus on building the capabilities of diplomats, public servants at the country level and our UN partners and we, you know, we will continue to do that together with partners inside the UN system and outside to make sure that we can have responsible and inclusive governance. But as I said, our target clients are our diplomatic community as well as the breadth of the public service and ensuring that these set of skills are integrated.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you, thank you very much indeed and now I think we’ll move to the case study I should say, you know, so the case study of the specific UN entity, I think the microphone I think it would be great to have to Rosemary so, and indeed the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund, you know, is something that I think in JSPF is something that people outside the UN doesn’t always know, you know, but everyone inside the UN knows very well, you know, and so I think it’s very, very interesting indeed paradox, you know, but I think here it would be good to see how you do it, you know, how you really use digital tools and digital technologies to really make sure that your services are better and what were the kind of challenges opportunities there, maybe there’s some lessons for broader UN system in that. Thank you. You’re absolutely right.

Rosemarie McClean: The UN staff have a vested interest in better understanding their pension fund. So for those of you who are not familiar with UNJSPF, we are a $100 billion plan. We serve 150,000 active UN staff across 25 different member organizations, and we have almost 90,000 pensioners in over 190 countries. So it’s a large fund. It’s a complex fund. And our digital journey really started during COVID because we had a problem, because pensioners are required to submit to the fund an annual proof of life. If we do not receive this proof of life, the pension stops. So it had huge financial implications for pensioners. And as we all remember, during COVID, mail service was disrupted all over the world. And so this paper form, we were having great difficulties receiving these forms. And so really, when I think about it, it was one of those cases where necessity is the mother of invention. And we partnered with Samir at UNICC and his team to explore an app based on facial recognition using blockchain technology that would allow a pensioner, wherever they are in the world, to be able to meet this proof of life requirement. And I can tell you, in the early days, there were a lot of doubters because this is a population, right? Senior people. Our average age is almost 80. Would they really be willing to use this technology? Well, fast forward to today, over 55% of our pensioners are using this technology. And that number is growing every day. It ended up winning the Secretary General’s Award for Innovation and Sustainability. And most recently, we are the first UN entity to receive the ISO certification for ethical use of AI. So I think it just demonstrates that a pension fund can make use of emerging technologies. And I’m quite sure that other UN entities can do the same. And I’d also add that we recently introduced 17 kiosks in UN centers that would allow pensioners who do not have technology to be able to make use of the Digital Certificate of Entitlement. So it’s very consistent with the theme here about leave no one behind and allow people to make technology, use technology to their advantage. It also became the foundation technology for the UN Digital ID. So we’re very proud of that. And it also led to other use of RPA robotics in the pension fund to allow us to use technology to do the more routine tasks and deploy our very talented and trained resources in more value-added processes. So it’s a journey that we continue to be on, but I can tell you that digital has now become a critical strategic imperative at the pension fund.

Tomas Lamanauskas: And it really supports our goal to deliver great service to UN staff and retirees wherever they may be in the world. Thank you very much, Rosemary. Indeed, it’s a great story how we can actually live with the digital, and actually how these ideas can also spread. Because now, of course, you’re in Digital ID, starting with you. And now we’ll again back to the bird’s eye view, you know, on the impact of the digital on social development. And I think this is where the last Magdalena is exactly from your perspective as United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, you know, what is an impact of digital for social development or what impact should be, you know, and what are the research areas that you’re doing now and going forward what you think are very relevant for us, please. Thank you very much for the question.

Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona: As the Secretary General remind us in her preliminary remark, the WSIS has been instrumental in promoting a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented information society. And as representing here the research capability of the UN, I have to say that research has played a pivotal role in this journey, particularly in assessing the impact of ICT initiatives on social development. Research has been critical in understanding the broader implication of digital technologies on various aspects of society. For instance, impact of studies on ICT in education have shown significant improvement in learning outcome and access to education resources. And what is more important is that these studies provide evidence that informs policy decision and program implementation, ensuring that ICT initiatives are effective and beneficial. At UNRIS, the Research Institute on Social Development, we focus on generating knowledge and insight on social dimensions of contemporary development issues. And our interdisciplinary research and policy analysis have shown vital in exploring how digital technologies can, for example, support social protection systems and how digital tools can enhance those systems and reduce inequality. Looking ahead, I think that the future holds exciting possibilities. One key area is the impact of artificial intelligence on social development. More research needs to be done in exploring how AI can be leveraged to address social challenges and promote inclusive growth. Another important direction is the role of digital platform in promoting social justice. I think that understanding how this platform can be used to amplify marginalized voices and drive social change will be critical. Collaboration and investment in research are essential to ensure that ICT initiatives effectively promote social development and achieve the SDGs. By leveraging the insights from research, I believe we can create a more inclusive and equitable digital future for all. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I’m giving that perspective, that we need to know what we’re doing to achieve our goals. Indeed, research really helps us there. So please join me in a round of applause for this set of young leaders. And I think you see the plethora of digital aspects that you uncover. So thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Tomas Lamanauskas: We’ll have another set of colleagues joining us. So thank you very much for contributing this. So now, I think with that, thank you. Of course, of course, sorry, you know, I should have, yes. Thank you very much again. Thank you. So now, no worries, no worries, we’ll fix it. So now, we have another set of leaders. And I have in my list first, Celeste Drake, Deputy Director General, ILO International.

