Topic: Infrastructure
Event recording
Event description
Event date: 6 July 2022, 17:00–18:30 CEST
This AI for Good Discovery event will discuss the building of human- and community-centred AI tools to handle dangerous mental health behaviours online such as suicide crisis, self-injury, and disordered eating behaviours. Dr Stevie Chancellor will expound on the technicalities of such tools and the necessary lab settings.
For more information, and to register, please visit the official page.
Event description
Event date: 16 June 2022, 15:00–17:00 CEST
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will explore the history and status quo of signalling systems and summarise ITU’s ongoing efforts in security-minded protocol standardisation to cope with potential signalling attacks on telecom operators. Signalling protocols play a cornerstone role in providing different ICT services. Nevertheless, as they were designed without security and privacy in mind, they are prone to attacks on ICT infrastructures. This webinar will cover the signalling architectures of telecommunication networks, an overview of the key signalling exchange procedures (call/SMS/USSD flows), and an outline of the vulnerabilities of existing signalling protocols. ITU-T recommendations and how they have been implemented will also be discussed.
For more information, and to register, please visit the official page.
Acronym: GSPI
Established: 2018
Address: Uni Mail, Bd du Pont-d’Arve 28, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
Stakeholder group: Academia & think tanks
The GSPI is a neutral and independent platform that aims to foster engagement between the research community and Geneva-based international policy actors around some of the most pressing global challenges (including global health, climate change, and migration).
It works to foster science-policy ecosystems by brokering collaborations and enhancing capacities across the interface between the science, policy, and implementation communities. This includes an annual call for projects, the Impact Collaboration Programme (ICP), the production of policy briefs, as well as learning opportunities and resources to advance the professionalisation and recognition of the science-policy field of practice in Geneva and beyond.
The GSPI is based at the University of Geneva. It receives support from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the backing of leading research institutions in Switzerland and Europe.
Digital activities
As part of its activities at the interplay between science, policy, and implementation actors, the GSPI tackles a range of digital issues. With data being a centrepiece of evidence-based policies, many of the GSPI’s activities touch on digitalisation and the use of digital tools in domains such as health, migration, development, and the environment.
Digital policy issues
Artificial intelligence
The project MapMaker, a collaboration between the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETH Zurich) has enabled the development of an online visualisation tool to inform data-driven decision-making on marine biodiversity conservation at the international level.
Digital standards
Together with the Geneva Health Forum (GHF), the GSPI has established a working group including key humanitarian actors to harness knowledge and best practices around the digitisation of clinical guidelines for management of childhood illness in primary care in low and middle-income countries. In line with the efforts of the WHO, and the principles of donor alignment for digital health, the working group has developed recommendations on how digitalisation can improve the management of childhood illness. In September 2021, the results of this work were shared with experts and the public, providing a platform for discussions on the lessons learned and future trends in the field.
Emerging technologies
In 2018, the GSPI organised policy discussions on the use of drones as part of humanitarian action. The conversation centred on the practical use of drones to deliver humanitarian aid and what can be done by stakeholders such as policymakers, the private sector, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to maximise the opportunities and reduce the risks of such technologies.
At the 2019 Digital Day, together with the University of Geneva, the GSPI organised a discussion exploring what experience and know-how Geneva-based organisations could share to empower and protect users in the context of the digital revolution.
With a number of other partners, the GSPI co-organised a discussion at the 2019 WSIS Forum on aerial data produced by drones and satellites in the context of aid and development. The session explored the interplay between international organisations, NGOs, and scientists and how they can work together to help monitor refugee settlements, provide emergency response in case of natural disasters, and scale agriculture programmes.
Data governance
The project REDEHOPE of the University of Geneva and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has led to the development of an online diagnostic tool to help countries identify and visualise issues in their housing data ecology, and access appropriate datasets to formulate more robust, evidence-based housing policies at the country level.
Sustainable development
In 2020–2021, the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention (BRS) secretariat benefitted from the support of ETH Zurich to develop an online platform to identify and signal the need for evidence and information to the scientific community in the field of chemical and waste management.
A project from ICP 2021 addressed the hurdles facing policy actors in accessing and making sense of data in migration research. The project partners (the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Graduate Institute) developed an interactive digital toolkit for policy officials to support them in leveraging migration research for evidence-based policymaking. The toolkit, based on IOM’s flagship publication, the World Migration Report, was launched in June 2022.
ICP 2021 brought support to the development of interactive analytical tools providing information about all UN sanctions to inform both humanitarian practitioners and sanction policy actors on practical ways to safeguard principled humanitarian action in areas under a sanction regime. This project is a collaboration between the Graduate Institute and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
ICP 2022 selected a collaboration between ETH Zurich and IOM that seeks to bring more effective policy expertise in the management of migration to address migrants’ needs and increase social cohesion between migrant and local communities. The collaboration will develop a toolbox to be used by IOM and its partners to facilitate the use of the Immigration Policy Lab (IPL) Integration Index, a survey tool for governments, nonprofits, and researchers to measure the integration of immigrants around the world.
