by Editor BGF | Feb 23, 2025 | News
February 24, 2025, marks three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a moment that reshaped global geopolitics and reaffirmed Ukraine’s unyielding spirit. Since February 24, 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky has led the Ukrainian people with bravery and strategic acumen, defending their homeland against an aggressive invasion. Backed by strong support from the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, Ukraine has demonstrated remarkable resilience in the face of adversity.
The international community has widely condemned Russia for its actions, imposing severe sanctions and political isolation. Ukraine’s fight for sovereignty has not only been a military struggle but also a defining moment in defending democracy and international law.
In recognition of President Zelensky’s leadership and the courage of the Ukrainian people, the Boston Global Forum (BGF) honored President Zelensky and all Ukrainians with the 2022 World Leader for Peace and Security Award at Harvard University’s Loeb House in April 2022. This award acknowledged Ukraine’s unwavering stand for peace, freedom, and security in the face of aggression.
As the war enters its third year, Ukraine remains determined, continuing to inspire the world with its strength, resilience, and commitment to democracy. Now, the world must find solutions to stop the war, support Ukraine in achieving sustainable peace, and aid in rebuilding the country. Additionally, Russia must be held responsible for the damage inflicted upon Ukraine.
by Editor BGF | Feb 23, 2025 | News, Shaping Futures
Microsoft today introduced Majorana 1, the world’s first quantum chip powered by a new Topological Core architecture that it expects will realize quantum computers capable of solving meaningful, industrial-scale problems in years, not decades.
It leverages the world’s first topoconductor, a breakthrough type of material which can observe and control Majorana particles to produce more reliable and scalable qubits, which are the building blocks for quantum computers.
In the same way that the invention of semiconductors made today’s smartphones, computers and electronics possible, topoconductors and the new type of chip they enable offer a path to developing quantum systems that can scale to a million qubits and are capable of tackling the most complex industrial and societal problems, Microsoft said.
Please read full at:
https://news.microsoft.com/source/features/innovation/microsofts-majorana-1-chip-carves-new-path-for-quantum-computing/
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/technology/microsoft-quantum-computing-topological-qubit.html
by Editor BGF | Feb 23, 2025 | Shinzo Abe Initiative for Peace and Security, News
AI Action Summit Conference
Paris, February 10-11, 2025
Session: Government 24/7: How AI Might Best Transform Governance
Yasuhide NAKAYAMA,
Former State Minister of Defense, Former State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Former State Minister for the Cabinet Office of JAPAN
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished leaders, policymakers, and innovators,
It is a great honor to speak at this important summit. First, I sincerely regret that I cannot be with you in Paris today.
As the representative of BGF in Japan and Taiwan, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Audrey Tang for receiving this prestigious award.
Originally, I had planned to attend this summit alongside Sanae Takaichi, but unfortunately, I could not adjust my schedule as I had hoped. Instead, I am joining remotely from Japan.
This moment brings back special memories for me. From 1986 to 1989, I lived in Alsace, France, during my high school years. Those three years shaped my worldview and gave me a deep appreciation for France—its culture, its people, and, of course, its fantastic wine.
So, while I am honored to join you virtually, I must admit—I truly wish I were in France, enjoying a fine glass of Alsace wine with you!
AI: A Necessity for Modern Governance
Now, let me turn to today’s main topic: AI-driven governance that operates 24/7.
AI is transforming every aspect of our societies—politics, the economy, and security. But AI is not just a tool. It is a force that is reshaping the global balance of power.
The 20th-century Cold War has evolved into a 21st-century struggle between democracy and authoritarianism. And AI is at the center of this competition.
But let’s be clear: No side is guaranteed victory forever.
Like a Hollywood movie, the day may come when AI surpasses human intelligence, creating technologies beyond our imagination—autonomous weapons, ultra-intelligent computers, and self-evolving algorithms.
What if AI starts making decisions without human control? What if it turns against us?
If that day comes, we can only hope for a Hollywood-style happy ending.
But instead of relying on hope, we must act now to prevent this scenario.
That is why governments, businesses, engineers, and civil society must work together to create clear, ethical, and enforceable AI regulations.
Three Key Priorities for AI Governance
To ensure that AI serves humanity—and does not control it—I propose three essential commitments:
1️⃣ AI for National and Cybersecurity
AI enhances crisis response but can also be weaponized. International cooperation is essential to prevent AI-driven cyber warfare and ensure security.
2️⃣ Human-Centric AI Governance
AI should support decision-making, not replace it. Policies must protect privacy, uphold democratic values, and prioritize human dignity.
3️⃣ Global Collaboration on AI Ethics and Standards
No country can govern AI alone. We need a global AI governance alliance to ensure transparency, accountability, and ethical development.
AI Governance: A Shared Responsibility
In Japan, AI is a growing topic of interest. I have received many invitations to arrange lectures by AI experts. However, there is a shortage of recognized specialists, and many people are unsure who truly qualifies as an expert.
I recently read an interview with an AI engineer who said:
“When AI-powered military weapons are activated, it is not the role of scientists to decide how they are used.”
This statement highlights an important truth:
AI governance is not just for engineers or scientists. It is a responsibility for all of society.
