Leaders TalkX: Looking Ahead: Emerging tech for building sustainable futures

Leaders discuss the plural futures of technology and digitalisation at high-level panel

During a Leaders’ Talk session, Dr. Liberato Bautista, President of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Status with the United Nations, moderated a high-level panel discussion on the plural futures of technology and digitalisation. He emphasised the importance of collaborative multi-stakeholder processes, such as the WSIS process, in shaping a better understanding of the future of technology.

Mr. Dino Cataldo Dell’Accio, Chief Information Officer of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, highlighted the need to bridge the gap between technical and non-technical communities within the UN. He shared insights into the Pension Fund’s implementation of a blockchain and biometric-based digital identity system for retirees and beneficiaries in 192 countries. Dell’Accio stressed the emerging assurance standards required to ensure cybersecurity, data privacy, and human dignity in the use of new technologies.

Mr. Viraj Verma, Additional Secretary from the Department of Telecommunications of the Ministry of Communications in India, discussed how emerging technologies are being utilised in India to address sustainable development goals. He cited examples such as AI in renewable energy integration, water quality monitoring, and smart irrigation. Verma also mentioned initiatives like the National Smart Grid Mission and the India AI Mission, which aim to enhance sustainable development across various sectors.

Dr. Sharon Weinblum, Delegate General de Wallonie-Brussels, addressed the impact of emerging technologies on cultural diversity. She raised concerns about the dominance of English content online and the potential threats to discoverability of local content in other languages. Weinblum called for initiatives to support local content creation, recommend locally produced content on platforms, and ensure cultural diversity is considered in AI model and algorithm design.

Mr. Ernst Noorman, Ambassador at Large for Cyber Affairs from the Netherlands, spoke about the Freedom Online Coalition’s commitment to defending human rights in the context of digital development. He emphasised the importance of human-centric technology and the coalition’s role in influencing discussions on AI governance and internet freedom.

Dr. Pol Vandenbroucke, Vice President of Global Government Affairs at Shionogi, discussed the role of technology in healthcare. He highlighted the need for education to combat health misinformation and improve health literacy. Vandenbroucke also touched on the potential of AI in drug discovery and the importance of policies that support innovation in technology and biomedicine.

Ms. Maya Plentz, Executive Director of UN Briefs, addressed the challenges faced by news media organisations due to emerging technologies like generative AI. She noted the struggle for survival among public interest news media and the need for policies to support the industry. Plentz called for a distinction between social media and news media, emphasising the latter’s role in democracy.

In closing, Dr. Bautista asked the panelists for their wishes on aspects of digital futures that have not been adequately addressed. The responses ranged from the need for inclusive AI development, addressing the digital divide, connecting the unconnected to the internet, and ensuring technology serves human needs.

The session concluded with Dr. Bautista thanking the panelists for their contributions and adherence to the time limits, followed by a round of applause.

Dr. Liberato Bautista:
Good afternoon. Thanks to all joining us online and in person here for the next Leaders Talk. I’m Liberato Bautista, the President of Congo, the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Status with the United Nations. I thank ITU and the WSIS staff for having me here for the third time, moderating a high-level panel. I’m excited about our topic, not the least because it speaks not just of a singular future, but of futures in the plural. I maintain that none of us have a franchise of the future, not in our imagining and not in our own acting. But certainly doing it together, not the least through multi-stakeholder processes like the WSIS process, is most desirable so that we get a better picture of what the future holds about technology, about digital futures, and more. And that more is what excites me about this panel. So I look forward to a substantive session, be that as it may, panelists will have three minutes for the first round. And so, on with the interventions from our distinguished panelists. First let us listen to our United Nations representative, Mr. Dino Cataldo de Lachio, Chief Information Officer of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, who will provide context to the session and inform us how the intersections of our panel team and with particular WSIS action lines being implemented. Mr. Cataldo.

