by Editor BGF | Apr 13, 2025 | News
April 18–22, 2025 | Boston, Massachusetts
Minister Elisabeth Moreno, Former French Minister and Representative of the Boston Global Forum (BGF) for France and Africa, will visit Boston from April 18 to 22, 2025, for a high-level engagement to advance the global initiative “Powering Progress 24/7: Finance as a Force for Good.” This initiative is a foundational pillar of the AI World Society (AIWS) Government 24/7 framework, promoting ethical, AI-powered financial systems for global development and democratic resilience.
The highlight of her visit will be a keynote address at the BGF Conference at Harvard University’s Loeb House on April 22. In this address, Minister Moreno will present a bold vision for leveraging finance and AI in service of humanity—outlining pathways for governments and institutions to embrace finance as a tool for ethical governance, inclusive growth, and global peace.
Trip Highlights Include:
Keynote Address at the BGF Conference
Minister Moreno will deliver the featured speech under the theme “Powering Progress 24/7: Finance as a Force for Good,” offering concrete strategies for implementing AI-driven financial governance that serves society effectively and equitably.
Strategic Dialogues with Distinguished Leaders and Thinkers
- Governor Michael Dukakis, Co-Founder and Chairman of BGF
- Professor Tarun Khanna, Harvard Business School, expert on emerging markets
- Professor Alex Pentland, MIT, pioneer in data science and AI ethics
Engagement with Future Leaders
Minister Moreno will meet with outstanding students from the Enlightenment in Action Alliance (EAA) at Harvard University, inspiring the next generation of ethical innovators and policymakers.
Support for the AIWS Film Park
Discussions will explore how ethical finance and AI can support creative industries, particularly through the AIWS Film Park, a visionary BGF initiative to revolutionize global filmmaking.
Co-founding the Boston Finance Accord for AI Governance 24/7 (BFA-AI 24/7)
Minister Moreno will co-found this international accord alongside a distinguished group of leaders.
BGF Roundtable on a New Economic Alliance
The visit will also feature a strategic discussion on building a New Economic Alliance among democratic partners—including the United States, Japan, India, Vietnam, South Korea, the EU, and the UK—to reinforce economic security and values-based cooperation in the AI era.
Publication of BGF Special Edition
A commemorative report titled “Powering Progress 24/7: Finance as a Force for Good – Boston Trip of Minister Elisabeth Moreno” will be released, highlighting her vision, contributions, and global impact.
Minister Elisabeth Moreno and Nguyen Anh Tuan at C20-G20 Summit 2023 in India
by Editor BGF | Apr 13, 2025 | News
The Fifth Generation Computer Systems (FGCS; Japanese: 第五世代コンピュータ, romanized: daigosedai konpyūta) was a 10-year initiative launched in 1982 by Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to develop computers based on massively parallel computing and logic programming. The project aimed to create an “epoch-making computer” with supercomputer-like performance and to establish a platform for future advancements in artificial intelligence. Although FGCS was ahead of its time, its ambitious goals ultimately led to commercial failure. However, on a theoretical level, the project significantly contributed to the development of concurrent logic programming.
The term “fifth generation” was chosen to emphasize the system’s advanced nature. In the history of computing hardware, there had been four prior “generations” of computers: the first generation utilized vacuum tubes; the second, transistors and diodes; the third, integrated circuits; and the fourth, microprocessors. While earlier generations focused on increasing the number of logic elements within a single CPU, it was widely believed at the time that the fifth generation would achieve enhanced performance through the use of massive numbers of CPUs.
https://stacks.stanford.edu/file/druid:kv359wz9060/kv359wz9060.pdf
by Editor BGF | Apr 13, 2025 | Global Alliance for Digital Governance
By Hon. Mark Kennedy
In this strategic policy piece, Hon. Mark Kennedy underscores Southeast Asia’s growing importance as a linchpin in the global competition for technological leadership and supply chain resilience. He argues that countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore are becoming critical partners for the United States and its allies in advancing semiconductor innovation, AI development, and economic diversification—thereby reducing dependence on China and fortifying democratic influence in the Indo-Pacific.
Kennedy highlights Vietnam’s aggressive push to become a regional semiconductor hub, as well as the broader regional momentum in Malaysia, Singapore, and beyond. With $235 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2024, Southeast Asia is outpacing China and attracting strategic interest from both the U.S. and Europe. The region’s digital economy is projected to reach $2 trillion by 2030, offering massive potential for aligned U.S. investment in cloud infrastructure, AI, and digital governance.