Human rights principles
Also in the framework of its ICP, the GSPI has supported a collaboration between the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and OHCHR’s B-Tech project. Some of the new fast-evolving technologies, such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), facial recognition technologies, and the internet of things (IoT), can have profoundly disrupting effects on sociopolitical systems and pose significant human rights challenges. This initiative provides authoritative guidance and resources for implementing the UNGPs in the technology space and placing international human rights law (IHRL) at the centre of regulatory and policy frameworks. Aimed at policymakers, the technology sector, and all those working on the regulation of AI, the policy research carried out in this project (see resulting Working Paper, 2021) brings fresh insights into how current initiatives on the regulation of AI technologies could incorporate the protection and respect for human rights. Published by the Geneva Academy, the paper also calls on states to adopt a ‘smart mix’ of mandatory and voluntary measures to support their implementation and how this applies to the AI sector. This GSPI-supported science-policy process will formally feed the development of a ‘UN Guiding Principles check’ tool (working title), which will provide states with a roadmap to assess their regulatory efforts across different policy domains relevant to technology.
Digital tools
Social media channels
LinkedIn @genevaspi
Twitter @GenevaSPI
Acronym: IEC
Established: 1906
Address: 3 rue de Varembé, 1211 Geneva 20 , Switzerland
Stakeholder group: International and regional organisations
The IEC is the world leader in preparing international standards for all electrical, electronic, and related technologies. A global, not-for-profit membership organisation, the IEC provides a neutral and independent institutional framework to over 170 countries, coordinating the work of more than 20,000 experts. We administer four IEC Conformity Assessment Systems, representing the largest working multilateral agreement based on the one-time testing of products globally. The members of each system certify that devices, systems, installations, services, and people perform as required.
IEC International Standards represent a global consensus of state-of-the-art know-how and expertise. Together with conformity assessment, they are foundational for international trade.
IEC Standards incorporate the needs of many stakeholders in every participating country and form the basis for testing and certification. Every member country and all its stakeholders represented through the IEC National Committees has one vote and a say in what goes into an IEC International Standard.
Our work is used to verify the safety, performance, and interoperability of electric and electronic devices and systems such as mobile phones, refrigerators, office and medical equipment, or electricity generation. It also helps accelerate digitisation, artificial intelligence (AI), or virtual reality applications, protects information technology (IT) and critical infrastructure systems from cyberattacks and increases the safety of people and the environment.
Digital activities
The IEC works to ensure that its activities have a global reach in order to meet all the challenges of digital transformation worldwide. The organisation covers an array of digital policy issues.
Digital policy issues
Artificial intelligence and the internet of things
AI applications are driving digital transformation across diverse industries, including energy, healthcare, smart manufacturing, transport, and other strategic sectors that rely on IEC Standards and Conformity Assessment Systems. AI technologies allow insights and analytics that go far beyond the capabilities of legacy analytic systems.
For example, the digital transformation of the grid enables increased automation, making it more efficient and able to integrate fluctuating renewable energy sources seamlessly. IEC Standards pave the way for the use of a variety of digital technologies relating to intelligent energy. They deal with issues such as integrating renewable energies within the electrical network but also increased automatisation.
The IEC’s work in the area of AI takes a three-pronged approach. IEC experts focus on sector-specific needs (vertical standards) and conformity assessment, while the joint IEC and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) technical committee on AI, JTC1/SC 42, brings together technology experts, as well as ethicists, lawyers, social scientists, and others to develop generic and foundational standards (horizontal standards).
In addition, IEC Safety Standards are an essential element of the framework for AI applications in power utilities and smart manufacturing. IEC Conformity Assessment Systems complete the process by ensuring the standards are properly implemented.
SC 42 addresses some concerns about the use and application of AI technologies. For example, data quality standards for ML and analytics are crucial for helping to ensure that applied technologies produce useful insights and eliminate faulty features.
Governance standards in AI and the business process framework for big data analytics address how the technologies can be governed and overseen from a management perspective. International standards in the areas of trustworthiness, ethics, and societal concerns will ensure responsible deployment.
The joint IEC and ISO technical committee also develop foundational standards for the IoT. Among other things, SC 41 standards promote interoperability, as well as architecture and a common vocabulary for the IoT.
Hardware
The IEC develops standards for many of the technologies that support digital transformation. Sensors, cloud, and edge computing are examples.
Advances in data acquisition systems are driving the growth of big data and AI use cases. The IEC prepares standards relating to semiconductor devices, including sensors.
Sensors can be certified under the IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components (IECQ), one of the four IEC Conformity Assessment Systems.
Cloud computing and its technologies have also supported the increase of AI applications. The joint IEC and ISO technical committee prepares standards for cloud computing, including distributed platforms and edge devices, which are close to users and data collection points. The publications cover key requirements relating to data storage and recovery.
Building trust
International Standards play an important role in increasing trust in AI and help support public and private decision-making, not least because they are developed by a broad range of stakeholders. This helps to ensure that the IEC’s work strikes the right balance between the desire to deploy AI and other new technologies rapidly and the need to study their ethical implications.
The IEC has been working with a wide range of international, regional, and national organisations to develop new ways to bring stakeholders together to address the challenges of AI. These include the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the standards development organisations, ISO, and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
More than 500 participants followed the AI with Trust conference, in-person and online, to hear different stakeholder perspectives on the interplay between legislation, standards and conformity assessment. They followed use-case sessions on healthcare, sensor technology, and collaborative robots, and heard distinguished experts exchange ideas on how they could interoperate more efficiently to build trust in AI. The conference in Geneva was the first milestone of the AI with Trust initiative.
