Summit of the Future Action Day Side Event

Digital Future for All: Innovative Solutions for Digital Cooperation

 

The Digital Future is NOW! As world leaders come together for the Summit of the Future to accelerate efforts to meet existing international commitments and take concrete steps to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities, they will adopt the Pact for the Future, which will include a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations. 

Multi-stakeholder action is required to overcome digital, data and innovation divides, and better leverage science, technology, and innovation for sustainable development and industrialization. During the pre-Summit Action Days, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Permanent Mission of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the United Nations, Google Cloud, and the International Coffee Organization (ICO), in cooperation with the United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC), FESTO Didactic, and AIESEC, are jointly organizing a side event to showcase concrete, innovative solutions for digital cooperation and sustainable industrialization, accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

Join us on 21 September 2024 as we gather UNIDO Member States, development partners, industry leaders, innovators and youth, for an inspiring evening at Google's Manhattan office, St. John’s Terminal, New York. On this occasion, we will launch the new UNIDO Solutions Platform, a digital space designed to foster partnerships and highlight scalable solutions for sustainable industrialization. An initial lighthouse solution, leveraging Google’s AI, cloud and geospatial data technologies to support coffee farmers, deforestation-free supply chains and regulatory compliance, will be presented and discussed by Member States, coffee and technology industry representatives. The evening will continue with inspiring networking opportunities at SDG Solution Hubs, that will provide a space for dynamic exchanges among participants on how innovative solutions, digital technologies such as AI, and multi-stakeholder collaboration can transform the way we contribute to ending hunger, climate action, sustainable supply chains, youth empowerment and education, and digitalization. The event will be accompanied by beverages, finger food, and music. 

Let’s come together to explore how we can scale our global impact through innovation, digital cooperation and collective solution-orientation, ensuring that Agenda 2030 is not just a future goal, but a present reality! 

Key questions to be addressed: 

1. Actions to implement the 2030 Agenda and the objectives of the Global Digital Compact: 

• How can new solutions and tools help close the digital divide, expand inclusion in and benefits from the digital economy for developing countries, and implement the commitments of the Global Digital Compact? What innovative approaches can be adopted to accelerate progress on Goal 9 (industry, infrastructure, and innovation), and other SDGs such as 1 (no poverty), 2 (zero hunger), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 8 (decent work and economic growth), 13 (climate action) and 17 (partnerships)? 

2. UNIDO Solutions Platform: 

• How can the new UNIDO Solutions Platform (USP) benefit Member States, academia, industry, donors, and youth by showcasing scalable solutions? 
• In what ways can the USP provide a space to mobilize private and public sector resources? 
• How can the USP become a central and simple tool for digital collaboration among various stakeholders? 

3. Digital, AI and geospatial data solutions by Google to support farmers, deforestation-free and regulatory-compliant supply chains: 

• How can digital traceability and transparency platforms, AI, and geospatial data solutions innovate global project delivery and contribute to technical cooperation, sustainability and regulatory compliance in the coffee supply chain? 
• What specific solutions can developing countries leverage to implement modern, SDG-oriented practices in their coffee supply chains, which can be replicated and upscaled to other sectors? 

4. Empowering multi-stakeholder action: 

• How can we empower multi-stakeholder action to overcome digital, data, and innovation divides? 
• What strategies can be employed to better leverage science, technology, and innovation for sustainable development?