Celeste Drake: So those are things we need to be ready for. How do we transition folks into other jobs? But a good 25%, about a quarter of all jobs, they’re not at risk of being lost, but they are at risk, if you want to say, of being transformed. And that’s where skilling is going to help. How do we get people ready for these augmented jobs? And those are not just office digital jobs. Those are jobs, as we heard on the last panel, in agriculture, in transportation, in logistics, in services. And we can do that by ensuring that we not only have training programs, but those training programs, the education programs. Schultz, and Dr. Dan Krofft. We are so excited to be here with you today. The successful programs, the technical and vocational education are informed by foresight and skills anticipation. I will just end with we are training people, we are building the environment to create jobs and we must make sure those jobs are decent work. That is where we go back to the world of work, the very basics. We don’t necessarily need new standards, but we can use the same standards where workers are entitled to fair pay, non-discrimination, and the opportunity to have a voice, to organize a union, to engage in social dialogue with employers. If we can do all of that with ILO playing its role in the multilateral system, we can promote the best and highest use of AI.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you. Indeed, it is always great to see that ILO is not panicking. There is no apocalypse, even though there are some challenges. I think it is important. Decent work is one of the rights, but we are moving on to Peggy that deals with all of the rights. We all talk about human rights. It is very important. How do we translate that from these words on paper and practice?

Peggy Hicks: What are the challenges and opportunities you see from your perspective? I think the starting point is that we really need to think of human rights as a tool that we want to see from AI and digital technologies. It is really the foundation for the UN’s work. Part of what the UN brings, and we have heard that from my colleagues who have been on the stage, is that we will bring in through our work an approach to development of these technologies and design and deployment in a way that actually allows them to deliver results that meet the goals of the SDGs and moves us forward in terms of how people will be assisted by technologies, not just technologies that will be generating great profits or greater power for certain actors. It is important to say that human rights value is achieved across all the different action lines. We are already engaged in those processes. We see how in areas like digital public infrastructure, across ideas of how we make sure that when we are deploying these technologies in areas like the right to health or right to education, that we build in approaches that, one, of course, are non-discriminatory, but that they reach people, all the people who need it, and the people behind the most first, if we can do it. We are looking at that in areas like connectivity as well. We want to make sure that connectivity is achieved for everyone and that it delivers the promise that it brings. We want to make sure that we have the Internet there for people, and that is not always simply because you are not digitally connected. It also is a phenomenon like shutdowns that we have to address as well. We have to look at some of the risks associated with connectivity, including things like surveillance and other negatives that come with some of the risks associated with digital technologies. Part of what we bring to these conversations, and we are working with many of those present on, is bringing them into regulatory frameworks. We are very happy that the GDC acknowledges the work that we are doing around the Human Rights Digital Advisory Service that is intended to really work with governments, regulators globally on how the human rights framework can help address some of the tough challenges we face in regulating in this space. We want to build those guardrails, but we also want to make sure that they are built in a way that spurs the type of innovation and development in this space. That can be done, but it is something that requires some expertise to bring in. We are working with governments on that. We also recognize the important role that companies play in this space. One of the key things I think we can bring and is important in these conversations is that we can sometimes devolve into a conversation about who is supposed to be doing what between governments and business and the roles that they play. One of the good things the human rights framework brings is that under the UN Principles on Business and Human Rights, both entities recognize the need to respect human rights and their obligations there. We are working with governments to impose a smart mix of regulation and with companies to make sure they achieve it.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you very much indeed. You already mentioned the importance of working with the private sector, with the companies. That is kind of why I link it to industrial development. Something is happening now, the fourth industrial revolution. Probably soon we will call it the fifth, because with AI and others it is really changing how we think about technology. UNIDO has been making sure that all the industrial revolutions reach everyone and benefit everyone. How does your work change now? How can we leverage AI and digital technologies to make sure that industrial development around the world is equal for all? Thank you very much, Thomas, for this opportunity to join this esteemed panel

Ciyong Zou: on behalf of UNIDO. You are very right. I think for AI and digital technologies, firstly, this technology is basically from the private sector. The private sector are their own creators. We have to work with them. So for the future of manufacturing, we see that AI really is reshaping global manufacturing dramatically, not only from the view that it is improving productivity and efficiencies of manufacturing and business process. Most importantly, I think AI is turning manufacturing into a service-based kind of industry or sector. This means that for both developing countries, we need to rethink our approach towards manufacturing and industrialization. Even for developing countries, when they think about this reshaping of this manufacturing or remanufacturing, they may need to understand the implications. Because with the application of AI and digital technologies and robotics, they expect a big number of jobs created. The same thing is happening maybe in the global source. They are facing, particularly African countries, they are facing many challenges in basically their industrialization kind of efforts. Firstly, of course, this green transition, they need also technologies to help them. They need also to tackle the issue related to trade-related measures introduced by some kind of trade partners. In addition, tariffs. Tariffs basically previously they enjoyed, they may not have. Then combined with this AI and digitalization application in the sector, meaning the labor-intensive industrial sector manufacturing jobs may not be there anymore. So that all of us need to think about what kind of future of manufacturing industry will look like, the implications. From this end, you need to have this kind of initiative to support, firstly, the digital AI divide in the industrial manufacturing sector. We think that this is something that is a public good. We cannot say have a world, there is a big divide, not in different sectors, but in the industrial sectors, which creates big jobs, not the case anymore. So we need now to support member states to understand the trend and implications. That this is a research work, the policy advisory, you need normative function. In addition to this, I think we think it is important for member states to develop a kind of conducive ecosystem through the targeted industrial policy. That now industrial policy is very popular, but how to develop new types of industrial policy, it is not just to pick winners. So we need basically to create an enabling environment to ensure, enable all the players to have this levelling playing ground, to really that eventually, that could have this kind of synergies to promote sustainable economic growth. Finally, of course, out of this, you need to have this AIM global initiative. Basically the full name is Global Alliance on AI for Industry and Manufacturing. We have the leading companies as members to join us, because they are the ones that create this leading technologies. Of course, they may not by themselves understand the implications. Then we need to work together to exchange what kind of impact this will have on industry manufacturing and broadly economy. Then, of course, we have this support from ITU, UNCTAD, other UN sister agencies. We have also civil society participating. This is a good platform for us to collaborate and cooperate, to tackle all the issues associated with this kind of AI and digital revolution. Thank you very much. A lot of times when we think about digital technologies and AI,