The IEC is also a founding member of the Open Community for Ethics in Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (OCEANIS). OCEANIS brings together standardisation organisations from around the world to enhance awareness of the role of standards in facilitating innovation and addressing issues related to ethics and values.
Read more
– e-tech
IEC and ISO Work on Artificial Intelligence
Computational Approaches for AI Systems
– IEC Blog
– Video
AI with Trust conference interviews AI Governance
Network security and critical infrastructure
The IEC develops cybersecurity standards and conformity assessments for IT and operational technology (OT). One of the biggest challenges today is that cybersecurity is often understood only in terms of IT, which leaves critical infrastructure, such as power utilities, transport systems, manufacturing plants and hospitals, vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Cyberattacks on IT and OT systems often have different consequences. The effects of cyberattacks on IT are generally economical, while cyberattacks on critical infrastructure can impact the environment, damage equipment, or even threaten public health and lives.
When implementing a cybersecurity strategy, it is essential to consider the different priorities of cyber-physical and IT systems. The IEC provides relevant and specific guidance via two of the world’s best-known cybersecurity standards: IEC 62443 for cyber-physical systems and ISO/IEC 27001 for IT systems.
Both take a risk-based approach to cybersecurity, which is based on the concept that it is neither efficient nor sustainable to try to protect all assets in equal measure. Instead, users must identify what is most valuable and requires the greatest protection and identify vulnerabilities.
Conformity assessment provides further security by ensuring that the standards are implemented correctly: IECEE certification for IEC 62443 and IECQ for ISO/IEC 27001.
ISO/IEC 27001 for IT
IT security focuses equally on protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data – the so-called CIA triad. Confidentiality is of paramount importance and information security management systems, such as the one described in ISO/IEC 27001, are designed to protect sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information (PII), intellectual property (IP), or credit card numbers, for example.
Implementing the information security management system (ISMS) described in ISO/IEC 27001 means embedding information security continuity in business continuity management systems. Organisations are shown how to plan and monitor the use of resources to identify attacks earlier and take steps more quickly to mitigate the initial impact.
IEC 62443 for OT
In cyber-physical systems, where IT and OT converge, the goal is to protect safety, integrity, availability, and confidentiality (SIAC). Industrial control and automation systems (ICAS) run in a loop to check continually that everything is functioning correctly.
The IEC 62443 series was developed because IT cybersecurity measures are not always appropriate for ICAS. ICAS are found in an ever-expanding range of domains and industries, including critical infrastructure, such as energy generation, water management, and the healthcare sector.
ICAS must run continuously to check that each component in an operational system is functioning correctly. Compared to IT systems, they have different performance and availability requirements and equipment lifetime.
Conformity assessment: IECEE
Many organisations are applying for the IEC System of Conformity Assessment Schemes for Electrotechnical Equipment and Components (IECEE) conformity assessment certification to verify that the requirements of IEC 62443 have been met.
IECEE provides a framework for assessments in line with IEC 62443, which specifies requirements for security capabilities, whether technical (security mechanisms) or process (human procedures) related. Successful recipients receive the IECEE industrial cybersecurity capability certificate of conformity.
Conformity assessment: IECQ
While certification to ISO/IEC 27001 has existed since the standard was published in 2013, it is only in recent years that the IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components (IECQ) has set up a true single standardised way of assessing and certifying an ISMS to ISO/IEC 27001.
International standards such as IEC 62443 and ISO/IEC 27001 are based on industry best practices and reached by consensus. Conformity assessment confirms that they have been implemented correctly to ensure a safe and secure digital society.
Read more
- Cyber Security: Ensuring IEC 62443 is Implemented Correctly
- Understanding IEC 62443
- IECQ Certification, a Crucial Requirement for ISO/IEC 27001
- Eight Things Organizations Should do to Ensure Compliance with Cyber Security Regulations
- Cyber Security for Critical Infrastructure
Video
- Cybersecurity for the Healthcare Sector
- Cybersecurity for Power Utilities and other Cyber Physical Systems
Digital tools
IEC has developed a number of online tools and services designed to help everyone with their daily activities.
Social media channels
Facebook @InternationalElectrotechnicalCommission
LinkedIn @IECStandards
Pinterest @IECStandards
X @IECStandards
YouTube @IECstandards
Acronym: BCSD
Established: 2010
Address: Place des Nations, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
Website: https://www.broadbandcommission.org/Pages/default.aspx
Stakeholder group: International and regional organisations
The Broadband Commission is a high-level public-private partnership fostering digital cooperation and developing actionable recommendations for achieving universal meaningful connectivity as a means of advancing progress on the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Established in 2010 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), HE President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and Mr Carlos Slim Helú of Mexico, its mission is to boost the importance of broadband on the international policy agenda and expand broadband access to every country. Today, the Commission is composed of more than 50 Commissioners who represent a cross-cutting group of top CEOs and industry leaders; senior policymakers and government representatives; and experts from international agencies, academia, and organisations concerned with development.
The Commission acts as a UN advocacy engine for the implementation of the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, leveraging the strength of its membership and collective expertise to advocate for meaningful, safe, secure, and sustainable broadband communications services that reflect human and children’s rights.
