New Technologies: Where To?
Nos. 3 & 4 Vol. LV 2018This issue focuses on new technologies and their potential benefits for humanity as well as their expanding use in advancing the 2030 Agenda. It explores the promise of our digital age, while posing important questions about where these technologies are leading us, and how their misuse could also lead to increased inequality and conflict.
Blockchain and Sustainable Growth
We are at a unique moment in history: our society is in transition from an industrial economy to one defined by a new set of technologies, ranging from digitalization to nanotechnology. Among the latest waves of digitalization is blockchain—a technology that many say promises to redefine trust, transparency and inclusion across the world.
Two Revolutions: Digital and Demographic
The progressive digitalization of the world has an unprecedented impact on every sphere of our lives. Over the past 20 years, technology has permeated every aspect of modern society, and the use of digital technology, in particular, is becoming an integral part of our everyday lives. Many services and resources are now accessible only through digital means. Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) will also radically transform our lives, including the concept of care of older persons.
Frontier Technologies: A Window of Opportunity for Leapfrogging!
Imagine a world with no hunger, where every child attends school and no one dies from a communicable disease. This is not a utopian dream, but rather our collective vision for a society where no one is left behind. It serves as our guiding spirit—our raison d'être—as we work together towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
New Technologies and the Global Goals
Policy is just as important as innovation because the right policy environments will ensure the success of efforts to achieve the Global Goals, including those related to technology.
A Decade of Leveraging Big Data for Sustainable Development
Advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) are driving global changes in our society—from the way we communicate with each other to the forces that shape our economy and behaviour. The rapidly evolving capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) offer new opportunities to unlock the value of big data for more evidence-based decision-making that can accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Role of the United Nations in Addressing Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems
It is only natural that advances in the intelligent autonomy of digital systems attract the attention of Governments, scientists and civil society concerned about the possible deployment and use of lethal autonomous weapons. What is needed is a forum to discuss these concerns and construct common understandings regarding possible solutions.
Responsible Innovation for a New Era in Science and Technology
Today we are at the dawn of an age of unprecedented technological change. In areas from robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to the material and life sciences, the coming decades promise innovations that can help us promote peace, protect our planet and address the root causes of suffering in our world.
Keeping Pace with an Accelerated World: Bringing Rapid Technological Change to the United Nations Agenda
Humanity is at a crossroads: we face both the opportunities and challenges of a range of powerful and emerging technologies that will drive radical shifts in the way we live.
Foreword
In response to changes in the publishing industry, the UN Chronicle, like many journals and periodicals, will now become a fully digital magazine following the publication of this issue. A fully redesigned UN Chronicle website will be launched by mid-2019. Like its earliest predecessors, it will offer original content that is varied, concise and updated regularly, and continue to highlight the SDGs and the work being done to achieve them.
Standards Build Trust: How the International Telecommunication Union Supports Inclusive Sustainable Development
Standards connect us with reliable modes of communication, codes of practice and frameworks for cooperation.
The Secretary-General’s Strategy on New Technologies
What we understand far less is what all these changes will mean for us socially, politically and psychologically: what they will mean for the relationship between citizen and State, for the conduct of conflict, for our economies, for our psyche and for our human rights.
Innovating for Children and Young People
Innovation and the rise of digital technology have forever changed how we work, interact with one another, and create and share information. Innovative technologies are also changing how we, at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), are supporting children and young people around the world.
Closing the Technology Gap in Least Developed Countries
Tremendous technological leaps are being made, but the economic and social benefits remain geographically concentrated, primarily in developed countries.
The Race to Innovate for Development Should Not Leave Foundational Data Systems Behind
Data is everywhere, constantly being created by humans and machines across the globe. But as half of the world seems to be drowning in data, too many people and places are still invisible in the numbers that drive decisions.
Government Policy for the Internet Must Be Rights-Based and User-Centred
The digital future is already here. As nearly every aspect of our lives becomes digitized, we must ensure that laws and policies are based on fundamental rights.
Space Technology and the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda
Since the very beginning of space activities in the late 1950s, the United Nations, through the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), has served as the venue for debating ventures in outer space, national endeavours, international space law and challenges to the way we conduct space activities.
How Can Multilateralism Survive the Era of Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is converging with an extraordinary array of other technologies, from biotech and genomics, to neurotechnology, robotics, cybertechnology and manufacturing systems. Increasingly, these technologies are decentralized, beyond State control, and available to a wide range of actors around the world.
Towards an Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
AI could open up tremendous opportunities for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its applications enable innovative solutions, improved risk assessment, better planning and faster knowledge sharing.