Tomas Lamanauskas: we always think that it’s immaterial and services. It’s really great to see you bringing that to the world of manufacturing and the world of goods. Now I’ll turn to Taufik. UNESCO, I think, reuses that part in crime, the terminology between UNESCO and ITU, because between the content and technological platforms. It’s really this collaboration from Broadband Commission, the International Working Group on Artificial Intelligence, to here and WSIS, of course, and you just completed the chairship of the UNGIS process, of course, Taufik as well. So from that broad perspective, not only necessarily from UNESCO as well, how do you see digital cooperation evolving? How do you see this, how we can build a new stage of WSIS, how we can build while integrating all the other aspects, so that it still continues to serve, everyone still continues to integrate, Data Governance, AI, Public Set of Transformation, in actually benefiting, you know, in the structure of social development and economy benefits all, you know, so and all having in regard all these ethical dimensions and other dimensions and of course UNESCO always promotes, so please Tawfik.

Tawfik Jelassi: Thank you very much, Tomas. You asked me about the WSIS and the GDC. You recall I spoke about this two days ago. My colleague and friend, Amadip, told me yesterday that I was very passionate in my intervention about the future of WSIS, IGF and the role of the Global Digital Compact. So maybe not to repeat myself on that, I would like to highlight maybe a few important topics that UNESCO has been working on, building on what was said already. If you look at the top two global risks, they are disinformation and climate change. The reference is the January 2025 World Economic Forum report, disinformation number one. And as you know, Tomas, UNESCO has been working on this for at least three years, actively with an initiative called For an Internet of Trust, because we want to trust the content that we find online, the information, et cetera. And let me quote here the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, who said, without facts there is no truth, and without truth there is no trust, and without trust there is no shared reality upon which we can act. How can we trust the digital ecosystem? How can we trust cyberspace? So this is the number one global risk. It is also in the UNSG report of this past March. He put disinformation as the number one global risk for two reasons. Its importance, number two, the vulnerability of countries and communities to the harmful side of disinformation. And we recently, as you know, Tomas, we published the UNESCO guidelines for the governance of digital platforms to combat disinformation and hate speech online, while fostering or safeguarding freedom of expression and access to information. The second key initiative, which is very recent, it goes back to this past January, UNESCO is now the secretariat for a global initiative on information integrity for climate change. The second global risk, again, according to Davos. So this is ahead of the COP30 next November in Belém, Brazil, but also how can we really address the issue of scepticism and denial of the climate change and the environmental risk? So this global initiative on information integrity launched again in partnership with Brazil and the UN Secretariat in New York. UNESCO, as I said, is the secretariat for it and the manager of the Global Fund, which we are currently setting up to foster investigative journalism, research, studies, and more related to this issue. You referred to the Broadband Commission on Sustainable Development, the meeting we had this Sunday, and it was two days ago that we released the data governance framework and toolkit developed by UNESCO in partnership with ITU, UNCTAD, and the African Union, because we believe in this AI era, and the data governance, of course, is an essential issue that concerns everybody, including the cross-border data flow, including the quality of data along the life cycle of this new scarce resource data. And finally, I would mention capacity building of civil servants on AI and digital transformation. Every country has launched or is about to launch national digital transformation that uses and leverages AI. But how ready are top officials and civil servants in the public sector? How ready are they from a competency and skill set point of view to embark on implementing digital transformation and AI and hope to succeed in that endeavour? This is where we step in, and now we are launching in Africa a major program to train 20,000 civil servants in many African countries on AI and digital transformation. So capacity building also is a very important priority for us.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you. Thank you very much, Dr. Tawfik Jelassi. And with that, we now move to the – all right, please welcome the appointments. So now we’re moving to the International Committee for Red Cross. And you know, like, when we see United Nations High-Level Leaders Dialogue, you know, so the International Committee for Red Cross is not, like, technically United Nations, but it’s actually an organization that works so closely with United Nations that probably most of the time forget it, you know. So I think – but you bring this one very unique angle, so knowledge and expertise in conflicts. And regretfully, this is something that we now are having more and more of them, you know, and reading – you know, some of us are lucky enough just to read about them in the news. Others actually have to be involved in a daily basis in helping to mitigate them or suffer consequences in them. And indeed, Gilles, from our perspective, looking at your experience in conflicts, you know, how the digital technologies can actually amplify or alleviate them, you know, and I think some of that, what even Dr. Tawfik Jelassi has mentioned about misinformation, we feel the effect of them in conflicts way more. So from experience, how they could – how we can use technologies for the better even in those situations, and what are the challenges or opportunities we should be leveraging WSIS Framework for to help you, please?