Digital activities
The Commission develops policy recommendations and thought leadership focused on the use of broadband connectivity to accelerate progress towards achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and universal and meaningful connectivity. To mobilise efforts to bring the life-changing benefits of digital transformation to everyone, the Broadband Commission puts broadband connectivity at the forefront of global policy discussions.
The Commission’s efforts are detailed in our flagship annual collaborative State of Broadband Report and Year in Review, and throughout the year, take the form of thematic Working Groups and their publications, regular meetings, and advocacy activities on the margins of other key events such as SDG Digital, GSMA’s MWC, HLPF, WSIS, and UNGA.
The Broadband Commission outlines its seven objectives in its 2025 Broadband Advocacy Targets. These targets reflect ambitious and aspirational goals and function as a policy and programmatic guide for national and international action in sustainable and inclusive broadband development.
Each year, the Commission hosts Working Groups to dive deeper into prominent issues affecting broadband access, affordability, and use. Working Groups are proposed and led by Commissioners, with the support of external experts. The culmination of the discussion and research of these groups is a consensus-based collaborative report which provides policy recommendations for achieving the issues examined, in alignment with the Commission’s targets and elements of the UN 2030 Agenda.
Digital policy issues
Telecommunications infrastructure
The Commission promotes the adoption of best practices and policies that enable the deployment of broadband networks at the national level, especially among developing countries. We engage in advocacy activities aimed at demonstrating that broadband networks are fundamental to modern societies and the achievement of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). Each year, the Broadband Commission publishes a State of Broadband Report, providing a global overview of the current state of broadband network access and affordability and use, an update on the Commission’s 7 Advocacy Targets, and insights/impact stories from Commissioners on multistakeholder actions for accelerating the achievement of universal meaningful connectivity.
The Commission has launched a number of Working Groups focused on connectivity infrastructure and financing, including the World-Bank-led Digital Infrastructure Moonshot for Africa and the Working Group on 21st Century Financing Models for Sustainable Broadband Development. These initiatives aim to provide governments and policymakers, and the private sector and development partners, with a set of holistic policy recommendations to accelerate broadband connectivity, close digital gaps, and foster innovative financing and investment strategies to achieve the Commission’s targets for broadband and to provide universal and affordable access to the internet. The Working Group on School Connectivity, also identified a set of core principles to help governments and other interested stakeholders to develop more holistic school connectivity plans.
Access
When advocating for the rollout of broadband infrastructure and bridging the digital divide, the Commission underlines the increasing importance of internet access and adoption as an enabler of inclusive sustainable growth and development.
We pay particular attention to aspects related to infrastructure deployment in developing countries, inclusive and relevant digital content creation and education, connectivity for small businesses, and access to broadband/internet-enabled devices.
Recent broadband reports covering these topics include the Commission’s Working Groups on Connectivity for MSMEs, Smartphone Access, and Data for Learning. These Working Groups aim to advance progress on the Commission’s 2025 Advocacy Targets on micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), universal connectivity and digital skills development.
The Broadband Commission has also developed the Broadband Transforming Lives campaign to further illustrate the global use of broadband in everyday life, and its potential to bridge the gender digital divide, empower youth and small businesses, and improve public services like healthcare and government services.
Sustainable development
The Commission advocates for actions to be taken by all relevant stakeholders with the aim of closing the digital divide, a crucial step towards achieving the SDGs. The Commission’s annual State of Broadband Report looks at the progress made in implementing broadband networks in various countries around the world, which it regards as an essential element in addressing the digital divide. In addition, the Working Group on Smartphone Access examines the smartphone access gap and provides strategies for achieving universal smartphone ownership so that all communities may benefit from access to digital services.
In support of SDG Digital, an event hosted by ITU and UNDP with the aim of bringing digital SDG solutions to scale, Broadband Commissioners offered insights into the various use cases for digital technologies to accelerate progress towards achieving the SDGs, highlighting the crucial importance that everyone plays in harnessing the power of digital for a brighter future.
Interdisciplinary approaches: Digital cooperate
The work of the Commission contributes to the UN Secretary General’s Global Digital Compact, which outlines shared principles for an ‘open, free and secure digital future for all’. The Commission prepared a contribution to the Global Digital Compact, in which we call for the Compact to be anchored in the vision of a connected, inclusive, and sustainable world and expresses the need to ensure consistency between existing multilateral and multistakeholder forums and mechanisms, avoiding duplication and ensuring that efforts complement, build on, and reinforce existing frameworks and successful activities, which have proven to be impactful.
Through our various Working Group initiatives and the advocacy of our Commissioners, the Broadband Commission is an exemplary example of SDG 17: ‘Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development’ in action. The Commission’s policy recommendations advocate implicitly for global digital cooperation, providing considerations for all sectors to enhance collaboration to reach the goal of universal meaningful connectivity.
