The WSIS Forum 2021 will be held entirely online starting in January 2021, featuring a virtual programme, including a series of thematic/country workshops, high-level policy sessions, special tracks on various thematic areas, knowledge café, a Hackathon, and exhibition addressing issues that are critical to WSIS implementation and follow-up in a multistakeholder setting. The final week of the Virtual WSIS Forum 2021 will take place on 17-21 May 2021, consisting of policy statements, interactive high-level dialogues, a WSIS Prize ceremony, a ministerial round table as well as a series of WSIS Action Line facilitation meetings.
As a Specific Activity sponsor to the WSIS Forum, IEEE SA will actively participate in many areas including making a High-Level Policy Statement, acting as a High-Level Track Facilitator, hosting a Thematic workshop on “ICTs and Smart Energy: Accelerating the use of ICTs for sustainability” (20 April 2021, 14:00-15:00 CET), and organizing a Knowledge Café on “Measurementality: Children’s Data and Sustainability” (05 May 2021, 16:00-17:00).
IEEE will contribute to the following sessions:
IEEE WORKSHOP
ICTs and Smart Energy: Accelerating the use of ICTs for sustainability
Tuesday, 20 April, 14:00-15:00 CET
Digital innovation has produced groundbreaking technologies that can help propel us toward the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), in particular, act as powerful catalysts in the three domains of sustainable development--economic development, social inclusion and environmental protection. ICTs enable all manner of digital solutions like smart agriculture, smart buildings, smart mobility, smart manufacturing, and smart conservation, among many others.
These smart solutions need electricity to function, however, and realizing their full impact in achieving the SDGs can be impeded by lack of access to clean, affordable and sustainable energy.
The world faces many challenges with respect to ICTs and energy:
Smart energy, with its focus on affordable, sustainable, and renewable energy resources, forms an important part of effective ICT-powered solutions. Smart energy helps improve energy efficiency and access to affordable and safe energy, and it supports an increase in the share of renewable energies in the energy mix.
This workshop will focus on practical solutions for sustainable energy to help enable access to sustainable ICTs. Experts will share real-world experiences and solutions, and address the question of how to leverage smart resilient energy solutions to enable ICT for sustainable development.
IEEE KNOWLEDGE CAFE
Measurementality: Children’s Data and Sustainability
Wednesday, 05 May 2021, 16:00-17:00 CET
The conversation at this knowledge cafe is set in the context of defining what counts in the algorithmic age where participants--through sharing insights and ideas and surfacing the group’s collective knowledge--will gain a deeper understanding in how to measure and protect children’s data.
Having agency over our identity is a precondition for self‐determination and freedom. Translated into the algorithmic age, this means agency over our digital footprint and access to and the ability to utilize our data. It has become evident that artificial intelligence (AI) systems also have a downside; in conjunction with other technologies and behavioral marketing practices they can cause harm, especially for children. Therefore, it is imperative to move beyond business as usual and to prioritize the wellbeing of our children, starting with protecting their privacy and security online. If we fail to do this, their agency, mental health, and self‐actualization as humans in any culture will be reliant on forces beyond their control.
Today, a large number of social platforms used by children were not designed with children’s rights and well-being front of mind. As a result, they often fail to take account of the vulnerabilities and unique capacities that children have. Children must be able to explore, learn, and develop in trustworthy environments that enable them to fulfill their curiosities at an age‐appropriate level and within the context of their familial societies.
All participating in this Knowledge Cafe will discuss issues like data privacy for children, data agency for all, and how metrics like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and other human rights oriented metrics are being utilized in the design of AI systems.
Join John C. Havens (moderator), Executive Director of the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of AI Systems, Sandy Pentland, Professor at MIT, and Branka Panic, Founder of AI for Peace, as they set the stage for the discussions and move to break out groups for a deeper dive into topics including how can we respect, protect, and promote children’s data rights, how frameworks for developing age appropriate digital services where users are children can be implemented, and what are the measures of success for a positive and sustainable future for children.