World Health Assembly Starts in Geneva | ITU: LDCs a Top Priority | WHO Calls for Caution When Using AI in Healthcare | AI For Good Takes Place in July in Switzerland
World Health Assembly Starts in Geneva | ITU: LDCs a Top Priority | WHO Calls for Caution When Using AI in Healthcare | AI For Good Takes Place in July in Switzerland
Weekend Edition: Hospices de Beaune Charity Wine Auction to Support NGOs that Promote Healthy Ageing | Register for AI for Good Global Summit
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ITU
The UN agency for telecommunication and information technology is calling for investments in the order of USD 100 Billion to digitalise the world, up from 30 Billion, by 2026. The ambitious request to private sector partners and country-members seeks to accelerate the digital transformation of all sectors of the global economy.
Celebrating the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day on the 17 of May, the organisation made the request for increase in pledges to address the connectivity and digitalisation of Least Developed Countries, countries that have yet to fully meet the minimum standards of development in education, food security, and sanitation.
Many are countries that have endured conflict, but also more recently suffered the consequences of extreme weather events, on top of chronic issues of stalled development after protracted civil strife, and post-conflict recovery.
Register for AI for Good Global Summit
First-ever robot press conference scheduled for ITU's AI for Good Global Summit organized by ITU together with 40 partner UN sister agencies, and co-convened by Switzerland. Summit takes place 6 and 7 July in Geneva, Switzerland and remotely
European Parliament
Artificial Intelligence Act
Artificial Intelligence has dominated the airwaves, social media, and wherever one turns to read the news there is talk of its perils. More than before, and this is a good thing as the hype has overshadowed the real concerns for democracy, up till now.
Will we, as a society, be able to regulate it?
Will industry and regulators find common ground?
I interviewed Dr. Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate Professor of Law at Leiden University School of Law, author of Vulnerability & Data Protection Law, Oxford University Press, to speak about the advances on the draft of the Artificial Intelligence Act, that was discussed at the European Parliament early May.
UNICEF and Microsoft Deliver Digital Education Programmes for Teachers, Adolescents and Children Refugees in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Listen to my interview with Mac Glovinsky from UNICEF in New York, on the digital education programme delivered with Microsoft.
Don’t forget to subscribe, like, share.
Presented by Microsoft
Microsoft Airband to connect nearly 40 million people across Latin America and Africa
Learn more about Microsoft’s engagement with the UN here.
UNICEF and Microsoft Partnership Delivers Results
Learning Passport
Interview with Mac Glovinsky, the lead on the partnership between Microsoft and UNICEF to bring formal education to children and adolescents that are forced to flee their homes. That happens because they are either internally displaced in their own countries due to civil strife, or they are refugees from post-conflict and war zones, as well as are escaping their countries after extreme weather events that destroy their cities, their homes, and schools, and cause them to interrupt their regular schooling.
The Learning Passport works in partnership with local governments to make sure that children and adolescents do not lag behind on their formal education during a period for them that is already very trying on their physical and mental health.
The programme has been deployed for children and adolescents refugees from Ukraine in Poland and other neighbouring countries from the start of the hostilities.
UNICEF uses the curriculum of country of origin developed in partnership with national governments departments of education. Since some areas have poor connectivity, no broadband access, they figured a hybrid model that allows kids to use their computers off-line too. UNICEF Learning Passport has also been focusing on the mental health of refugee teachers to help them to integrate in the host country.
How the UN Communicates With Global Audiences
Country-members review activities of the UN public information and strategic communications around the globe from mid-to-late-2022 to January 2023.
“The Committee on Information adopted the SG report by consensus, providing the Department of Global Communications with clear direction & strong support in our work to advance the important work of the United Nations, combat misinformation and more.” Maher Nasser, UN Department of Global Communications.
We interviewed Maher Nasser, Director, UN Department of Global Communications, in New York, to speak about the annual report and the priorities set up by the Committee on Information on the work of the UN News and Media Division, the outreach section, the office of the spokesperson, advertising campaigns, ambassador programmes with celebrities in sports and film, and the overall strategic communications’ plan using social media platforms.