Digital tools and initiatives
Resources
The Broadband Commission’s website, social media, and various online channels feature landmark reports, which are available for free:
- Making Connectivity Work for MSMEs
- The Transformative Potential of Data for Learning
- Strategies Towards Universal Smartphone Access
- Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation: Competencies for Civil Servants
- Broadband Commission 2020 Universal Connectivity
- Manifesto
- The Future of Virtual Health and Care
- 21st Century Financing Models for Bridging Connectivity Gaps
- Connecting Learning Spaces: Possibilities for Hybrid Learning
- Importance of ICT and Global Cooperation for Future Epidemic Management
- Reimagining Global Health through Artificial Intelligence: The Roadmap to AI Maturity
- Balancing Act: Countering Digital Disinformation While Respecting Freedom of Expression
- The Digital Transformation of Education: Connecting Schools, Empowering Learners
- Connecting Africa Through Broadband: A Strategy for Doubling Connectivity by 2021 and Reaching Universal Access by 2030
- Epidemic Preparedness: Preventing the Spread of Epidemics Using ICTs
- Digital Health: A Call for Government Leadership and Cooperation between ICT and Health
- The Promise of Digital Health: Addressing Non-communicable Diseases to Accelerate Universal Health Coverage in LMICs
- Child Online Safety: Minimising the Risk of Violence, Abuse and Exploitation Online
- Digital Gender Divide: Bridging the Gender Gap in Internet and Broadband Access and Use
The Broadband Commission has also been instrumental in launching the following global initiatives and is an active participant in:
- EQUALS: The ITU/ITC/GSMA/UN Women Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age:
- GIGA: The ITU/UNICEF Global Initiative to Connect
- The Child Online Safety Universal Declaration
- Partner2Connect Digital Coalition
- SDG Digital
Social media channels
Facebook @broadbandcommission
Flickr @Broadband Commission
LinkedIn @broadband-commission
X @UNBBCom
YouTube @Broadband Commission
Acronym: GESDA
Established: 2013
Address: c/o Fondation Campus Biotech Geneva, Chemin des Mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Website: https://gesda.global/
Stakeholder group: NGOs and associations
GESDA was established to explore how future science breakthroughs can most efficiently be translated into and used as tools for the benefit of humanity. GESDA interlinks the digital revolution with other disruptive fields of science and technology, and with the diplomatic world.
GESDA’s work is guided by three fundamental questions:
- Who are we, as humans? What does it mean to be human in the era of robots, gene editing, and augmented reality?
- How are we all going to live together? How can technologies reduce inequality and foster inclusive development?
- How can we ensure the well-being of humankind and the sustainable future of our planet? How can we supply the world’s population with the necessary food and energy and regenerate our planet?
GESDA brings together an outstanding community of academic, diplomacy, and impact leaders to reflect and act on how to use the future to build the present. Its work is structured around three flagship instruments:
- GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar®
This digital platform – updated continuously and released in paper copy on a yearly basis – maps impactful emerging topics currently researched in science laboratories across the world and anticipated breakthroughs at 5, 10, and 25 years. Curated by the academic community, it provides descriptions of over 300 breakthrough predictions relevant to the global community.
Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipation Summit accelerates the science diplomacy nexus. Bringing science to the table of multilateralism, it engages diplomacy leaders to examine the impact of future breakthroughs on people, society, and the planet, as well as their implications for future global governance and geopolitics.
- GESDA Solution Accelerator
GESDA’s instrument to co-construct science diplomacy solutions with relevant transdisciplinary and cross-community task forces. In 2022, GESDA has eight solutions pathways and four initiatives in the making. These propositions are communicated at the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipation Summit.
GESDA structures its anticipation, acceleration, and translation work across five thematic platforms addressing potential future science and technology advances, as well as their related challenges:
- Quantum revolution and advanced artificial intelligence (AI), with for instance the challenge of privacy.
- Human augmentation, with for instance the challenge of advanced gene editing or neuroenhancement.
- Eco-regeneration and geo-engineering, with for instance the challenges of synthetic biology, decarbonisation, and regenerative agriculture.
- Science and diplomacy, with for instance the challenge of future world geopolitics, including multilateral conflict modelling, forecasting, and prevention.
- Knowledge foundations with for instance the challenge of the future of work and labour, including rising inequalities and inclusive growth.
From the end of 2022 onwards, the GESDA Board of Directors will choose and fund (in partnership with other foundations) a limited number of large-scale, high-impact solutions and initiatives aiming to:
- Help the world population benefit more rapidly from the advances of science and technology as stated by Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
- Contribute to inclusive human development by reducing poverty and inequality while increasing the number of developing and emerging economies, in line with Agenda 2030.
- Leverage the role of Geneva and Switzerland as a hub of multilateralism capable of anticipating cutting-edge science and technologies, as well as translating them into effective tools for
GESDA was created as a global independent foundation and a public partnership in 2019, for an initial start-up phase of three years. The founders – the Swiss Federal Council and the Canton of Geneva with the City of Geneva-decided in March 2022 to prolong the Foundation for 10 years.
The ultimate objective remains to strengthen the contribution of Switzerland to multilateralism as the host country of the UN in Geneva.
Digital activities
Advanced computational tools, such as AI and high-performance computing, are reshaping all fields of science.
GESDA’s specificity is that it focuses on ‘science anticipation’. Its ambition is to comprehend the future digital disruptions and their implications for other fields of science, geopolitics, and mankind.
GESDA’s headquarters are located at the Campus Biotech in Geneva.
Digital policy issues
A Swiss foundation with a global reach and a private-public partnership working from Geneva, GESDA began in September 2019 to develop and promote anticipatory science and diplomacy for greater impact and multilateral effectiveness.
The GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® is a new tool for multilateralism, informed discussions, and concerted action. It is a single point of entry to catch up with the unprecedented pace of science and technology. Providing a factual basis for eye-opening reflections on the impacts of future scientific discoveries for people, society, and the planet(s), this interactive, evolving instrument is updated once every year.
The GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® provides a single entry point for all communities of practice interested in becoming early adopters of scientific advances, regardless of whether they are scientists, political authorities, diplomats working in embassies or in international organizations, economic actors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs),, or citizens from anywhere in the world.
The GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® gives an overview of the emerging trends in five major fields of science and technology:
1. Advanced AI & Quantum Revolution
3. Eco-Regeneration and Geoengineering
It offers three complementary points of view on these five fields, with each point comprising a chapter of the Radar:
- Trends – Scientific emerging topics and possible breakthroughs at 5, 10, and 25 years as they are currently already cooking in the laboratories.
The 2023 GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® presents 42 emerging scientific topics and 324 breakthroughs at 5, 10 and 25 years in the 5 considered fields. Its Knowledge Foundations’ portion comprises 3 lenses on philosophy, geopolitics, and science, dealing with 3 fundamental questions about the future of humanity, which are debated by 84 scholars in philosophy, social sciences, humanities, and geopolitics.
- Actions and Debates – What people all over the world already do with and think about these possible scientific breakthroughs.
Every edition of the GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® includes an analysis of more than 10 million social media posts and 1.3 million articles in the mainstream media to take the pulse of society on what people do and say about emerging scientific topics presented in the trends chapter of the Radar.
- Opportunities – Emerging initiatives worth following and joining.
The 2023 GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® presents the Open Quantum Institute 2023 Incubation Report, GESDA’s first Solution Ideas ready for pilot implementation as well as a summary of the Proceedings of the 2022 Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipation Summit organised once a year by the GESDA Foundation.
The GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® is a collective work resulting from the collaboration of 1,542 scientists around the world who are building the Radar community within the GESDA Academic Forum chaired by Professor Michael Hengartner, a member of the GESDA Board of Directors. The briefs presented in the 2023 edition are signed off by 58 top scientists.
The total number of contributors to the Radar:
- 543 scientists from 53 countries contributed to the 2021 edition.
- 774 scientists from 70 countries contributed to the 2022 edition.
- 848 scientists from 73 countries contributed to the 2023 edition.
For three days every year in October, the GESDA Foundation gathers representatives of the communities of practice interested in discussing and using the emerging scientific trends depicted in the Radar. This Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipation Summit is where the new annual edition of the Radar is officially presented and released.
Scouting each year for future breakthroughs and emerging trends across scientific domains, from natural and social sciences to engineering and the humanities, is more critical than ever due to the pace at which science and technology are evolving. It’s the only way to be ready for the time when some of these breakthroughs become a reality. By projecting ourselves into the future, we aim to detect in advance the major scientific and technological advances that will change the ways we live, think, and behave.
Consequently, we give people time to prepare for these changes with the best possible transitions and empower them to develop uses of their own that can benefit everyone. As we learn from the current debates raging over this year’s rapid adoption of artificial intelligence ‒ which is changing almost every industry and starting to impact society ‒ it becomes more difficult to construct long-term solutions: the debates have begun and are creating a hurried atmosphere.
What’s new in 2023
Zoom in on the 2023 Edition
Compared to the previous editions released in 2021 and 2022, the 2023 GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar 2023® innovates with the following:
– 6 Deep Dives on current and future hot topics
– 27 Breakthroughs Briefs
– 7 Updates of existing Briefs
– 3 Briefs on emerging topics
– 9 new invited contributions that will nurture the next editions of the Radar
Deep Dives 2023
Neuro-Augmentation
Neuro-augmentation, one of the fastest-developing fields of science, involves enhancing our brains and nervous systems by using advanced technologies, including advanced AI and quantum computing.
Recent breakthroughs in neuroscience, neurotechnology, and brain-inspired computing are paving the way for new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and the enhancement of our cognitive abilities. For many people, this field is the next big thing.
To delve into these complex topics, experts from various fields gathered at the GESDA Spring Anticipation Workshop in Villars, Switzerland They discussed the current state of neuro-augmentation science and identified its short-term, mid-term, and long-term implications and ethical concerns. These discussions notably aim to guide diplomatic interventions in this rapidly advancing field, ensuring responsible and beneficial progress for everybody.
The discussion in Villars focused on three hot topics: (1) brain hacking, (2) hybrid brain, and (3) artificial cognition (brain-inspired AI and robotics). Some examples of these advancements include brain-monitoring devices and brain-machine interfaces, which allow us to both read and write signals from our nervous system. These innovations could have wide-ranging impacts, from changes in workplace dynamics to new definitions of what it means to be human. Additionally, scientists are exploring the creation of brain organoids, interspecies chimaeras, and genetically modified primates, all of which are pushing the boundaries of our understanding of life and the human brain. Moreover, researchers are investigating the potential for applying our understanding of the human brain to the development of computing devices and robots that could someday possess a form of consciousness.
