International Bodies Unite to Progress Sustainable Development Goals

IFIP this month announced a formal partnership with the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) AI for Good program to increase its scale and impact.

The global professional federation for people working in the ICT sector, IFIP announced the partnership at last week’s annual General Assembly in Lille, France. 

IFIP President Anthony Wong said the partnership will progress the goals and mission of IFIP, which was founded over 60 years ago under the auspices of UNESCO. “IFIP aims to achieve the worldwide professional and socially responsible development and application of information and communication technologies,” he said.

“We are excited to host an AI for Good webinar series and look forward to collaborating and partnering with ITU on a range of initiatives. We will seek contributions from our global stakeholders, including our members from the Americas to the South Pacific, Asia, Europe and Africa, as well as our Technical Committees and Working Groups,” he continued. 

The first IFIP webinar, to be held in April 2023, will feature a panel speaking on “Responsible AI for a Smart Country”. It will be hosted by Eunika Mercier-Laurent, Chair of IFIP’s Technical Committee 12 (Artificial Intelligence), together with André C. Ponce de Leon F. de Carvalho from the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC).

Both IFIP and AI for Good strive to promote the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). IFIP supports research aspects through its Technical Committees and Working Groups, while AI for Good seeks to identify practical applications of AI to advance the goals and scale these solutions for global impact. 

Fred Werner, Head of the Strategic Engagement Division at ITU and Executive Producer of AI for Good, said: “One of the goals of AI for Good is to connect AI innovators with problem owners to create a framework of common understanding that can help to accelerate AI for Good problem-solving globally. IFIP’s global community is a rich source of expertise that can help advance our mission by sharing best practices, knowledge and expertise to the AI for Good community. That is why we are so glad to welcome IFIP to the work of AI for Good, to expand our networks and drive innovative solutions together. We invite all members of the IFIP community to join our AI-powered community platform, bringing their expertise to applied solutions for the SDGs.”

The AI for Good Neural Network is an AI-powered match-making community platform that connects AI innovators with problem owners. In addition to accessing live and on-demand content, members become part of the global AI for Good community with customised AI-driven matching of interests, profiles and people. It includes thousands of hours of unique content, including webinars, keynote talks, discovery sessions and global challenges to create AI solutions. 

The network is based on three pillars: 

  • LEARN allows members to design a personalised program with smart content suggestions;
  • BUILD provides a smart-matching quiz to meet future AI for Good partners; and
  • CONNECT allows users to join networking sessions to meet world-class AI experts. 

Launched in February this year, the platform hosts online exhibition spaces, virtual meeting rooms and has brought nearly 10,000 people together through a custom AI match-making platform.  

AI for Good is a year-round digital platform where AI innovators and problem owners learn, build, and connect to identify practical AI solutions to advance the UN SDGs. It’s the leading action-oriented, global & inclusive United Nations platform on AI.