Mr. Dino Cataldo Dell’Accio :
Thank you very much. Very pleased to be here and to be moderated by you with this important background. So I’m here participating in representation of the United Nations, and specifically I’m representing two sub-domains. The first domain is the one that brings together all the directors, all the chiefs of IT of the entire UN system, usually referred to as the Digital Technology Network. And the second sub-domain is in my professional capacity as a CIO of the United Nations Pension Fund vis-a-vis the Digital Innovation Strategy and Implemented Project that we deployed at the UN Pension Fund. So within the sub-domain of the UN as a system, we in the DTN, we have been looking of course at the overarching principle established by the WSIS, established by our UN Secretary General vis-a-vis his strategy starting from 2018 forward on new technology, on data strategy, on the digital future. And one of the first issues that we wanted to tackle is really to bridge the, if you will, the gap between the techies, the technical communities, and the non-technical communities. In the UN, we have observed a proliferation of new profiles. We have chief digital officers, we have chief business transformation officer, we have chief data privacy officer, chief data analysis officer, and all of a sudden we realized the need to make sure that when we meet, when we start analyzing, reviewing, agreeing on project as initiative, we can establish a protocol of common understanding vis-a-vis what are our respective roles and responsibilities that go beyond this specificity in this different profile. So we realized that although it’s mature, this domain needs to be addressed, yes. In the second capacity, at the UN Pension Fund, we started implementing starting 2020 a very ambitious initiative, and one of these was the implementation of a blockchain and biometric-based digital identity for our 84,000 retirees and beneficiaries residing in 192 countries. The solution went live in 2021, it’s now used by 40,000 individuals that conduct the proof of existence and use the digital identity. One element I want to emphasize and conclude is that as a lesson learned of this, I heard in previous panel the reference to cybersecurity, data privacy, human dignity. There is a need to recognize that we are not facing only emerging technologies, but we are also facing emerging assurance standards. There are no established, generally accepted standards on how to provide assurance vis-a-vis the use of this emerging technology, and this is an area where within especially at the personal level, within the IGF, I’m leading to bring together professional experts and subject matter experts on creating those common credita and standard for assurance. Thank you.

Dr. Liberato Bautista:
Thank you very much, Mr. Delaccio, for giving us insights into how technology is leveraged at the United Nations Joint Pension Fund. Now let us listen from India, let’s listen from Mr. Viraj Verma, the Additional Secretary from the Department of Telecommunications of the Ministry of Communications. Mr. Verma, please.

Mr. Niraj Verma:
Thank you, distinguished panelists and friends. Emerging technology offer a plethora of opportunities to address sustainable development goal and create a more sustainable future. I’ll present use of some of such technologies in India. So if you look at climate change, which is under SDG 13, in renewable energy integration, AI can optimize energy grid for integrating renewable resources like solar and wind. India’s grid installed capacity is 417 gigawatt. Out of this, wind, solar, and renewable energy is 125 gigawatt, which is 30 percent. AI is being used for forecasting and scheduling so that state load dispatch center can better manage their renewable power load. We have started national smart grid mission, and as a part of that, under RDSS scheme, India is changing all the meters around 250 million meters into smart meters. The second, I would say, is under clean water and sanitation, which is SDG 6, water quality monitoring, sensor networks, and AI can monitor water quality in real time, allowing early detection of pollution. In India, we have started a scheme called Namavi Gange, which is cleaning the Ganges, and we have started Jaljeevan Mission, which is providing clean water, potable water supply to all the households. Smart integration, smart irrigation is another area under SDG 6, and secondly, zero hunger, which is under SDG 2. We have to provide precision agriculture. I’m happy to tell you that we are starting a project, which is 5G enabled villages. We are starting pilot projects, which are going to address these two areas. Sustainable cities and communities under SDG 11, IoT enhances urban living by improving traffic management, reducing energy consumption, and providing real-time data for better planning. We have started setting up smart city missions, 100 smart cities, to provide smart power supply, efficient urban mobility, and robust IT connectivity. Swaksh Bharat Mission, also we have started, which is a great nudge exercise in India for cleanliness. We have started a project for digital twin, which is creating digital twins of cities using AR, VR, MR, et cetera. India has started India AI Mission, where outlay of more than $2 billion has been earmarked. The India AI Mission includes initiatives like India AI Computer Capacity, India AI Innovation Center, et cetera. Lastly, I would say that energizing technologies has become very important. Emerging technologies have become very important to achieve 2030 agenda of sustainable development in particular, especially in SDG 3, which is good health and well-being, SDG 4, which is quality education, SDG 7, which is affordable and clean energy. Thank you.

