Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press,
I am pleased to join you today to launch the United Nations World Economic and Social Survey 2018. Produced by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Survey looks at how frontier technologies can help sustainable development and improve livelihoods of people.
As we heard from the report this morning of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, there is great urgency to address climate change and advance progress on all the Sustainable Development Goals.
New technologies can offer impactful solutions.
The Survey identifies the immense potentials of new technologies to work for the SDGs. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, genetics and renewable energy technologies are already providing immense hopes for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Yet, while they have the potential to deliver huge dividends, new technologies – if mismanaged – can also pose significant risks for equity and inclusion.
The Survey examines a few of these technological breakthroughs as well as the complex challenges they present. As stated in the Secretary-General’s Strategy on New Technologies, the UN system can help facilitate the use of these technologies to accelerate implementation of the transformative Sustainable Development Goals. Further, the UN can facilitate the alignment of new technologies with the values enshrined in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the norms and standards of international law.
Attaining these objectives requires a critical understanding of the how these technologies impact people, planet and prosperity. This Survey pushes the frontier of our own analysis, while keeping these larger issues in mind.
For example, while one country, or a particular sector or occupation within a country, may benefit from a new technology, others may gain little or even lose altogether. Many frontier technologies – especially AI and machine-learning – will profoundly reshape labour markets worldwide. Policymakers must know the costs and benefits of these technologies as they design policies and regulations to steer their future trajectory.
The Survey underscores the urgency for bridging the technological divide to attain sustainable development and leave no one behind. Developing countries now have a window of opportunity to leapfrog to frontier technologies. They can bypass technological solutions that are economically inefficient and environmentally costly. But leapfrogging will require enabling conditions, complemented by necessary human capital, infrastructures and institutions.
Government investment in these areas can help accelerate ‘catch up’ with frontier technologies and exploit their full potential. National innovation systems must incentivize new technological solutions that are most needed for sustainable development. As the Survey shows, such innovation determines the pace and sequence of how developing countries overcome technological divides.
Sustainable development is a collective global responsibility. Frontier technologies give us tools to take up this responsibility and deliver sustainable development. A more effective and supportive international cooperation can ensure that these tools are available to all people in all countries.
In closing, the analysis and policy recommendations put forward in this Survey are intended to spark a conversation and engagement with the Member States, industries, academia, and civil society groups. The United Nations is uniquely positioned to facilitate global dialogue and forge commitments to ensure that frontier technologies work for all.
Thank you.
I am pleased to join you today to launch the United Nations World Economic and Social Survey 2018. Produced by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Survey looks at how frontier technologies can help sustainable development and improve livelihoods of people.
As we heard from the report this morning of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, there is great urgency to address climate change and advance progress on all the Sustainable Development Goals.
New technologies can offer impactful solutions.
The Survey identifies the immense potentials of new technologies to work for the SDGs. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, genetics and renewable energy technologies are already providing immense hopes for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Yet, while they have the potential to deliver huge dividends, new technologies – if mismanaged – can also pose significant risks for equity and inclusion.
The Survey examines a few of these technological breakthroughs as well as the complex challenges they present. As stated in the Secretary-General’s Strategy on New Technologies, the UN system can help facilitate the use of these technologies to accelerate implementation of the transformative Sustainable Development Goals. Further, the UN can facilitate the alignment of new technologies with the values enshrined in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the norms and standards of international law.
Attaining these objectives requires a critical understanding of the how these technologies impact people, planet and prosperity. This Survey pushes the frontier of our own analysis, while keeping these larger issues in mind.
For example, while one country, or a particular sector or occupation within a country, may benefit from a new technology, others may gain little or even lose altogether. Many frontier technologies – especially AI and machine-learning – will profoundly reshape labour markets worldwide. Policymakers must know the costs and benefits of these technologies as they design policies and regulations to steer their future trajectory.
The Survey underscores the urgency for bridging the technological divide to attain sustainable development and leave no one behind. Developing countries now have a window of opportunity to leapfrog to frontier technologies. They can bypass technological solutions that are economically inefficient and environmentally costly. But leapfrogging will require enabling conditions, complemented by necessary human capital, infrastructures and institutions.
Government investment in these areas can help accelerate ‘catch up’ with frontier technologies and exploit their full potential. National innovation systems must incentivize new technological solutions that are most needed for sustainable development. As the Survey shows, such innovation determines the pace and sequence of how developing countries overcome technological divides.
Sustainable development is a collective global responsibility. Frontier technologies give us tools to take up this responsibility and deliver sustainable development. A more effective and supportive international cooperation can ensure that these tools are available to all people in all countries.
In closing, the analysis and policy recommendations put forward in this Survey are intended to spark a conversation and engagement with the Member States, industries, academia, and civil society groups. The United Nations is uniquely positioned to facilitate global dialogue and forge commitments to ensure that frontier technologies work for all.
Thank you.
File date:
Monday, October 8, 2018