PR88974

GENEVA, April 13, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

The Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), a Swiss foundation that

serves as the first global tool for diplomacy based on the anticipation of

science, today released its first activity report and announced it will hold

its first annual summit for ambitious solutions based on a proprietary

decision-making platform: the GESDA Breakthrough Radar.

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The inaugural annual GESDA Summit will convene October 7 to 9 with an expected

300 UN officials, Nobel laureates and other representatives of the four GESDA

communities – academics, diplomats, impact leaders, NGOs and the general public

– at Geneva's science hub, Campus Biotech, where GESDA is headquartered. Among

the hot-button issues to be debated among participants at interactive sessions

and other dialogue are:

    -- how to catalyze multilateralism through anticipation and action in

       science diplomacy;

    -- future global challenges for human genome engineering;

    -- a common future for quantum computing;

    -- the road to the utilization of space resources;

    -- co-development of advanced AI at a global scale with universal safe

       access;

    -- and future of financing and development schemes based on science

       advances.

At the summit, GESDA will unveil its Breakthrough Radar, a proprietary

decision-making tool that assesses the impact and momentum of future scientific

advances, along timeframes relevant to GESDA (five, 10 and 25 years), in four

scientific frontier issues: the quantum revolution and advanced artificial

intelligence (AI); human augmentation; eco-regeneration and geoengineering; as

well as anticipatory science and diplomacy. The Breakthrough Radar is designed

to provide an easy-to-read mapping of potential scientific breakthroughs and

their possible impacts on people, society and the planet. Based on this

anticipatory scientific scouting, GESDA is pushing to develop, in Geneva,

solutions to address current and forthcoming global challenges, such as:

    -- a hybrid CERN/IAEA-like organization to guarantee safe access and use

       of quantum infrastructures for communication and computing, like those

       for strategic national and international security agendas;

    -- establishment of a new global court or dispute settlement body for the

       self-regulation of scientific disputes over ethics, privacy, the

       governance of science and the overall benefits to humanity of

       scientific progress;

    -- an international agreement on the co-development, access and use of

       advanced AI models, along with the creation of an organization to

       support and rule on those global governance standards;

    -- and a Manhattan Project-style research and development undertaking to

       help science and industry accelerate the decarbonization of industrial

       processes in the next decades.

So far, GESDA has convened (https://gesda.global/who-we-are/ )about 100

prominent scientists, senior diplomats, philanthropists, heads of international

organizations, university and industry executives as well as NGOs and members

of the general public, as detailed in its first annual activity report (

https://gesda.global/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GESDA-Annual-Report_2019-2020_final.pdf

) covering 2019 and 2020, which includes key facts and figures on the

Foundation's progress. It produced 11 Scientific anticipatory briefs

(https://gesda.global/scientific-anticipatory-briefs/ ) and brought together

around 60 scientific experts, political and business leaders and the general

public to discuss these briefs at a joint meeting of its high-level academic

and diplomacy panels (

https://gesda.global/gesda-gathers-its-high-level-academic-and-diplomacy-panels-to-leverage-anticipatory-science-advances-and-address-emerging-global-challenges-in-an-innovative-way/

) in December 2020. GESDA has attracted philanthropic funding to match seed

funding from the Swiss federal government as well as the Canton and City of

Geneva.

The first annual activity report is published after Switzerland's federal

government strengthened Geneva's role as a digital and technology governance

hub with its appointment of Ambassador Alexandre Fasel (

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/fdfa/fdfa/aktuell/newsuebersicht/2021/02/science-diplomacy.html

) as the first special representative for science diplomacy in Geneva last

February.

"What GESDA has achieved so far really has exceeded my expectations," said

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman of GESDA's Board of Directors. "The world is

experiencing breakthrough science and technological advances at an

unprecedented speed. These discoveries will reshape how we view ourselves as

humans, how we relate to each other in society and how we care for our

environment. GESDA will play a crucial part in anticipating advances in

frontier sciences to ensure we capture their potential for global well-being

and inclusive development whilst safeguarding our collective welfare."

"Breakthrough technologies such as advanced artificial intelligence, genome

editing, neuro-enhancement, decarbonization and computational diplomacy are set

to dominate the global agenda in the coming decades," said Patrick Aebischer,

GESDA's Vice Chairman and former President of the Swiss Federal Institute of

Technology In Lausanne. "GESDA will serve as a 'think tank' and as a 'do tank'

by bridging different communities while ensuring that we can make the most of

these anticipated scientific advances. With the Sustainable Development Goals

in sight, and forthcoming global challenges, we must ensure we are ready to put

governance frameworks in place without slowing down innovation which will

improve people's lives."

About the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA)

The Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), a Swiss Foundation and

private public partnership born in 2019, was created as an anticipatory science

and diplomacy tool for greater impact and multilateral effectiveness.

GESDA's ambitious vision — using the future to build the present — reflects

both the speed of scientific advances and the dynamism of the city where it is

headquartered, Geneva, a global hub of multilateralism and home to the United

Nations' European headquarters and more than 2,000 other international

organizations, NGOs, multinational businesses and world-class academic

institutions.

Driven by a broad global community coming from all over the world, GESDA

addresses three fundamental questions tackling emerging challenges:

Who are we, as humans? What does it mean to be human in the era of robots, gene

editing and augmented reality ?

How can we all live together? What technology can be deployed to help reduce

inequality, Improve well-being and foster inclusive development?

How can we ensure the well-being of humankind and the sustainable future of our

planet? How can we supply the world population with the necessary food and

energy while regenerating our planet?

To this end, the Foundation's work consists of :

    -- anticipating the scientific breakthroughs that will impact the world

       by listing what is "cooking" in and will come out of the scientific

       laboratories in the next five, 10 or 25 years (be it in the formal,

       natural or human sciences), via a global scouting system updated

       annually, highlighting their potential impact for people, society and

       the planet;

    -- accelerating the discussion about the opportunities offered by these

       scientific breakthroughs with politicians, diplomats, philanthropists,

       entrepreneurs, NGOs, the general public in order to design with them

       solutions capable of tackling current or emerging global challenges

       facing humanity including the UN's Sustainable Development Goals 2030;

    -- translating these solutions into concrete & cutting-edge projects by

       bringing together the coalitions, partners and investors necessary to

       implement them in collaboration with multilateral institutions, of

       which Geneva is the UN operational hub.

Contacts for further information        

For strategic partners                         For media

Stephane Decoutère                           Olivier Dessibourg

Secretary General                               Executive Director of Science

stephane.decoutere@gesda.global    Communication and Outreach

+41 79 292 50 80                                olivier.dessibourg@gesda.global

                                                            +41 78 712 88 68

For investors                                       Find us online

Sandro Giuliani                                   Website: www.gesda.global

Executive Director of                          Linkedin:

the Impact Fund                                  https://www.linkedin.com/company/gesda-global/

andro.giuliani@gesda.global               Twitter: https://twitter.com/GESDAglobal

+41 79 303 06 00        

SOURCE   GESDA -The Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator