The 2023 five laureates of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards include women scientists with contributions in the Physical sciences, Mathematics and Computer science.

In response to the rapid emergence of new and powerful AI tools, UNESCO held the first global meeting to explore the immediate and far-reaching opportunities, challenges and risks of AI in education.

Since the launch of Chat GPT in November 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) has been dominating headlines, sparking excitement but also concern over the pace at which the technology is developing and driving misinformation.

The UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, Amandeep Gill, is busy working on a Global Digital Compact to be adopted at the UN’s Summit of the Future in 2024 – a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity for leaders to agree on common principles for addressing tech challenges.

Ahead of Wednesday’s World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, he has been talking to UN News’s Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer about using AI for good, why it’s not too late to regulate, and how getting AI governance right will be important for multilateralism itself.

Audio Credit: Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer, UN News - Geneva

Photo Credit: UN News/Srdjan Slavkovic

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has attracted massive hype, including fears that it will be impossible to regulate or control. It's already creating, destroying and re-shaping jobs and business practices. So how will AI really affect the world of work? Can it help to address any of the big problems we currently face such as inequality, stagnant productivity and inadequate fundamental rights? And how can businesses and workers prepare to avoid the pitfalls of AI and make the most of the benefits it offers? 

Antonio Casilli, one of the co-founders of the INDL and Stacie Haller, Chief Career Advisor at ResumeBuilder(dot)com explore the possibilities together with  Sophy Fisher, ILO's Senior Communication and Public Information Officer.

Photo: iStock.com/gorodenkoff

Despite being plunged into war, Ukraine is forging ahead with a comprehensive re-think of how business is conducted, and how Ukrainian people interact with each other and with their government. From getting married to registering a business, the ambitious and forward thinking Diia project has proved even more critical during war as Ukrainians can get public services from the safety of their bomb shelters. UNDP has been promoting universal digital literacy and training women public servants in Ukraine in digital leadership roles.

WIPO celebrates the “can do” attitude of women inventors, creators, and entrepreneurs around the world – and their ground-breaking work and ingenuity that transform our world. 

Governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector will get together for the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) from 27 to 31 March 2023.  Acting as a forum for strategic planning, sharing lessons learned and best practices, the CSTD holds an annual discussion on issues affecting science, technology and development. The current session focuses on two priority themes: technology and innovation for cleaner and more productive and competitive production; and ensuring safe water and sanitation for all.

Digital technology and artificial intelligence present important challenges to equality in the workplace and in society. As workplaces transition towards a digital future, we are already seeing that existing gender equality gaps are being reproduced in the digital realm.

In the first of our Future of Work podcast mini-series on artificial intelligence and the world of work - and to mark International Women’s Day, Dr. Orly Lobel explores the important role digital technologies can play in creating a brighter and more inclusive future of work, and some of the surprising ways they are already being used in workplaces today together with ILO's Anders Johnsson. 

Photo: WOCinTech/Unsplash

UNESCO, through its flagship International Geoscience Programme (IGCP), run in partnership with the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), has harnessed the intellectual capacity of a worldwide network of geoscientists to lay the foundation for our planet’s future, focusing on responsible and environmental resource extraction, natural hazard resilience and preparedness, and adaptability in an era of changing climate. In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the IGCP, UNESCO and IUGS are holding a conference, ‘Healing the Earth: UNESCO and Earth sciences - past, present and future.’ 

Today women make up under a third of the workforce in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM). When women are under-represented in developing new technologies, discrimination may be baked in from the start. This International Women’s Day (8 March) with the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality,” recognizes the women and girls championing transformative technologies and digital education. The observance explores the impact of the digital gender gap on widening inequalities and the importance of protecting women’s rights in digital spaces. #PowerOn to create an equal future.

UN Women higlights the need for inclusive and transformative technology and digital education for a sustainable future. Bringing women and other marginalized groups into technology results in more creative solutions and has greater potential for innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality.

Emerging technologies and digital access can greatly improve the well-being, education, health, and livelihoods of women and girls. However, a significant digital gender gap remains, limiting the equitable benefits of digital transformation. The Commission on the Status of Women – an intergovernmental body dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment – will address this problem in its 67th session (6-17 March). The group will revisit the gendered impacts of innovation and identify recommendations for a more inclusive and equitable digital evolution.

The AI for Good Global Summit will demonstrate how new technologies can support the UN Sustainable Development Goals in areas such as combatting the climate crisis and bolstering humanitarian response. 

Issues of science, technology, and innovation remain endemic to development, and furthering our understanding of these issues is a core challenge for policy research. Deepening its commitment to this goal, UNCTAD launches the 2023 edition of its Technology and Innovation Report, a flagship publication that this year focuses specifically on what can be achieved by technological innovation by opening 'green windows of opportunity'. The report is built around green innovation - creating or introducing new or improved goods and services that leave lighter carbon footprints.

Today, only one in three researchers is a woman. The International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February) is a reminder that women and girls play a critical role in science and technology communities and that their participation should be strengthened. Under the theme of “Innovate. Demonstrate. Elevate. Advance. Sustain. - Bringing Everyone Forward for Sustainable and Equitable Development”, the 8th International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assembly will focus on the role of women and girls in science as relates to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). #WomenInScience