Dr. Liberato Bautista:
Thank you, Mr. Varma. India, as a fast-growing economy, contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030 is indeed important, and thank you for sharing key reforms and innovations in the telecommunications sector of India. Thank you. Let us now move on to our third panelist. All the way to my far right, Dr. Sharon Weinblum, Delegate General de Wallonie-Brussels from Brussels, who represents French-speaking governments of Belgium here in Geneva, and cultural diversity is of utmost importance to you. Dr. Weinblum, how do you see emerging technologies impacting cultural diversity? And in the case of artificial intelligence, do you see it as an opportunity or a threat to cultural diversity?

Dr. Sharon Weinblum:
Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to speak on such an important subject and to be able to speak French. The different forms of artificial intelligence provide a number of opportunities in the cultural sector for creation, for dissemination, but if we look more closely at discoverability, that is, the ability to discover content online, there are a number of dangers that I think we need to keep in mind. What we can say about the current state of affairs is that the referencing models on platforms and search engines give priority to artists who have already succeeded and most of them are English-speaking. On the 10 million most visited sites, 60% offer content in English and only 3% in French. What we can see today is that many platforms and search engines use large language models, but these trends are probably going to be increased. The training of these models is fairly limited, which reinforces biases and priority given to content which is already very prevalent on these platforms. These advanced language models do not encourage users to consult the original source and thus miss out on cultural content. So the obstacles to discoverability are many and there’s a snowball effect on the user’s abilities to discover content, find it, and also the remuneration of cultural actors, their ability to produce new content, and therefore on cultural diversity. In French-speaking Belgium and other governments, it’s important to have initiatives which guarantee cultural diversity in this new environment. And so it’s critical, first of all, to support the creation of local content in local languages, the creation of online platforms given over to content which is not necessarily in English, such as TV5Monde, and introduce quotas for local production, which the EU does, and guarantee that these platforms recommend the contents that are locally produced. IA has to be trained on bodies of content that are not in English. Social networks are soon going to be able to translate everything, so the language barrier will no longer exist. These cultural diversity aspects have to be taken into account when models and algorithms are designed, and transparency of the sources used is important as well. The Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, the Francophonie organization, and other organizations are discussing this issue, and it’s important to follow this discussion and ensure that cultural diversity will be at the heart of new technology advances. Thank you.

Dr. Liberato Bautista:
Let me try to answer you in French. Thank you for telling us about the impact of emerging technologies, especially IA, on cultural diversity, and I hope I didn’t mess that up too much. Let’s now move on to our fourth panelist from the Netherlands, Mr. Ernst Noorman, Ambassador at Large for Cyber Affairs. Mr. Noorman, as Chair of the Freedom Online Coalition in 2024, how does the Netherlands work with this coalition to ensure that its work remains future-proof in terms of emerging technologies and their governance?

Mr. Ernst Noorman:
Thank you very much. On this side. Thank you very much for the opportunity to take part in this panel and to tell something more about the Freedom Online Coalition, also these days during these important meetings of the WSIS forum, WSIS 20 forum, and the AI for Good, we also have a number of meetings on the Freedom Online Coalition. Just a few words on the Freedom Online Coalition. It was started in 2011, and it was started with the angle of defending human rights online and offline. Human rights are universal, and it doesn’t matter if it’s online or offline, so that was the key issue to start the Freedom Online Coalition. It right now counts 39 member states. We were the last country to enter the coalition, and we also have an advisory network of 30 members from academia, the civil society, and the business community to advise solicitors or unsolicited the member states of the Freedom Online Coalition, all with regard to human rights within the context of the digital world. It is also important to stress that it’s regionally very diverse. We have from all regions around the world members. And we organized also this year under our chairship meetings, we just did one in Ghana, we just did one in Sao Paolo, we will organize one in August in Asia, to include the different voices, cultural, different opinions from the different regions in the discussions. Now on the agenda, of course, during our chairship are the Global Digital Compact, our WSIS plus 20, the Summit of the Future, the governance of the internet are on top of the agenda, and of course with the angle of human rights, how do we defend it, and to have a voice together outside to influence also discussions in the different fora where the discussions take place, notably of course at the UN level. So it is also important if we discuss AI governance, the algorithms being used, how different software is being developed in AI, it’s important to note that it should be human-centric. That’s the goal. Digital development, emerging technologies are there for humans. Humans are not there for the technologies. And so that’s also important in those discussions to ensure that human rights are fully protected. And that’s also why we feel that the Freeman Online Coalition is more than ever relevant in being involved in the development of the new emerging technologies. And we will be sure as a coalition that we will dare to voice our opinions. Thank you.