The Future of Peace and War
After presenting an introductory essay on the topic last year, the GESDA Geopolitical Lens of the Radar takes a deep dive into the challenges of peace and war.
Often resulting in violence or conflict, today’s increasing tensions between countries and power blocs are aggravated by climate change and competition in the field of digital technologies.
Anticipation informed by an understanding of science and technology is, therefore, also essential in the field of peace and war. It makes possible the creation and implementation of appropriate programmes and strategies to prevent or contain conflict and advance more promising approaches to peace.
Applying GESDA’s anticipatory methodology to mapping the future of peace and war involves plotting social and political scientists’ anticipations of the future.
Unlike the anticipation of breakthroughs or new applications in the field of technology, foresight in the fields of social and political sciences entails more fragile projections accompanied by greater uncertainty, unanticipated tipping points, and black swan events.
In a series of high-level workshops held in Geneva and New York in 2023, the three convening organisations — GESDA Foundation, the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University — brought together experts in the field of peace and war to develop and apply a methodology to anticipate how advances in science and technology will influence the distribution of power in the next 10 to 25 years.
Breakthroughs and Opportunities of Advanced AI and Quantum Revolution
As we witness a remarkable integration of AI and advanced computing technologies into our daily lives, the 2023 edition of GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar® explores these developments, first by featuring an updated briefing on advanced AI science and introducing a new brief on unconventional computing, which highlights alternative computing technologies that are poised to outperform current state-of-the-art AI in the future.
Additionally, Radar 2023 includes two invited contributions that discuss how, on the one hand, AI is reshaping our understanding of the past and, on the other hand, how it is increasing the potential for neuromorphic computing to create robots with genuine embodied intelligence.
GESDA’s world, however, extends beyond being just a think tank; it actively seeks to transform knowledge into action. Building on the scientifically validated insights gathered in its first Radar released in 2021, GESDA invested the last two years in conceiving and designing solution ideas for effective multilateralism in partnership with its broad science and diplomacy community.
The Open Quantum Institute (OQI) has emerged as the first initiative to be incubated by GESDA. An exclusive report of the incubation phase in 2023 outlines OQI’s development journey, starting from the anticipation of quantum technologies in the scientific realm to its establishment as a validated solution concept for science diplomacy.
The report elaborates on how the OQI aims to become the premier hub for applying quantum computing to achieve the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).
It details collaborations with partners to broaden access to quantum computers, underscores the significance of educational and training programs associated with the institute, and presents a proposal for shaping a multilateral governance structure that empowers the use of quantum computing for the SDGs.
Furthermore, the report emphasises the engagement of a supportive community of stakeholders in co-creating OQI’s unique value proposition, ensuring that quantum technologies benefit society as a whole rather than a select few.
The Human Right to Science
To mark the 2023 celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the GESDA Science Lens highlights the importance of the human right to science, as mentioned in international declarations and covenants.
Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights specifies the right for everyone to benefit from the advances of science. Other related documents emphasise that this right includes the responsibility to use scientific progress and its applications in a manner that takes into consideration both their benefits and the potential harm they could do.
In late 2022, GESDA convened a scientific workshop with the Brocher Foundation in Geneva to get an overview of the current status of the Human Right to Science, both generally and more specifically within the health sector.
The resulting report presented in the 2023 Radar involves 29 experts in international and humanitarian law discussing how integrating human rights into the scientific process can lead to collaborative, holistic, and inclusive approaches. This approach goes beyond merely mitigating risks; it encourages responsible exploration of the opportunities offered by scientific and technological progress.
The Future of People, Society, and the Planet(s)
Since 2021 in the GESDA Philosophy Lens, a group of leading philosophers has been exploring how the advancements outlined in the Radar might reshape humanity, society, and our relationship with the planet(s).
Each edition of the Radar proposes new points of view on three fundamental questions that the GESDA Foundation is addressing:
1. Who are we? What does it mean to be human in an age of robots, gene editing, and augmented reality?
2. How are we going to live together? Which deployment of technologies can help reduce inequality and foster inclusive development and well-being?
3. How can we assure humankind’s wellbeing with the sustainable health of our planet? How can we supply the world’s population with the necessary food and energy while regenerating our planet?
For example, the possible development of ‘conscious’ machines requires us to reflect on our purported uniqueness as humans, and which properties we may wish to actively preserve as the sole remit of human beings. Additionally, the group of philosophers considers how emerging digital technologies can impact fundamental aspects of society, from trust and privacy to democracy and justice. It also addresses the challenges posed by climate engineering technologies and how we perceive our control over nature in the face of environmental disruptions.
People’s Uses and Expectations Regarding Science
Through a detailed examination of global public sentiment as well as people’s stances on science, the Radar’s Pulse of Society delves into the influence of science and technology on humanity’s self-perception, social interactions, and relationship with the environment. It also aims to detect the early uses of advanced technology and underscores the importance of comprehending public approaches regarding present and future scientific developments.
To achieve this, the GESDA Foundation uses AI to analyse both mainstream media and online social platforms.
As it has done every year since its inception in 2021, GESDA’s analysis provides new insights into the extent of discussions surrounding topics mentioned in the Radar, how these topics connect with other themes both inside and outside the Radar, and what the evolving sentiment around these subjects is.