With an annual budget of roughly $90 Million USD, the Department of Global Communications plays a crucial role on shaping the public perception of the organisation around the globe.
Building Trust and Combating Misinformation
Source: UN
Full document here
World Health Assembly Starts in Geneva
“As we mark WHO’s 75th anniversary, we can be proud of our past achievements, but we must be mindful of lessons learned, as we transition from the emergency phase of COVID-19, and create a future where every person has access to the health services they need,” said Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “This means strengthening the global architecture for health emergency preparedness, response and resilience, supporting countries on the road to universal health coverage, and building a stronger, sustainably-funded and accountable WHO."
World Health Organisation
Call for Using AI/ML to Promote Human Well-being
Source: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for caution to be exercised in using artificial intelligence (AI) generated large language model tools (LLMs) to protect and promote human well-being, human safety, and autonomy, and preserve public health.
LLMs include some of the most rapidly expanding platforms such as ChatGPT, Bard, Bert and many others that imitate understanding, processing, and producing human communication. Their meteoric public diffusion and growing experimental use for health-related purposes is generating significant excitement around the potential to support people’s health needs.
It is imperative that the risks be examined carefully when using LLMs to improve access to health information, as a decision-support tool, or even to enhance diagnostic capacity in under-resourced settings to protect people’s health and reduce inequity.
While WHO is enthusiastic about the appropriate use of technologies, including LLMs, to support health-care professionals, patients, researchers and scientists, there is concern that caution that would normally be exercised for any new technology is not being exercised consistently with LLMs. This includes widespread adherence to key values of transparency, inclusion, public engagement, expert supervision, and rigorous evaluation.
Precipitous adoption of untested systems could lead to errors by health-care workers, cause harm to patients, erode trust in AI and thereby undermine (or delay) the potential long-term benefits and uses of such technologies around the world.
Weekend Edition
Cannes Film Festival 2023 Film Guide
Great features and shorts on the list, a film about the plight of Afghan women, Wes Anderson premieres his latest, so does Scorsese, Almodovar shows his short-film Strange Way of Life, and speaks about the many Cannes Festivals he participated and awards he took home.
Something for everyone in these times of daily calamities and distress.
Not that they will make you forget, but maybe plunging for one hour and ninety minutes in the dark and cool of a cinema will, if not lift your spirits, bring you closer to humankind.
Here is the list of the official selection for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in the categories of: Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, Midnight Screenings, Cannes Premiere, and Special Screenings.
Courtesy: IMDB
The film by Brazilian-Algerian director Karim Ainouz, that tells the story of Queen Catherine Parr and Henry VIII's marriage, is in competition.
Director: Karim Aïnouz | Stars: Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Eddie Marsan, Sam Riley
Another Good Reason to Invest in Fine Wine
The Hospices Civils de Beaune pledges its commitment to healthy ageing
The 163rd Hospices de Beaune wine sale will be held on Sunday 19 November 2023 in the Halles de Beaune. On the occasion of the sale of this year’s Charity barrel, also known as the Pièce des Présidents (Presidents’ barrel), the Hospices Civils de Beaune is pledging its commitment in support of healthy ageing, in response to an awareness of and concern about this public health priority.
Through the proceeds of the sale of this unique barrel of wine, the Hospices Civils de Beaune wishes to support one or more associations involved in projects preventing the loss of, and maintaining, independence among the elderly – via projects focusing on the prevention of any such loss of independence, and actions aimed at strengthening older people’s skills and supporting their health and quality of life at home.
How to apply?
If you are involved in improving the quality of life of the elderly, you can submit your application and become a beneficiary of the proceeds from the sale of the Pièce de Charité at the 163rd Hospices de Beaune wine sale.
To apply, go to the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune website, in the "Associations" section of the "Auction" section click here.
Applications are open until 30 June 2023.