Dr. Liberato Bautista:
Thank you, Mr. Norman, for giving us insights into how the Netherlands can influence discussions, including the one that the intergovernmental negotiation of the global digital compact and artificial intelligence is an important aspect of that compact. I would have tried Dutch, but it would have curled my tongue to the point that I would do injustice to the language. Thank you very much, sir. You’re excused. We move on to Dr. Paul van den Broek, the Vice President of Global Government Affairs, Shinogi. Dr. van den Broek, are we using technology sufficiently to address health issues? And what are examples of where this can be applied even more than so today?

Dr. Pol Vandenbroucke:
Thank you very much for the great question. I first of all would like to thank the conference organizers for inviting me. And at this event, I represent both Shinogi, a midsize pharmaceutical company, and the Global Coalition on Aging. The private sector’s role in building sustainable futures is crucial, and I look forward during the panel to help continue a powerful public-private partnership. Considering the megatrend of aging, this topic becomes even more important to help enable a healthier aging, as we experience longer lives and a profound demographic change with an increasing proportion of older adults in most countries around the world. Ongoing innovation, and therefore policies that support and incentivize innovation in technology and biomedicine, are more important than ever. And in this respect, the growing rate of antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, ought to be at the very top of our agenda, because it is a crisis that is responsible for over a million deaths yearly today, increasing to 10 million deaths by mid-century. The cornerstone of our current medical health infrastructure is at risk. But there’s no doubt that information technology has profoundly changed health care. More can be done. I would like to highlight a few areas where important impact has been made, and where technology can improve health care for more people around the world. First of all, education, which is increasingly important. As with the aging population, we have moved from more acute disease to more chronic disease. So information has become increasingly available and democratized. But there are two issues that I think that need attention. One is curation, how to distinguish between correct and useful information that is helpful, and information that is misleading or wrong. We saw a terrible example with that during the COVID-19 epidemic. And then also the second issue is one of general health literacy. A basic level of health literacy is needed to provide context to interpret the complex disease information that is available, especially where basic science education is lacking or deficient. Technology has also been a very important health care delivery, the introduction of electronic health records allows patients to access their health information quickly in real time, and the same is true for care teams. And administrative staff, of course, spend a lot less time on paperwork and phone calls. Technology has also improved access to care through telehealth, but disadvantaged populations are still affected, especially in LMICs. And here also, IT literacy is an issue, especially in older adults. Health research has also changed fundamentally through the introduction of technology. Computer-aided drug design, direct data capture, use of real-world evidence through, among other things, electronic health records have been decisive in providing better and faster research results. And above all, we’ve only scratched the surface of AI in what we can do to spur on drug discovery and development and introduction of new solutions for our patients. Thank you.

Dr. Liberato Bautista:
Thank you very much, Mr. van der Broek. Before coming to this session, I just came back from speaking at a World Health Assembly side event, and I must tell you that, well, health is one of the major issues I address in my work. And I did say that we are in the business of not just healing the biological body, but in a multilateral setting, we are about the healing of the body politic. So the work, the use of the mediation of technology in the delivery of healthcare, particularly SDG3 in health and well-being is most important. So thank you very much, sir, for your insights. Last but not least, we will hear from Ms. Maya Plants, the Executive Director of UN Briefs, which reports on the latest policy initiatives and debates at the heart of the global digital economy. Ms. Plants, how is emerging technology impacting the news business? And should the UN and its agencies step up efforts to protect this pillar of democracy, the independent news business, if you will?

