Tag: un

UN to Educate Over 22,000 Staff Members on Blockchain, Web3: Here’s Why

The United Nations seems to be getting ready to hop onboard the Web3-express now that rules and regulations to govern this niche sector have begun surfacing around the world. Aiming to help countries around the world achieve their sustainable development goals, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has decided to launch a blockchain academy next year in 2024. Through this initiative, the UNDP is also looking to train 22,000 staff members in blockchain and Web3 technologies.

The UNDP is a branch of the UN that is focussed on helping poverty-ridden parts of the world with strong policies, skills, partnerships, and institutions. The organisation now wishes to train its staff members across 170 nations on how blockchain could be used to finetune digital identity applications and real-world asset tokenisation alongside bringing transparency in supply chain and increasing financial inclusion.

To do so, the UNDP has partnered with the Algorand Foundation, a non-profit body that supports the eco-friendly green blockchain Algorand.

“The Algorand Blockchain Academy will be instrumental in equipping our team with the tools needed to address complex global challenges using blockchain technology,” said Robert Pasicko, UNDP’s expert for alternative finance and low carbon development, while commenting on the development.

Pasicko made this announcement at the Algorand Impact Summit in New Delhi on November 30.

This programme will bring recorded lectures, interactive workshops, and hands-on assignments around blockchain and Web3 to UNDP’s staff members.

“We see this education and tooling initiative as a critical first step toward identifying and delivering actionable, on-the-ground use-cases of blockchain to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in a number of areas,” said Doro Unger-Lee, head of education and inclusion at Algorand Foundation.

The initiative will enter its beta mode somewhere between January and March 2024 after which it will gradually expand. It is notable that the UNDP is taking a step like this now, when several nations around the world are ready to embrace the Web3 sector but within rules and regulations.

In Europe, for instance, the MiCA framework got its approval in October this year. First proposed in September 2020, the MiCA rules largely revolves around consumer protection as well as prevention of market manipulation and financial crimes in the crypto sector.

While Dubai and Abu Dhabi have tailored their own crypto laws, members of the G20 are also now deploying the crypto roadmap that was recently finalised under India’s presidency.

These crypto laws are broadly to make the industry safe for people to explore and become a part of. Afterall, it is estimated that Web3 will create thousands of jobs worldwide as the sector continues to expand.

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UN Security Council Holds First Meeting on AI, Highlights Urgent Need for Global Regulation

The United Nations Security Council held its first meeting on artificial intelligence on Tuesday where China said the technology should not become a “runaway horse” and the United States warned against its use to censor or repress people.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who chaired the meeting under Britain’s July presidency of the body, said AI will “fundamentally alter every aspect of human life.”

“We urgently need to shape the global governance of transformative technologies because AI knows no borders,” he added after saying that AI could help address climate change and boost economies. But he also warned that the technology fuels disinformation and could aid both state and non-state actors in a quest for weapons.

The 15-member council was briefed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Jack Clark, co-founder of high-profile AI startup Anthropic, and Professor Zeng Yi, co-director of the China-UK Research Center for AI Ethics and Governance.  

“Both military and non-military applications of AI could have very serious consequences for global peace and security,” Guterres said.

Guterres backs calls by some states for the creation of a new U.N. body “to support collective efforts to govern this extraordinary technology,” modeled on the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization, or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun described AI as a “double-edged sword” and said Beijing supports a central coordinating role of the U.N. on establishing guiding principles for AI.

“Whether it is good or bad, good or evil, depends on how mankind utilizes it, regulates it and how we balance scientific development with security,” Zhang said, adding that there should be a focus on people and AI for good to regulate development and to “prevent this technology from becoming a runaway horse.”

Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Jeffrey DeLaurentis, also said there was a need for countries to also work together on AI and other emerging technologies to address human rights risks that threaten to undermine peace and security.

“No member states should use AI to censor, constrain, repress or disempower people,” he told the council.

Russia questioned whether the council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, should be discussing AI.

“What is necessary is a professional, scientific, expertise-based discussion that can take several years and this discussion is already underway at specialized platforms,” said Russia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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UN Advocates for International AI Watchdog Body Similar to IAEA

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday backed a proposal by some artificial intelligence executives for the creation of an international AI watchdog body like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Generative AI technology that can spin authoritative prose from text prompts has captivated the public since ChatGPT launched six months ago and became the fastest growing app of all time. AI has also become a focus of concern over its ability to create deepfake pictures and other misinformation.

“Alarm bells over the latest form of artificial intelligence – generative AI – are deafening. And they are loudest from the developers who designed it,” Guterres told reporters. “We must take those warnings seriously.”

He has announced plans to start work by the end of the year on a high-level AI advisory body to regularly review AI governance arrangements and offer recommendations on how they can align with human rights, the rule of law and common good.

But on Monday he added, “I would be favourable to the idea that we could have an artificial intelligence agency… inspired by what the international agency of atomic energy is today.”

Guterres said such a model could be “very interesting” but noted that “only member states can create it, not the Secretariat of the United Nations”. The Vienna-based IAEA was created in 1957 and promotes the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies while watching for possible violations of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It has 176 member states.

ChatGPT’s creator OpenAI said last month that a body like the IAEA could place restrictions on deployment, vet compliance with safety standards and track usage of computing power.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also supported the idea and said he wants Britain to be home to global AI safety regulation. Britain is due to host a summit later this year on how coordinated international action can tackle the risks of AI.

Guterres said he supported the plan for a summit in Britain, but said it should be preceded by “serious work”. He said he plans to appoint in the coming days a scientific advisory board of AI experts and chief scientists from UN agencies.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

The Motorola Edge 40 recently made its debut in the country as the successor to the Edge 30 that was launched last year. Should you buy this phone instead of the Nothing Phone 1 or the Realme Pro+? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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