AIWS Weekly - Week of June 20, 2022

A NEW FOUNDATION FOR THE GLOBAL DIGITAL ECONOMY

June 27, 2022, MIT, Cambridge, USA
Boston Global Forum, MIT Connection Science, EY and the World Bank welcome to MIT for what we hope will prove to be a fruitful event discussing the building of new foundations for the global digital economy. We have organized the day around a series of interactive discussions, each focusing on an essential theme of the digital economy. Each topic will be introduced by one or more moderators who will provide an overview and help frame the key issues. We then encourage participants to debate these issues. The outcomes from these discussions will be summarized during the final plenary.

Welcome again and we look forward to an exciting Symposium!

Speakers:

Sandy Pentland – Director, MIT Connection Science, Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Anders Agerskov – Lead Public Sector Specialist, Macroeconomics, Trade, and Investment Global Practice, World Bank
Jeff Saviano – Global Tax Innovation Leader, MIT Connection Science Fellow, EY
Yasuhide Nakayama, Former State Minister of Defense of Japan, Coordinator of Global Alliance for Digital Governance in Japan
Publio de Gracia – Director of Revenue, Dirección General de Ingresos, Panama
Shlomit Wagman – Harvard Kennedy School Research Fellow, Visiting Researcher at the Berkman Klein Center, Harvard Law School, former Head of Israel Money Laundering & Terrorism Financing Prohibition Authority
Dr. Terra Saidimu – Commissioner of Intelligence & Strategic Operations, Kenya Revenue Authority
Valentina Ion – Global Public Finance Industry Leader, Microsoft
Sharad Sharma – Co-founder, iSPIRT Foundation (India-based non-profit technology think-tank developing digital public goods)
Chiara Bronchi – Practice Manager, Fiscal Policy and Sustainable Growth, Macroeconomics, Trade, and Investment Global Practice, World Bank
Loredana Sandu-Vieil, Global Client Service Partner, EY
Danielle Allen – James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, and Director of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University

State Minister Yasuhide Nakayama will present AIWS City for Rebuilding Ukraine at this event.

THE UK HAS AMBITIONS TO LEAD THE WAY IN AI GOVERNANCE AND PROGRESSION

With the UK professing a global digital outlook, its strength in artificial intelligence (AI) reflects its ability to compete confidently on the world stage, so it is important to analyze whether the fundamentals are in place for the UK to go even further and take a leading position.

The National AI Strategy was unveiled in September 2021, six months after the AI Council published its AI roadmap report that outlined 16 recommendations to help develop the UK’s strategic direction for AI. The AI Council, an independent expert committee, has members from industry, the public sector and academia, and works to support the growth of AI in the UK.
The National AI Strategy outlines a 10-year plan that represents a step-change for AI in the UK. It recognizes that maximizing AI’s potential will increase resilience, productivity, growth and innovation in the private and public sectors

Boston Global Forum (BGF), Club de Madrid and AI World Society (AIWS) propose an initiative: establishing a Global Alliance for Digital Governance (GADG). This is a part of Social Contract for the AI Age, Framework for AI International Accord, BGF Conference of July 1^st, 2020, and the book Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment.

https://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Governance-and-progression-of-AI-in-the-UK

THIS WEEK IN THE HISTORY OF AI AT AIWS.NET - THE DARTMOUTH CONFERENCE BEGAN ON 18TH JUNE 1956

This week in The History of AI at AIWS.net - the Dartmouth Conference began on 18 June 1956. This gathering would run through the entire summer at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

The Dartmouth Conference was originally dreamt up by John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester, and Claude Shannon. They envisioned a workshop to connect computer and information sciences with the brain. In addition to asking for funding, they also determined that Dartmouth College was the location to host such event.

At the actual event, various attendees came and go throughout the (approximate) eight weeks the workshop ran for. On weekdays, the participants had the top floor of the Mathematics Department at Dartmouth College to present their ideas, as well as having general discussions held. Participants and members (outside of the authors) of the discussions and presentations included, but not limited to, Ray Solomonoff, Arthur Samuel, Herbert Simon, Allen Newell, and Oliver Selfridge.

