Mr. President of the General Assembly,Madam President of ECOSOC,Secretary-General of the United Nations,Excellencies,Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very pleased to join this debate today, which is particularly important in these times of crisis.
Humanity’s current collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic not just demonstrates our advances, but also reveals our inequalities in capabilities for science, technology and innovation – or STI - along with their wider societal implications.
Recent technological advances – especially in bio-technology and including a wide range of enabling digital technologies – has helped speed up virus identification, testing, drug and vaccine development to unprecedented levels.
While it is important to celebrate such advances, it is also important to recognize the shortcomings. Many institutions have fallen short in this so-called “stress test”.
As my Department argued in its policy briefs on COVID-19, the crisis has been a wake-up call. We need better science-policy-society interface, more effective international technology cooperation, and public trust in science.
Without rapid improvements in these areas – improvements that are commensurate with the rapid technological progress – an increasing number of people and entire societies will be left behind. This would be in stark contrast to the ambitions Governments have set themselves with the SDGs.
The revolution in science and technology continues to advance. If anything, the pandemic has further accelerated it, and revealed new innovations and forms of collaboration. These will continue to have broad impacts on the economy, society and environment. We must ensure that they are to the benefit of all, as well as advancing the SDGs.
Rapid technological advances are rarely neutral. They can present extraordinary policy and societal challenges, including across a broad range of stakeholders.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In 2015, in adopting the 2030 Agenda, UN Member States wisely agreed to launch a UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism, or TFM, in support of the SDGs. The TFM was conceived as a new multi-stakeholder way of working. Its aim would bring governmental decision makers and the entire UN system closer to the pulse of technological progress.
This progress comes about in very dynamic ways. It involves young innovators across the world, researchers in Universities, and businesses. The TFM seeks to bring them all together towards a shared purpose. Forty-three UN entities in an Inter-Agency Task Team, as well as an external and independent group of experts appointed by the Secretary-General have worked together to advance this.
My Department has proudly served as Secretariat since its inception, co-convening the IATT first with UNEP, and currently with UNCTAD.
I would also like to recognize my ITU and OECD friends on this panel who have been important partners in this work.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Regular and timely analytical work is essential to identify the wider societal impacts of new technologies, and of the policy options available. However, little work has been done by, and for, developing countries.
To address this situation, new and emerging technologies have been high on the agenda of the TFM.
Dedicated IATT work streams have organized expert group meetings on artificial intelligence and new technology clusters. They have collected perspectives from scientific communities and have greatly enhanced working level cooperation among UN entities in this area.
There is work ongoing on STI4SDGs roadmaps in pilot countries. And on AI strategies, on AI ethics, gender, and on technology scenarios for the SDGs. A joint UN capacity building programme has showcased the potential of pooling the wider expertise and perspectives of UN system staff.
The annual multi-stakeholder STI Forum, held in New York since 2016, has brought together thousands of scientists, policy makers, technology experts, entrepreneurs and young people, to share knowledge, experiences and solutions.Such match-making between technology seekers and technology developers is essential to speed up progress, and will become even more so in the coming years. More importantly, they facilitate the ‘whole-of-society’ engagement that is essential for policy making.
In line with the respective General Assembly resolutions, the findings of the TFM on the impacts of rapid technology change on the SDGs, have been presented in the annual STI Forums since 2018.
This year’s update of these findings will focus on environmental aspects – an area that received less attention in the past. Since 2018, TFM experts have called for partnerships with entities at the technology frontier in the form of a “discovery lab” or a network of “observatories”. All these are organized to provide trusted, timely insights on impacts and policies related to artificial intelligence and biotechnology. In this regard, we are interested in closer cooperation with OECD’s recently launched policy observatory on AI.
The TFM aims to add value to all of its participants’ work through facilitating cooperation and collaboration. We see this happening in many ways, including through our collaborations with regional fora and processes, both within the UN and outside.
Dear Colleagues,
Extraordinary challenges call for an extraordinary level of international cooperation. I firmly believe this is the case when we consider how STI is to be harnessed for the SDGs.
Let me assure you that DESA and the entire UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism, stand ready to support Member States in helping realise the full potential of rapid technology change for achieving the SDGs.
I encourage everyone to get engaged in this worthwhile endeavour. Today’s discussions can and should contribute to this important work.