Gilles Carbonnier: Well, thank you very much, Thomas, for this opportunity to share just a few points on this critical topic, because as you mentioned, we have seen a tripling in the number and also in the intensity of armed conflict over the past decade and so on. What we actually see is that often in global conversations on the governance of new technologies, armed conflicts tend to be neglected, and as much as it is important to see indeed, for instance, in the global digital compact, this anchoring in human rights, there is no mention in the global compact, digital compact of armed conflict, nor of international humanitarian law that is directly applicable to parties to armed conflict. And this is worrying in a sense that through our delegates in the field, what we witness is that people affected by armed conflict rely on digital technologies for their survival and their livelihood. And on the other hand, belligerents use digital technologies in a way that can cause immense harm. You can think of, of course, cyber attacks, online harmful information, but also, as you mentioned, Thomas, but also connectivity disruptions and the use of AI in the military domain. And maybe in this last issue, we have been, of course, involved in the relevant processes and the open-ended working group on ICTs, as well as processes on autonomous weapon systems. And these processes, of course, take time. But we see that we can achieve results that really make a huge difference. And for instance, in Geneva last October, at the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, we had an important resolution that was adopted by all states and national societies of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. And the resolution is on protecting civilians and other protected persons and objects against the potential human cost of ICTs activities in armed conflict. And I would just like to conclude with three aspects that we think could be very relevant in the WSIS process. The first is that the resolution highlights very specific risks to civilians that digital technology can pose, together with strong commitment of states to protect the civilian population in armed conflict, including against the risk arising from malicious ICT activities. Second, the resolution underlines the importance of connectivity so that people can access not only aid assistance, medical assistance and protection, but also information. And information is life-saving in armed conflicts. So it calls on all belligerents to protect the technical infrastructure essential to the general availability and integrity of the Internet. And thirdly, and lastly, the resolution stresses that the medical and humanitarian activities must be protected, including in relation to ICTs activities. And often what we see in the kinetic world is that the Red Cross or Red Crescent emblem are protective emblems in the kinetic world. And we think that we have to explore and see if we can have a digital emblem that would indeed provide protection and help mark and protect servers, data and websites used to assist and protect the victims of armed conflicts. And I’d like to thank ITU and you, Thomas, for giving us the opportunity tomorrow here to have a dedicated session on this digital emblem, digital protective emblem, where we will dig into issues of standards. And I hope to see many of you tomorrow at that session. Thank you very much.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you very much, Gilles. And indeed, we did really appreciate you bringing that very important perspective. You know, like even at ITU, we had this resolution from the year 98, number 98, which we, you know, which is about telecommunications needs for communitarians in Refugees. You definitely know the needs of displaced populations of refugees and how we can help them through digital technologies or maybe how digital technologies can disenfranchise them and we should avoid that. I know we had with you the great initiatives like Connect for Refugees as well, like really bringing the digital to everyone, but how do we do more? Are we doing enough? And how we can help those vulnerable populations to benefit from digital technologies. Well, thank you. Thank you very much, Tomas, and I have to say I’m marveling between this panel and the previous panel, the diversity of the system, and it’s always great to follow ICRC. We’re close partners in many of these situations, and I think this is a really good

Kelly T. Clements: segue because, Tomas, you mentioned it, but what we’re talking about today is 123 million people that are forced to flee, forced to leave their homes for conflict, war, persecution, and related. And while we have very important work to do in terms of being part of that frontline response to be able to support communities, to support refugees or internally displaced people as they’re trying to find services, as they’re trying to figure out what the future is for their families and so on, we also are very much aligned around trying to find solutions. And solutions can mean a number of different things. In a very technical way, can people voluntarily go home? Are they able to resettle to a third country? Can they locally, legally integrate? But absent those very durable solutions, other solutions can be very much from being able to find employment, to find a job, to put kids in school, to be able to access health services and so on. And so when thinking about this particular venue and this event and 20 years of WSIS, it’s almost radical collaboration that really brings all of us together and where we can actually go further, including for solutions to displacement. And Thomas, you mentioned connectivity for refugees, and this is one of those collaborations with ITU, with GSMA, with the government of Luxembourg and ourselves. We now have 25 private sector, UN agencies, civil society, others coming together to figure out how do we connect 20 million refugees and host communities, the majority of which are in low and middle income parts of the world, that to the broader technology that we know is moving faster than we can keep up. It does everything from connecting those services, to be able to find the ways to support one’s family, to be able to do all of this in a safe way. And we’ve seen this in major crises related to Ukraine, now Sudan, Afghanistan, through the various years that people need the very basic tools, and that’s information. And so the colleagues here on the panel, we’re talking UNESCO when it comes to disinformation. How do you manage misinformation, hate speech, other ways to figure out how do you have communities that are cohesive, communities that are then empowered to basically map their own futures, and that comes through digital. And it comes through that kind of connectivity that for sometimes legal reasons, other times for affordability reasons, and so on, is not possible for millions and millions of people around the world. We’re talking about forced displacement affecting the size of a medium sized country. We can’t leave them behind for all of the reasons in terms of trying to find those solutions. So the connectivity collaboration is one, but it’s really complementary, for example, to Giga when it comes to school and education. It’s complementary to what we do with ILO when it comes to decent online work. Again, safety being a key factor. And across the system you now see that these sorts of collaborations, we shouldn’t just do them, we really need to propel them forward. And WSIS provides that opportunity, I think, to bring it all together.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you. Thank you very much, Kelly, for such strong words and showing the value of the system here. And I totally concur with you. This is our discussions where you marvel at the diversity of the system, but also how complementary it is indeed. And so indeed digital connectivity, as we’ve heard in digital technologies, is an important need for including vulnerable populations, but we have even more basic needs. So we all need to eat. And I think that’s kind of the proof in the pudding is whether the digital technologies can help us also to satisfy those needs as well, because they are not, as the President said, they are not the end zone itself. So that’s why our last but not least speaker is Maximo to come in from FAO’s perspective, how we leverage digital technologies to improve our food security, to have more food, better food, and food for all. So please, Maximo.