This event marks one of the beginnings of AI - the conception of what AI is and AI could be. Without a seminal event like this, AI would not exist or may have taken a different direction entirely. Thus, the HAI project considers the Conference an event in the History of AI.

DIGITAL PUBLIC TECHONOLOGY CAN HELP DRIVE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS

Less than eight years from the 2030 deadline to realize the United Nations sustainable development goals, authors of this paper published this week by the Brookings Institution suggest that "a holistic approach to broadening digital access while building robust institutions, fostering data governance regimes, and encouraging participatory processes could help drive much faster rates of sustainable development progress."

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2022/06/15/digital-public-technology-can-help-drive-sustainable-development-progress/

AIWS.net includes distinguished thinkers, innovators, think tanks, and labs supporting initiatives, innovations, and solutions for Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment, a core of the United Nations Centennial Initiative.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY WELCOMES FOUR PRESIDENTS OF EUROPE

President Zelenskyy, Boston Global Forum World Leader for Peace and Security Award’s recipient, welcomed France’s President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Four European leaders expressed their support for Ukraine on Thursday while meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, vowing to back Kyiv’s candidacy to eventually join the European Union and offering more weapons to fend off Russia’s invasion.

French President Emmanuel Macron promised Ukraine six more truck-mounted artillery guns, the latest in a new round of Western arms pledges as the war grinds on in the Donbas region in the east.

France, Germany, Italy and Romania “are doing everything so that Ukraine alone can decide its fate,” Macron said at a news conference with Zelenskyy and the others.

“My colleagues and I have come here to Kyiv today with a clear message: Ukraine belongs to the European family,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Amid Ukrainian fears that Western resolve could wane, the visit carried heavy symbolism. France, Germany and Italy have all faced criticism for continuing to engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin — and failing to give Kyiv the weaponry it says its needs.

Zelenskyy said it was important for him to hear that European leaders “agree the end of the war and peace for Ukraine should be as Ukraine sees them.” He said Ukrainians will continue to fight for all of their land.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/french-german-italian-leaders-on-their-way-to-kyiv/2022/06/16/deee6362-ed3b-11ec-9f90-79df1fb28296_story.html

SINGAPORE-BASED RESEARCHERS LAUNCH 'AI VERIFY': THE FIRST AI GOVERNANCE TESTING FRAMEWORK (MVP)

Singapore-based researchers launch the first AI Governance Testing Framework and Toolkit for organizations looking to demonstrate responsible AI measurably. An early-stage product called AI Verify attempts to increase trust between businesses and their stakeholders by performing technological testing and process audits in conjunction with each other.

There is a constant need for the public to be assured that AI systems are fair, explainable, safe, and accountable; as more products and services use AI to personalize or make autonomous predictions. The objective is to increase public confidence in AI while encouraging its more comprehensive application. Voluntary AI governance frameworks and guidelines have been published to help system owners and developers implement trustworthy AI products and services.

Understanding how AI models make judgments and if the AI predictions models make have any unintentional bias is a vital part of transparency. AI systems should be held accountable and subject to scrutiny.

The Boston Global Forum (BGF), in collaboration with the United Nations Centennial Initiative, released a major work entitled Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment. More than twenty distinguished leaders, scholars, analysts, and thinkers put forth unprecedented approaches to the challenges before us. These include President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Governor Michael Dukakis, Father of Internet Vint Cerf, Former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Harvard University Professors Joseph Nye and Thomas Patterson, MIT Professors Nazli Choucri and Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland, and Vice President of European Parliament Eva Kaili. The BGF introduced core concepts shaping pathbreaking international initiatives, notably, the Social Contract for the AI Age, an AI International Accord, the Global Alliance for Digital Governance, the AI World Society (AIWS) Ecosystem, and AIWS City.