Brain-Computer Interfaces Webinar Series-Part 3: Legal and Ethical Implications

During the webinar on BCIs, the panel will discuss the growing use of these applications in the military domain. BCIs are technical means and systems that provide direct links and communication between the brain and external devices. Traditionallly, they have been used in medicine, but in recent times their increasing use in the military field has placed them on the agendas of international law and ethics institutions. The meeting proposes to flesh out the issues BCIs can pose within these domains.

Embracing Biodiversity – How the ICT sector can go beyond COP 15

ITU will host an online session on 22 May 2023 to explore the two-sided effect of ICTs on the environment. On the negative side, they contribute to environmental degradation through raw material extraction, increased production, and improper disposal of ICT equipment. However, on the positive side, ICTs and digital technologies can monitor biodiversity, gather and manage data, and promote conservation.

This session will examine both aspects of the impact of ICT on biodiversity and explore ways digital technologies can be used to address the goals set out by COP 15. The session will also emphasise the importance of international standards and feature insights from industry representatives and experts.

Webinar: ChatGPT, perspectives and scope for education in Latin America and the Caribbean

This workshop is intended for policymakers and relevant technical staff from education ministries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as experts from international organisations, representatives from the private sector and civil society organisations, academic researchers, project managers specialising in AI, applied to education, and anyone interested in the use of technology in education. The specific objectives of this discussion are:

– To discuss the specific challenges and opportunities implied by the expansion of artificial intelligence technologies, such as ChatGPT, to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education for all in Latin America and the Caribbean.
– To review experiences of concrete applications of ChatGPT in educational activities.
– To promote synergies between various actors from the government, private sector, civil society, academia, media, and international cooperation agencies to build a sustainable future in the era of AI.

World Bank Spring Meetings

The World Bank is hosting a public discussion led by ministers and global experts to address practical approaches to the governance issue, as outlined in the report, ‘The Future of Government: A call to Action’, on 12 April 2023. Said report describes the present state of our world as being at an inflection point, given Covid 19, Climate Change and Conflicts, and encourages national governments to first redraft the existing social contract with citizens by first reconsidering: their role, the delivery of public goods, ways to be more productive and how to build trust with their citizenry, all to realise positive change. The report spotlights innovation and technology as precursory opportunities for change, notably in building trust and delivering public goods. The 12 April meeting promises to address practical ways governments, in partnership with The World Bank and other stakeholders, can use these and other opportunities to drive change in support of all, but in particular, the most vulnerable.

ITU-T SG5 Meeting

The next meeting of ITU-T Study Group 5, ‘EMF, Environment, Climate Action, Sustainable Digitalization, and Circular Economy’ (SG5), will take place from 13 to 23 June 2023 in Sophia Antipolis, France. It will be held jointly with the ETSI’s Technical Committee of Environmental Engineering (ETSI/TC EE).

SG5 is responsible for developing international standards related to electromagnetic fields (EMF), the environment, climate action, sustainable digitalization, and the circular economy. Its work focuses on promoting the use of ICT for climate change adaptation and mitigation actions, adopting e-waste management systems, and facilitating the recovery and reuse of ICT equipment. The group collaborates with other standards bodies and relevant stakeholders to ensure its standards align with existing frameworks.

Digital Skills in Education: Equipping Leaners for the Digital Decades of the Future

The debate is a part of the European Year of Skills 2023, focused on skills policies. The panel, moderated by the Culture and Education Committee Chairperson, MEP Sabine Verheyen, will discuss the digital skills initiatives in schools. The panel aims to reflect on how different levels of governance across Europe can work together to help the youth develop future STEM careers, guide teachers, and raise the bar for digital skills in the European education system.

More about the event can be found on the official webpage.

IIPP 2023 Festival: The Entrepreneurial State 2.0. – Rethinking the State in the 21st Century​

The UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) will kick off the IIPP 2023 Festival with the first talk on ‘The Entrepreneurial State 2.0. – Rethinking the State in the 21st Century’.
The Entrepreneurial State 2.0 Festival is imagined as a public platform for global leaders, policymakers, and practitioners to rethink the state in the 21st century. Between April and June 2023, the Festival will address topics such as:
• digital infrastructures for state innovation
• changing the narrative and reshaping the global economy
• govern finance
• build both long-term capacity and dynamic capabilities
• challenges facing developing countries; and more.
This talk will address the use of the internet and online public sector services for citizens and the challenges for the state in providing them.
The talk will be held from 18:00 to 19:30 (BST); in-situ and online attendance is free, but registration is mandatory.

More information can be found on the official webpage.

WSIS Action Line C4: Understanding AI-powered learning: Implications for developing countries

The ITU, ITC-ILO meeting on April 17, 2023 intends to address pressing issues in the global education ecosystem spawned from recent advancements in AI technology. Experts from the two organisations will address, in general, the impact of AI technologies on the learning environment and policymakers alike, as well as the implications of these technologies on education as a result of their use in areas such as exam monitoring, faculty lectures transcriptions, student success analysis, teacher administrative tasks and real time feedback to student questions. Anticipated fallouts to be discussed include the added workload for teachers in ensuring that they and their learners are proficient with such tools, and the use and storage of personal intent data by the providers of AI technologies and others within the education ecology. The experts will frame the discussion through the lens of the global south in light of the existing digital skills gap and connectivity challenges as they seek to build solutions in the Edtech arena.

Webinar: A user-centric approach of smart digital identity by ETSI

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) will host the webinar “A user-centric approach of smart digital identity by ETSI” on 20 April 2023 at 5:00 p.m. CEST. The event will introduce the model developed by the ETSI User group that (i) puts the user at the centre of their data by creating a user-centric digital clone for smart identities, (ii) is application independent, and (iii) provides users with complete control over their personal data and preferences.

During the online seminar, the ETSI User Group will showcase their efforts and the Proof of Concept (POC), which combines a user-centric informational model with AI tools, such as artificial neural networks, to improve user profiling.

Registration for the upcoming webinar on 20 April can be made here.

Webinar: Data for change: listening to the voices of children about their experiences online

How does the Safe Online initiative support the development of evidence-based solutions to make the internet safe for children?

During this webinar, Serena Tommasino from the Safe Online Initiative at the End Violence Partnership will highlight the importance of evidence generation to inform prevention, response and cross-sectoral efforts from the Safe Online $71 million investment portfolio with impact in more than 80 countries globally.

This includes sharing the key findings from the large-scale research project Disrupting Harm, implemented in 13 countries in Africa and Asia between 2019-2022 and currently ongoing in 11 additional countries between 2022-2025 that will be showcased by Daniel Kardefelt-Winther from UNICEF Innocenti. The session will demonstrate ways that data and evidence can inform policy change and tech industry practices.