Maximo Torero: Thank you. Thank you so much. And first of all, you’re completely correct. AI is not food. So we cannot eat AI. AI is a tool, but it’s a tool that also creates some externalities. For example, today in the world we have 630 million people in the rural areas that don’t have access to electricity. And only training one language model is equivalent to the consumption of 100 or more households of electricity for a year. So there is a substitution effect that we need to look at it. And that’s why we need to use it in the most efficient way. The second point that we need to be very clear on the supply side, the generation of AI and the tools that are available, the UN and many of our partners will be never in the frontier of what is there. That’s not our job. That’s not where our comparative advantage is. Our comparative advantage is on the other side, on the demand side. We understand the demand that they do not understand. We understand what are the challenges of this demand that we have to cover. We have 733 million people in hunger today. We have 2.8 million people that don’t have access to healthy diets. We know the heterogeneity. That is what we need to take our comparative advantage and drive the supply so that it serves for our purposes and we use it in the most efficient way. So I think we need to be very careful on that and very clear on that. And in terms of the second comparative advantage that we have is we know what are the bottlenecks, what are the challenges. Many of them have been already mentioned. When we look at digital technologies in general and AI especially, there are three Cs which are central. One is connectivity. Second is content. And the third is capabilities. If we don’t have connectivity at an affordable cost, nobody will be able to access. If we don’t have good content, it’s useless, no matter it is there. And if we don’t have the capabilities, people don’t know how to read and write, then what are they going to do? Because the smartest part of AI is how I use AI and what are the types of questions I use for AI. So that’s where our comparative advantage is and where we can really create significant benefits to try to resolve these things. Now, our job is to, and what we are trying to do, FAO and our partners, is to try to use these tools to try to respond to that demand. Clearly, in the world today, we have a problem with extension services. They are too expensive, sometimes too slow, and they don’t deliver the velocity we need and the quantity and quality we need. Of course, AI as a tool can help us to minimize those costs and make us more effective, but we need to assure that the content is proper. We are responding to the needs of the farmer. So using technologies to crowdsource the problems and trying to find ways in which we can provide tools at different languages, local languages, and with digital impressions will help us a lot to resolve the problem of capabilities. We also need to use it for early warning systems, as many of you have been there. The advantage of this tool is that we can bring many information in real time that we could never do before, and that helps us a lot to increase our predictive power to be able to anticipate things and to be able to have better probability models of what could be happening. There are many risks that are happening to us. We know for sure the risk of climate will increase in intensity and in number, so we need to be ready for that, and using these tools to be able to cope with those problems is a good success for us. But again, we need to carefully think on the demand, the needs, and the constraints, because as any innovation, there will be winners and losers. And our focus is to create public goods to minimize the losers. Our focus is to help the ones that could be discriminated away of these technologies, and our focus should be to avoid market concentration on these technologies, which by definition at the beginning will exist, but we need to make it lower over time.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you very much. Indeed, Maxim, I think that’s the last point, is how we create everyone a lot of winners, and maybe hopefully no losers in this process, and I think that goes back to where we started with Celeste, how to say, yes, we have some disruptions, but we need to manage them for the positive in such areas. So, colleagues, now is the time to applaud all the presenters. So, really, thank you for your support, and I think indeed, and again, I’ll come back to what Kelly said. This is a really diverse dialogue that shows the diversity of human systems, but also shows that we need all those parts of the human system to make digital the reality for all. It’s not like from one center, it’s not one agency that can do digital. The power of it only comes when we all work together. So, I think this is definitely, I hope, will be the objective of WSIS Plus 20 Review, to make sure that we all kind of keep working together in even more impactful ways. So, thank you again, everyone. Thank you very much. I think we’ll just line up for the picture, if you don’t mind, before we leave. Thank you.

Agreement points

Digital divide creates barriers to accessing benefits of digital technologies

Speakers

– Ko Barrett
– Johanna Hill
– Maximo Torero

Arguments

Digital divide affects ability to tackle climate change and provide early warnings

Uneven AI adoption could cut global trade gains in half and disadvantage low-income countries

Three Cs essential: connectivity, content, and capabilities for effective agricultural technology use

Summary

All three speakers agree that unequal access to digital technologies prevents vulnerable populations from benefiting from digital advances, whether in climate adaptation, trade opportunities, or agricultural improvements

Topics

Development | Infrastructure | Economic

Multi-stakeholder collaboration essential for effective digital governance

Speakers

– Doreen Bogdan Martin
– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Kelly T. Clements

Arguments

Multi-stakeholder cooperation through WSIS has proven effective over 20 years

WSIS framework enables UN system coordination through UN Group on Information Society

123 million displaced people need connectivity for survival, services, and solutions

Summary

These speakers emphasize that successful digital transformation requires coordinated efforts across multiple stakeholders including governments, civil society, private sector, and international organizations

Topics

Development | Infrastructure | Legal and regulatory

Human rights and ethical frameworks must guide digital technology development

Speakers

– Peggy Hicks
– Tawfik Jelassi
– Gilles Carbonnier

Arguments

Human rights framework provides foundation for AI development that serves SDGs rather than just profits

Digital platforms governance needed to combat disinformation while protecting freedom of expression

International humanitarian law must apply to digital technologies in armed conflicts

Summary

All three speakers advocate for embedding human rights principles and ethical considerations into digital technology governance to protect vulnerable populations and ensure technologies serve human welfare

Topics

Human rights | Legal and regulatory | Cybersecurity

Skills development and capacity building critical for digital transformation

Speakers

– Michelle Gyles McDonnough
– Celeste Drake
– Tawfik Jelassi

Arguments

Leaders need digital literacy, ethics, collaboration skills, and continuous learning capabilities

25% of jobs will be transformed by AI, requiring reskilling and decent work standards

Training 20,000 African civil servants on AI and digital transformation is essential

Summary

These speakers agree that successful digital transformation requires comprehensive capacity building programs for leaders, workers, and civil servants to develop necessary digital skills and competencies

Topics

Development | Sociocultural | Human rights

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasize the critical role of digital technologies in disaster risk reduction and early warning systems, highlighting how AI and digital infrastructure can save lives through better prediction and community empowerment

Speakers

– Ko Barrett
– Kamal Kishore

Arguments

Digital infrastructure essential for flash flood warnings and impact-based forecasting