It also identifies the actions taken by citizens in response to their interests related to each topic, spotlighting noteworthy initiatives and influential figures that have emerged over the past year. Importantly, this year’s analysis also includes a comparison of how public opinions, sentiment, and actions have evolved since the initial release of the Radar in 2021.
Future of meetings
Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipation Summit (annual event in October) – all sessions accessible online.
Science and Diplomacy Week (annual event in May) – most sessions accessible online.
GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar(provides a platform for online contributions).
GESDA regularly contributes to relevant global meetings across the world.
Social media channels
Facebook @GESDAglobal
LinkedIn @gesda-global
X @GESDAglobal
Acronym: Ecma
Established: 1961
Address: Rhône Street 114, 1204 Geneva, Switzerland
Website: https://www.ecma-international.org/
Stakeholder group: NGOs and associations
Ecma International is an industry association that works on standardisation in information and communication technology (ICT) and consumer electronics.
The association develops global standards and technical reports to facilitate and standardise the use of ICTs and consumer electronics. It also encourages the correct use of standards by influencing the environment in which they are applied.
Its membership includes entities such as Alibaba, Apple, Bloomberg, Google, Hitachi, HP, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, and PayPal, as well as prominent universities and research institutes.
Digital activities
Since its creation in 1961, Ecma has published numerous standards and technical reports covering areas such as data presentation and communication; data interchange and archiving; access systems, interconnection, and multimedia; programming languages; and software engineering and interfaces. FORTRAN, one of the oldest programming languages developed by Ecma, was approved in 1965. ECMAScript, with several billion implementations, is one of the most used standards worldwide.
Digital policy issues
Digital standards
A large part of Ecma’s activity is dedicated to defining standards and technical reports for ICTs (hardware, software, communications, media storage, etc.). This work is carried out through technical committees and task groups focusing on issues such as information storage, multimedia coding and communications, programming languages, open XML formats, and product-related environmental attributes. The standards and technical reports developed in committees and groups are subject to an approval vote in the Ecma General Assembly. Once approved by the assembly, some standards are also submitted to other standardisation organisations (such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)) for their approval and publication through a liaison agreement that Ecma has with those organisations.
Telecommunications infrastructure
- Standards related to corporate telecommunication networks: ECMA-307; ECMA-308; ECMA-309; ECMA- 326; ECMA-332; ECMA-355; ECMA-360; ECMA-361
- Standards related to access systems and interconnection: ECMA-342; ECMA-412; ECMA-417
- Standards related to wireless proximity systems. ECMA-340; ECMA-352; ECMA-356; ECMA-362; ECMA-373; ECMA-385 ECMA-386; ECMA-390; ECMA-391; ECMA-403; ECMA-409; ECMA-410; ECMA-411; ECMA-415; ECMA-368; ECMA-369; ECMA-381; ECMA-387; ECMA-392; ECMA-397; ECMA-398; ECMA-399; ECMA-401
- Technical reports related to corporate telecommunication networks: TR/91; TR/92; TR/95; TR/96; TR/100; TR/101; TR/102; TR/103; TR/75; TR/86
Programming languages such as ECMAScript (JavaScript) and C#
Data-related standards
- Multiple Ecma standards covering issues such as data interchange, data presentation, and data communication
- Ecma technical reports covering data communication and data interchange.
Technical committees (TCs) and task groups (TGs) covering issues such as access systems and information exchange between systems (TC51), information storage (TC31), product-related environmental attributes (TC38), ECMAScript language (TC39), office open XML formats (TC45) and ECMAScript modules for embedded systems (TC53).
Information storage
Standards developed by Ecma include optical and magnetic storage systems (disks, cartridges, etc.), methods for determining the life expectancy of storage media, and the interchange of information on media by specifying its volume and file structure.
Where other optical storage systems such as compact discs (CDs), digital versatile disks (DVDs), or hard disks only store data on their surface, holographic data storage goes beneath the surface using the entire recording medium.
Holographic storage is a high-capacity storage technology that records binary information into holograms (three dimensions), which can be read by low-power laser beams. In December 2021, the ECMA-420 standard was published. It specifies device interface information and requirements for high-speed image retrieval and collation using holographic optical correlation based on shift-multiplex recording of coaxial holography.
Ecma has several projects in development, which include a standard on a quality discrimination method and an operating method of storage systems for long-term data preservation. This standard will enable data storage systems to be built using optical disks for storing and accumulating important digital information safely and on a permanent basis. There is also a plan to develop a standard defining a holographic data storage system with a capacity of 1,000 Gbytes per disk, which will enable long-term data preservation storage systems to be built, with features such as high capacity, long-term reliability, and lower operational costs.
Future of meetings
Ecma meetings, such as its General Assembly, typically take place as a physical meeting to allow face-to-face discussions and interaction among members, but remote attendance is possible by using videoconferencing and other digital tools for the members that cannot attend in person. Ecma TCs hold either physical, hybrid, or virtual meetings depending on their specific needs.
Ecma meetings are typically held outside of Ecma’s HQ at the invitation of a TC member who hosts the meeting at their own or another facility.
Economy and efficiency are factors in choosing the meeting place and the meeting mode. Digital or a combination of digital and face-to-face meetings are possible options. This is decided by the committee.
Social media channels
LinkedIn @ecma-international
Twitter @EcmaIntl