However, Kennedy warns that the U.S. risks losing ground. Without joining binding trade frameworks like CPTPP and RCEP, and with proposals like the AI Dispersion Framework potentially hampering U.S. companies, Washington could cede influence to authoritarian tech powers like China. He calls for a more pragmatic, tiered export control regime that balances national security with Southeast Asian development, enabling secure, responsible tech growth across the region.
To succeed, Kennedy recommends:
- Upgrading the tech ecosystem from assembly to advanced R&D and chip design.
- Strengthening IP and data governance.
- Investing in talent and infrastructure.
- Encouraging AI applications in diverse sectors and languages.
- Supporting trusted, cost-effective legacy chip production in Southeast Asia and nearby allies like Mexico.
Ultimately, Kennedy positions Southeast Asia as a decisive front in shaping a democratic, open, and innovation-driven digital order. The U.S. must act with urgency and precision—not to contain AI, but to build trusted technology partnerships that advance security, prosperity, and freedom in the Indo-Pacific.
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/360deg-view-how-southeast-asia-can-attract-more-fdi-chips-and-ai
by Editor BGF | Apr 6, 2025 | News
BGF Conference: Boston Finance Accord for AI Governance 24/7
Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Venue: Harvard University Loeb House, Cambridge, MA
Time: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
The Boston Global Forum (BGF), founded in 2012 by Michael Dukakis, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Thomas Patterson, and John Quelch, with the guidance of its distinguished Board of Directors—Governor Michael Dukakis (Chairman), Nguyen Anh Tuan (CEO), Professor Thomas Patterson, Professor John Quelch, Professor Nazli Choucri, Professor Alex Pentland, and Professor David Silbersweig—leads ethical AI governance through the AI World Society (AIWS) Initiative (2017) and AIWS Government 24/7, a vision of continuous, AI-driven public service. Building on the Tokyo Accord (March 28, 2025, Tokyo) and the AI Action Summit (February 10-11, 2025, Paris), the BGF Conference on April 22, 2025, at Harvard University’s Loeb House launches the Boston Finance Accord for AI Governance 24/7. Leveraging Boston’s financial and academic strengths—particularly the contributions of distinguished professors from Harvard Business School (HBS) and MIT Sloan—this accord aims to establish secure, scalable funding mechanisms for real-time governance, honoring Shinzo Abe’s legacy.
Objectives
- Award Recognition: Honor Audrey Tang with the 2025 World Leader in AIWS Award for her transparent governance innovations.
- Financial Accord Development: Define the Boston Finance Accord, setting standards for a secure, scalable financial platform to support AIWS Government 24/7.
- Global Dissemination: Share outcomes with world leaders, reinforcing US-Japan collaboration.
Key Themes
- Finance-Driven AI Governance: Secure platforms (e.g., blockchain, real-time systems) to fund 24/7 services.
- Boston’s Leadership: Uniting Fidelity, HBS, and MIT as a global model.
- Ethical Standards: Transparency and equity, inspired by Tang’s systems.
Speakers
Ministers Minoru Kiuchi, Audrey Tang, Elisabeth Moreno, professors of Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Softbank.
by Editor BGF | Apr 6, 2025 | News
HANOI, April 4 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump and Vietnam’s leader To Lam agreed on Friday to discuss a deal to remove tariffs, both leaders said after a phone call that Trump said was “very productive”, as Hanoi escalated its campaign to dodge duties of 46%.
Days before Trump’s announcement on reciprocal tariffs that hit Vietnam hard, the country had already cut several duties as part of a series of concessions to the U.S., which also included pledges to buy more American goods such as planes and agriculture products.
“Just had a very productive call with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who told me that Vietnam wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the U.S.”, Trump wrote on his Truth social platform.
“I thanked him on behalf of our Country, and said I look forward to a meeting in the near future,” Trump added.
Lam confirmed the call and the pledge to cut tariffs on U.S. goods. “At the same time (Lam) proposed that the U.S. apply similar tax rates to goods imported from Vietnam,” read a report on Vietnam’s government portal published shortly after Trump’s post.
The two leaders agreed they will continue talking “to soon sign a bilateral agreement” on tariffs, the Vietnamese government said, adding Trump accepted an invitation to visit Vietnam soon.
Please see full here:
https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/vietnam-foreign-ministry-says-regrets-us-tariff-decision-2025-04-04/