AI and digital tools can track exposure, predict systemic risks, and empower communities in disaster preparedness

Topics

Infrastructure | Development | Cybersecurity

Both speakers advocate for leveraging digital technologies within the UN system to improve service delivery and operational efficiency, demonstrating that digital transformation can work effectively even for traditionally conservative populations

Speakers

– Sameer Chauhan
– Rosemarie McClean

Arguments

UN system fragmentation in technology creates bottlenecks that prevent effective mandate delivery

Digital transformation successful in pension fund services, with 55% of pensioners using facial recognition technology

Topics

Infrastructure | Development | Human rights

Both speakers focus on protecting and serving vulnerable populations in crisis situations through digital technologies, emphasizing the need for special protections and connectivity solutions for those affected by conflicts and displacement

Speakers

– Kelly T. Clements
– Gilles Carbonnier

Arguments

Connect for Refugees initiative aims to connect 20 million refugees and host communities

Digital protective emblem needed to mark and protect humanitarian servers and websites

Topics

Human rights | Development | Cybersecurity

Unexpected consensus

UN system’s role as demand-side rather than supply-side technology developer

Speakers

– Maximo Torero
– Sameer Chauhan

Arguments

UN comparative advantage is understanding demand-side challenges rather than supply-side AI development

Common digital core and shared AI solutions can accelerate UN partner capabilities

Explanation

Unexpected consensus that the UN should focus on understanding and articulating technology needs rather than developing cutting-edge technology, with emphasis on leveraging existing solutions and building common platforms rather than competing with private sector innovation

Topics

Development | Infrastructure | Economic

Digital technologies can successfully serve elderly and traditionally technology-resistant populations

Speakers

– Rosemarie McClean
– Michelle Gyles McDonnough

Arguments

Digital transformation successful in pension fund services, with 55% of pensioners using facial recognition technology

Leaders need digital literacy, ethics, collaboration skills, and continuous learning capabilities

Explanation

Surprising agreement that age and traditional resistance to technology are not insurmountable barriers, with evidence that even populations with average age of 80 can successfully adopt advanced technologies like facial recognition when properly implemented

Topics

Development | Sociocultural | Human rights

Overall assessment

Summary

Strong consensus emerged around four main themes: addressing digital divides, importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration, need for human rights-based approaches to technology governance, and critical importance of skills development and capacity building

Consensus level

High level of consensus with complementary rather than conflicting viewpoints. Speakers from different UN agencies and organizations demonstrated remarkable alignment on fundamental principles while bringing unique sectoral perspectives. This suggests strong institutional coherence within the UN system on digital governance approaches and indicates potential for effective coordinated action on digital transformation initiatives.

Different viewpoints

Role of UN in AI/Digital Technology Development vs. Application

Speakers

– Sameer Chauhan
– Maximo Torero

Arguments

Common digital core and shared AI solutions can accelerate UN partner capabilities

UN comparative advantage is understanding demand-side challenges rather than supply-side AI development

Summary

Chauhan advocates for the UN building common AI capabilities and technology infrastructure, while Torero argues the UN should focus on understanding demand rather than developing AI technology, stating ‘the UN and our partners will be never in the frontier of what is there’

Topics

Infrastructure | Development | Economic

Unexpected differences

Energy Consumption vs. Digital Expansion Trade-offs

Speakers

– Maximo Torero

Arguments

AI cannot replace food but can improve extension services and early warning systems for agriculture

Explanation

Torero uniquely raised the energy consumption concern, noting that training one AI language model consumes electricity equivalent to 100+ households annually, while 630 million rural people lack electricity access. This energy trade-off perspective was not addressed by other speakers promoting digital expansion

Topics

Development | Infrastructure | Economic

Absence of Conflict Considerations in Digital Governance

Speakers

– Gilles Carbonnier

Arguments

International humanitarian law must apply to digital technologies in armed conflicts

Explanation

Carbonnier highlighted that the Global Digital Compact lacks mention of armed conflicts or international humanitarian law, representing a significant gap in digital governance frameworks that other speakers did not address despite discussing comprehensive digital governance

Topics

Human rights | Legal and regulatory | Cybersecurity

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion showed remarkable consensus on the need for inclusive digital development, with disagreements primarily focused on implementation approaches rather than fundamental goals. Key tensions emerged around the UN’s role in technology development versus application, and energy/resource trade-offs in digital expansion.

Disagreement level

Low to moderate disagreement level. Most speakers shared common goals of inclusive digital development, bridging digital divides, and ensuring technology serves human needs. The disagreements were primarily methodological rather than ideological, suggesting strong potential for collaborative solutions within the WSIS framework.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasize the critical role of digital technologies in disaster risk reduction and early warning systems, highlighting how AI and digital infrastructure can save lives through better prediction and community empowerment

Speakers

– Ko Barrett
– Kamal Kishore

Arguments

Digital infrastructure essential for flash flood warnings and impact-based forecasting

AI and digital tools can track exposure, predict systemic risks, and empower communities in disaster preparedness

Topics

Infrastructure | Development | Cybersecurity

Both speakers advocate for leveraging digital technologies within the UN system to improve service delivery and operational efficiency, demonstrating that digital transformation can work effectively even for traditionally conservative populations

Speakers

– Sameer Chauhan
– Rosemarie McClean

Arguments

UN system fragmentation in technology creates bottlenecks that prevent effective mandate delivery

Digital transformation successful in pension fund services, with 55% of pensioners using facial recognition technology

Topics

Infrastructure | Development | Human rights

Both speakers focus on protecting and serving vulnerable populations in crisis situations through digital technologies, emphasizing the need for special protections and connectivity solutions for those affected by conflicts and displacement

Speakers

– Kelly T. Clements
– Gilles Carbonnier

Arguments

Connect for Refugees initiative aims to connect 20 million refugees and host communities