Ethical considerations, risk assessment, and governance structures must be put in place with a sense of urgency. And these rules must evolve alongside AI technology.
A Call to Action
Now is the time for humanity to shape the rules that will govern AI.
We must act swiftly to ensure safety, seek broad international consensus, and prevent AI from spiraling out of control.
If we hesitate, we risk losing control of our own future.
Let us work together to build secure, ethical, and human-centered AI governance.
The future of AI-driven government depends on the choices we make today.
Thank you.
Yasuhide NAKAYAMA
Former State Minister of Defense, Former State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Former State Minister for the Cabinet Office of JAPAN
Paris, February 11, 2025
by Editor BGF | Feb 23, 2025 | Global Alliance for Digital Governance
Speech of Sarosh Nagar, Enlightenment in Action Alliance’s Member
Thank you all for coming today. My name is Sarosh Nagar. I am a Marshall Scholar and researcher at University College London (UCL). I am very excited today to summarize the high-level contributions of the young people of the Enlightenment in Action Alliance (EAA) as part of the broader Creating a New Paris of Enlightenment report by the Boston Global Forum (BGF). Before I begin, I would like to thank the leadership of the Forum for this opportunity and to France for hosting such a wonderful event.
The Boston Global Forum established the Enlightenment in Action Alliance to support President Macron and France by bringing talented students from top universities to contribute to France and the global AI community. As part of the Alliance, over the past few weeks, the Boston Global Forum’s Youth Delegates proposed several ways that France can harness the benefits of AI for good. These proposals were reviewed by the Boston Global Forum’s Board, which includes world-renowned experts from industry, policy, and academia–many of whom are here today. The Board selected several proposals for inclusion in the final report, which Boston Global Forum CEO Mr. Tuan will present to President Macron tomorrow.
In turn, the contributions of the youth delegates in our report fall into five key areas, which I will briefly summarize below.
- First, our report proposes ways that France can harness AI for scientific research while enhancing data governance. AI has immense scientific applications, as seen with diffusion-based generative models that aid in protein structure prediction. Therefore, our report proposes launching a Cloud Laboratory, a type of laboratory that would utilize AI and robotics to enable automated large-scale experiments in biotechnology and materials science. In similar vein, our report also focuses on data governance. Effectively curated data can greatly enhance AI systems’ computational efficiency while representative data is important to ensure AI systems remain inclusive. Therefore, our report proposes France launch a Data Library, which would be a high-quality repository of public datasets compliant with the highest ethical and privacy standards. These public datasets, many of which would focus on low-resource languages, could later be used to train more advanced AI models and ensure frontier model capabilities remain inclusive.
- Second, our report proposes ways for France to harness AI for social and economic development. Several estimates suggest AI will add over $10 trillion to the global economy by 2030, but it is important that AI’s benefits are widely accessible. Therefore, this report proposes initiatives utilizing AI for rural communities, harnessing large multimodal models in use cases like agriculture. The report also proposes launching a global initiative to upskill the workforce for AI, including launching apprenticeships, AI-driven vocational training, and more.
- Third, our report proposes ways that France can utilize AI to enhance cultural preservation and public discourse. Being in France, a nation with a rich cultural and civic tradition, it is incumbent on us to analyze how AI can further enhance this fabric of our societies. In this spirit, the report proposes launching an AI-based cultural heritage preservation program, utilizing AI, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) to digitally reconstruct cultural sites. The report calls for launching programs to help educate existing government, industry, and academic professionals on AI ethics. Finally, it also calls for an AI-driven public discourse platform to enable lively debate among citizens and promote democratic engagement.
- Fourth, our report proposes ways that France and other governments can harness AI for national and global security. Initial analyses suggest that AI is an offense-favored technology, which creates a vital question of how to enhance defensive use cases of AI. Therefore, our report proposes creating a national AI “cyber-shield,” a program of advanced AI agents for real-time cybersecurity monitoring and zero-day vulnerability detection, alongside programs to help ethical hackers and red-teamers secure these systems. Our report also proposes launching an AI-powered crisis response network, to harness advanced frontier models for disaster prediction, response coordination, and more — to defensively save lives from future global threats.
- Fifth and lastly, our report proposes ways that France and other governments can harness AI to improve policymaking. In line with the spirit of this session, AI-enabled governance has immense transformative potential to speed up public service delivery and bureaucratic processes. Therefore, our report proposes that France launch programs to utilize frontier models to aid in the forecasting of legislation or using agents and other AI systems to streamline public-sector processes. The report also suggests focusing more research on building more energetically-efficient AI systems and identifying ways AI can support environmental monitoring. Lastly, our report also proposes ways to use machine learning algorithms to launch an automated national job matching tool to help promote high levels of employment.
This report, which will be available for review in further detail in the future, could not have been done without the aid of a large list of youth collaborators, with special recognition to Tuan Vinh, Cameron Sabet, Jason Shin, Dang Nguyen, Berke Altiparmak, Sammer Marzouk, and others for their contributions. We hope that, through these youth contributions to the “Creating a New Paris of Enlightenment” report, France will, much as it did in the past, lead a new era of Enlightenment that combines technological innovation with ethical governance for a better future.