Ms. Maya Plentz:
Thank you very much for the organizers, for the invitation. It is my great pleasure to be here once again to speak about matters that matter to everyone. And this year, I decided to speak about news media organizations. Public interest news media organizations are struggling to survive, as you probably know. According to Maria Risa, the Nobel Laureate and co-founder and CEO of a news organization in the Philippines, Rappler, only 0.3% of development funds go to public interest news media organizations and independent news groups in the global south. Public interest news media organizations are closing at an alarming rate, and not only under authoritarian regimes in the global south, but also in the so-called developed world where public interest news media have been gutted of advertising revenue by social media platforms. Now, we see that generative AI is on the path to cause similar harms to the industry. The slow uptake of policies guiding the development of these technologies, or rather, the development of business models of generative AI, training of large language models that assumed that scraping the open web according to U.S. copyright laws of fair use would apply to paywalled articles or copyrighted news stories in open news sites. This has met with a backlash by those that have not agreed with their interpretation of the law. While some were quick to make licensing agreements with AP, Le Monde, and other reputable news organizations, there are many other small publishers, and not so small, that are being told that there will be no agreement, such as the New York Times and other news organizations, where negotiations for a licensing agreement to use their content fell apart, and now they are suing the culprit using their content for training their large language models without approval, and now not willing to pay an adequate amount so the publications can continue to produce high-quality, researched, and fact-checked news. Like all news organizations that have ethical standards and a duty to inform the public, to support values compatible with open, democratic societies. So the ethos of breaking things and moving fast must be put to rest, as we have seen now how it breaks our societies, divides people on our online public square, and pollute our information ecosystems. So I’m really looking forward to the conversations that will follow this panel to engage in understanding how we can support better news organizations. Thank you very much.

Dr. Liberato Bautista:
Thank you, Ms. Plants. In April of this year, on the side of the session of the Asia-Pacific Economic and Social Council in Bangkok, Congo organized a panel on artificial intelligence, and there was a focus on it being artificial and yet real. And thank you for demonstrating the perils and the possibilities of artificial intelligence, particularly on independent news media. And thank you for quoting my compatriot, my good friend, Maria Reza, from her Harvard commencement, I suppose. Well, we’ve done very well. There is no such thing as recovering lost time, but I must ask you to give a round of applause to our panelists for sticking to the three minutes, and will allow us for one more round, a quick response to a question they did, I did not ask them to prepare for, and I hope that you will like what you will hear. But first, putting deed to words, a round of applause in the Philippines is really a round. So get, no, no, no, no, get your hands, it’s a round of applause for my panelists for doing so well. Now, for the last question, and I’ll start from my right. In a few sentences, and if you have, now, my intervention yesterday started with wishes and wishes. In a few sentences, and if you have your wish, what one aspect of the plural digital futures has not been adequately addressed?

Dr. Sharon Weinblum:
Thank you. If I had a wish, it would be for other governments to join. If I had one wish, I could call on the French-speaking governments and all the cultural activities and Brussels to put a new focus on this question on the table, and also look at and create awareness to those who develop AI.

Dr. Pol Vandenbroucke:
Health-related, and it is addressing the misinformation that is available because misinformation in political contexts can lead to differences of opinion. Misinformation in a health context can lead to death and disease. Thank you.

Dr. Liberato Bautista:
Thank you, Dr. Vandenbrouck. Maya?

Ms. Maya Plentz:
And I hope that we stop conflating social media with the news media. The news media has a role to play in democracy. The social media is perhaps best left for entertainment.

Dr. Liberato Bautista:
Mr. DiCaccio?

Mr. Dino Cataldo Dell’Accio :
So, in my case, I would say that a future where self-sovereign identity, it’s a reality, and it’s not just confined within a country, without the borders of a country, but where interoperability standards can allow the digital identity offline and online, as my fellow panelist from Netherland alluded to, to be really universal. Thank you. Thank you.

Dr. Liberato Bautista:
Mr. Verma?

Mr. Niraj Verma:
I think digital gap or divide, especially between urban and rural, and between north and south, has not been properly addressed. In fact, it is, I feel, increasing. Thank you.

Dr. Liberato Bautista:
Mr. Norman?

Mr. Ernst Noorman:
Mine is related. It’s actually my wish is that the 2.6 billion people who are not connected yet to the internet will be shortly connected and to a very open, free, and safe, and secure internet.

Dr. Liberato Bautista:
Thank you very much. Thank you. And that’s for wishes and wishes for another Leaders’ Talk. Thank you for attending this edition of Leaders’ Talk. Good afternoon. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.