Digital protective emblem needed to mark and protect humanitarian servers and websites

Topics

Human rights | Development | Cybersecurity

Key takeaways

The WSIS framework has proven effective for multi-stakeholder cooperation over 20 years and should be leveraged for the next two decades through WSIS Plus 20 and Global Digital Compact processes

Digital transformation requires coordinated UN system approach rather than fragmented individual agency efforts to effectively deliver on mandates

The digital divide significantly impacts climate action, disaster preparedness, and economic development, with uneven AI adoption potentially cutting global trade gains in half

Human rights framework must be foundational to AI and digital technology development to ensure they serve SDGs rather than just generating profits or power

Three critical elements are essential for effective digital technology deployment: connectivity, content, and capabilities (the ‘Three Cs’)

UN system’s comparative advantage lies in understanding demand-side challenges and user needs rather than supply-side technology development

Digital technologies can transform jobs (25% will be augmented) requiring reskilling programs while maintaining decent work standards

Vulnerable populations including refugees, displaced persons, and conflict-affected communities require special attention in digital inclusion efforts

Research and evidence-based approaches are critical for understanding digital technology impacts on social development and informing policy decisions

Resolutions and action items

Continue leveraging WSIS Plus 20 process and Global Digital Compact to strengthen UN system collaboration

Develop common digital core and shared AI solutions across UN system to reduce fragmentation and accelerate capabilities

Implement Connect for Refugees initiative to connect 20 million refugees and host communities

Train 20,000 African civil servants on AI and digital transformation

Explore development of digital protective emblem to mark and protect humanitarian servers and websites in armed conflicts

Build common repository of AI solutions across UN partnership for shared access and reduced opportunity costs

Develop data governance frameworks and toolkits in partnership between UNESCO, ITU, UNCTAD, and African Union

Launch global initiative on information integrity for climate change ahead of COP30

Unresolved issues

How to effectively address regulatory fragmentation and diverging approaches to data governance and AI standards globally

Balancing AI energy consumption with rural electrification needs (630 million people lack electricity while one AI language model training equals 100+ households’ annual consumption)

Ensuring international humanitarian law application to digital technologies in armed conflicts is not adequately addressed in current frameworks like Global Digital Compact

Managing the transition for workers whose jobs will be displaced by AI beyond the 25% that will be transformed

Addressing market concentration in AI technologies while creating public goods to minimize losers

Bridging the gap between leaders’ digital knowledge and that of the people they lead

Securing consistent cybersecurity levels across fragmented UN digital infrastructure

Suggested compromises

Focus UN efforts on demand-side understanding and user needs rather than competing in supply-side AI development where private sector has comparative advantage

Use existing labor standards and frameworks rather than creating entirely new ones for AI-transformed work environments

Combine technology solutions with human-centered approaches, ensuring digital tools augment rather than replace human capabilities

Balance innovation promotion with appropriate guardrails through smart mix of government regulation and corporate responsibility under UN Principles on Business and Human Rights

Leverage both digital solutions and traditional methods (like kiosks for non-tech users) to ensure ‘leave no one behind’ principle

Risk is being created as a result of millions of people’s actions. So, how do we keep track of that in real time? If you look at flash flood or urban flood in the same city in two different seasons, it’s entirely different because the city has changed in that time. People have done things, you know, permeability of surfaces has changed.

Speaker

Kamal Kishore

Reason

This comment reframes disaster risk from a static phenomenon to a dynamic, human-created reality that changes constantly. It challenges the traditional view of disasters as purely natural events and introduces the concept of real-time risk tracking through AI, emphasizing the human agency in both creating and potentially mitigating risks.

Impact

This shifted the discussion from reactive disaster response to proactive risk management, setting up a framework for understanding how AI can track dynamic social and environmental changes. It influenced subsequent speakers to consider the human element in technological solutions.

WTO simulations found that if we had a widespread adoption of AI, it could boost global trade growth by up to nearly 14 percentage points through the year 2040. Nevertheless, if this adoption were to be uneven, then we risk that these gains would be cut in half and low-income countries would not realize the many AI-related productivity gains.

Speaker

Johanna Hill

Reason

This comment provides concrete quantitative evidence of the digital divide’s economic impact, moving beyond theoretical discussions to specific projections. It demonstrates how inequality in AI adoption doesn’t just maintain status quo disparities but actively amplifies them, creating a compelling economic argument for inclusive digital development.

Impact

This data-driven perspective elevated the urgency of addressing digital divides from a moral imperative to an economic necessity, influencing subsequent speakers to emphasize practical solutions and collaborative approaches to ensure equitable technology access.

Our average age is almost 80. Would they really be willing to use this technology? Well, fast forward to today, over 55% of our pensioners are using this technology… It ended up winning the Secretary General’s Award for Innovation and Sustainability.

Speaker

Rosemarie McClean

Reason

This comment challenges ageist assumptions about technology adoption and provides concrete proof that well-designed digital solutions can serve even the most traditionally excluded populations. It demonstrates that the barrier isn’t user capability but rather design and implementation approach.

Impact

This success story shifted the conversation from theoretical discussions about inclusion to practical evidence of what’s possible, inspiring other speakers to think more ambitiously about reaching underserved populations and proving that ‘leave no one behind’ is achievable with proper design.

Without facts there is no truth, and without truth there is no trust, and without trust there is no shared reality upon which we can act… disinformation [is] number one global risk for two reasons. Its importance, number two, the vulnerability of countries and communities to the harmful side of disinformation.

Speaker

Tawfik Jelassi

Reason

This comment connects the technical challenge of misinformation to fundamental questions about social cohesion and democratic governance. By linking disinformation to the erosion of shared reality, it elevates the issue from a technical problem to an existential threat to collective action and social progress.