Thank you.
I am very pleased to join this debate today, which is particularly important in these times of crisis.
Humanity’s current collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic not just demonstrates our advances, but also reveals our inequalities in capabilities for science, technology and innovation – or STI - along with their wider societal implications.
Recent technological advances – especially in bio-technology and including a wide range of enabling digital technologies – has helped speed up virus identification, testing, drug and vaccine development to unprecedented levels.
While it is important to celebrate such advances, it is also important to recognize the shortcomings. Many institutions have fallen short in this so-called “stress test”.
As my Department argued in its policy briefs on COVID-19, the crisis has been a wake-up call. We need better science-policy-society interface, more effective international technology cooperation, and public trust in science.
Without rapid improvements in these areas – improvements that are commensurate with the rapid technological progress – an increasing number of people and entire societies will be left behind. This would be in stark contrast to the ambitions Governments have set themselves with the SDGs.
The revolution in science and technology continues to advance. If anything, the pandemic has further accelerated it, and revealed new innovations and forms of collaboration. These will continue to have broad impacts on the economy, society and environment. We must ensure that they are to the benefit of all, as well as advancing the SDGs.
Rapid technological advances are rarely neutral. They can present extraordinary policy and societal challenges, including across a broad range of stakeholders.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In 2015, in adopting the 2030 Agenda, UN Member States wisely agreed to launch a UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism, or TFM, in support of the SDGs. The TFM was conceived as a new multi-stakeholder way of working. Its aim would bring governmental decision makers and the entire UN system closer to the pulse of technological progress.
This progress comes about in very dynamic ways. It involves young innovators across the world, researchers in Universities, and businesses. The TFM seeks to bring them all together towards a shared purpose. Forty-three UN entities in an Inter-Agency Task Team, as well as an external and independent group of experts appointed by the Secretary-General have worked together to advance this.
My Department has proudly served as Secretariat since its inception, co-convening the IATT first with UNEP, and currently with UNCTAD.
I would also like to recognize my ITU and OECD friends on this panel who have been important partners in this work.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Regular and timely analytical work is essential to identify the wider societal impacts of new technologies, and of the policy options available. However, little work has been done by, and for, developing countries.
To address this situation, new and emerging technologies have been high on the agenda of the TFM.
Dedicated IATT work streams have organized expert group meetings on artificial intelligence and new technology clusters. They have collected perspectives from scientific communities and have greatly enhanced working level cooperation among UN entities in this area.
There is work ongoing on STI4SDGs roadmaps in pilot countries. And on AI strategies, on AI ethics, gender, and on technology scenarios for the SDGs. A joint UN capacity building programme has showcased the potential of pooling the wider expertise and perspectives of UN system staff.
The annual multi-stakeholder STI Forum, held in New York since 2016, has brought together thousands of scientists, policy makers, technology experts, entrepreneurs and young people, to share knowledge, experiences and solutions.Such match-making between technology seekers and technology developers is essential to speed up progress, and will become even more so in the coming years. More importantly, they facilitate the ‘whole-of-society’ engagement that is essential for policy making.
In line with the respective General Assembly resolutions, the findings of the TFM on the impacts of rapid technology change on the SDGs, have been presented in the annual STI Forums since 2018.
This year’s update of these findings will focus on environmental aspects – an area that received less attention in the past. Since 2018, TFM experts have called for partnerships with entities at the technology frontier in the form of a “discovery lab” or a network of “observatories”. All these are organized to provide trusted, timely insights on impacts and policies related to artificial intelligence and biotechnology. In this regard, we are interested in closer cooperation with OECD’s recently launched policy observatory on AI.
The TFM aims to add value to all of its participants’ work through facilitating cooperation and collaboration. We see this happening in many ways, including through our collaborations with regional fora and processes, both within the UN and outside.
Dear Colleagues,
Extraordinary challenges call for an extraordinary level of international cooperation. I firmly believe this is the case when we consider how STI is to be harnessed for the SDGs.
Let me assure you that DESA and the entire UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism, stand ready to support Member States in helping realise the full potential of rapid technology change for achieving the SDGs.
I encourage everyone to get engaged in this worthwhile endeavour. Today’s discussions can and should contribute to this important work.
Thank you.
File date:
Thursday, June 11, 2020