Impact

This reframing influenced subsequent speakers to consider the social and political dimensions of their technical work, particularly evident in Kelly Clements’ discussion of how misinformation affects refugee communities and the need for trusted information sources.

AI is not food. So we cannot eat AI… only training one language model is equivalent to the consumption of 100 or more households of electricity for a year. So there is a substitution effect that we need to look at it.

Speaker

Maximo Torero

Reason

This blunt statement cuts through technological optimism to highlight resource constraints and trade-offs. It forces consideration of AI’s environmental and social costs, particularly relevant for populations lacking basic needs like electricity, and challenges the assumption that technological advancement is inherently beneficial.

Impact

This comment grounded the entire discussion in practical reality, forcing other participants to consider the resource implications and opportunity costs of digital solutions. It reinforced the theme that technology must serve human needs rather than being pursued for its own sake.

Our comparative advantage is on the other side, on the demand side. We understand the demand that they do not understand… That is what we need to take our comparative advantage and drive the supply so that it serves for our purposes.

Speaker

Maximo Torero

Reason

This comment articulates a crucial strategic insight about the UN system’s role in the digital ecosystem – not as technology creators but as demand articulators who understand complex human needs. It reframes the UN’s position from technology follower to needs-driven technology shaper.

Impact

This perspective influenced the overall understanding of how UN agencies should approach digital transformation, emphasizing their unique position in understanding global challenges and their role in ensuring technology development serves humanitarian purposes rather than just commercial interests.

Overall assessment

These key comments fundamentally shaped the discussion by challenging assumptions, providing concrete evidence, and reframing perspectives. Kamal Kishore’s dynamic view of risk shifted focus from reactive to proactive approaches. Johanna Hill’s quantitative evidence elevated the urgency of addressing digital divides. Rosemarie McClean’s success story proved that inclusive design works in practice. Tawfik Jelassi connected technical challenges to social cohesion. Maximo Torero grounded the discussion in resource realities and strategic positioning. Together, these comments moved the conversation from abstract digital transformation concepts to concrete, human-centered approaches that acknowledge both opportunities and constraints. They established a framework where technology serves human needs, inclusion is both morally and economically necessary, and the UN system’s value lies in understanding and articulating complex global demands rather than creating technology solutions.

How can we better track exposure, people, economic activity, and capital assets in real time to understand dynamic risk creation?

Speaker

Kamal Kishore

Explanation

Understanding how risk is dynamically created through millions of people’s actions is crucial for disaster risk reduction, as cities and environments change rapidly between seasons

How can we use large datasets across systems to better understand the systemic nature of risk?

Speaker

Kamal Kishore

Explanation

Modern risks ripple across multiple sectors (power, telecom, banking, markets), requiring comprehensive analysis of interconnected systems

How can we put agency in the hands of people using AI tools to measurably reduce risk and build resilience?

Speaker

Kamal Kishore

Explanation

Urban citizens should be active players in resilience building rather than passive recipients of assistance

How can we ensure widespread adoption of AI to maximize global trade growth benefits?

Speaker

Johanna Hill

Explanation

WTO simulations show AI could boost global trade by 14 percentage points by 2040, but uneven adoption would cut gains in half

How can we create more inclusive governance spaces where all developing countries, especially LDCs, can have a voice in AI and digital policy decisions?

Speaker

Johanna Hill

Explanation

Many current AI governance decisions exclude developing countries from meaningful participation

How can we address regulatory fragmentation in data governance and AI standards to reduce compliance costs?

Speaker

Johanna Hill

Explanation

Diverging approaches to regulation could hinder innovation and raise costs for businesses

How can we build a strong digital core that can be used across all UN organizations to support rapid scaling?

Speaker

Sameer Chauhan

Explanation

Fragmentation in UN technology stacks creates bottlenecks when organizations need to leverage digital technologies for their mandates

How can we create a common repository for AI innovations across the UN partnership to reduce opportunity costs?

Speaker

Sameer Chauhan

Explanation

Brilliant innovations are happening across UN partners but need to be shared more effectively

How can we address the growing gap in digital knowledge between leaders and the people they lead?

Speaker

Michelle Gyles McDonnough

Explanation

Studies reveal an increasing disconnect that affects strategic decision-making capabilities

What is the impact of artificial intelligence on social development and how can it be leveraged to address social challenges?

Speaker

Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona

Explanation

More research is needed to understand how AI can promote inclusive growth and support social protection systems

How can digital platforms be used to promote social justice and amplify marginalized voices?

Speaker

Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona

Explanation

Understanding platform potential for driving social change will be critical for inclusive development

How can we rethink approaches to manufacturing and industrialization in the context of AI reshaping global manufacturing?

Speaker

Ciyong Zou

Explanation

AI is turning manufacturing into a service-based industry, requiring new thinking about development strategies

How can we develop new types of industrial policy that create enabling environments rather than just picking winners?

Speaker

Ciyong Zou

Explanation

Traditional industrial policy approaches may not be adequate for the AI-driven manufacturing transformation

How can we explore and develop a digital emblem that would provide protection for servers, data and websites used to assist victims of armed conflicts?

Speaker

Gilles Carbonnier

Explanation

Similar to how Red Cross emblems provide protection in physical conflicts, digital protection is needed for humanitarian digital infrastructure

How can we better manage the substitution effects and externalities of AI, particularly regarding electricity consumption?

Speaker

Maximo Torero

Explanation

Training one language model consumes as much electricity as 100+ households for a year, while 630 million rural people lack electricity access

How can we create public goods to minimize losers and avoid market concentration in AI technologies?

Speaker

Maximo Torero

Explanation

As with any innovation, AI will create winners and losers, requiring intervention to ensure equitable outcomes