Young Leaders at Global Baku Forum are a part of the Global Enlightenment Community at AIWS City

by Editor | Nov 14, 2021 | News

Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, CEO of the Boston Global Forum was a speaker at the Panel 11 “Future of EU on the Global Stage”, and met and discussed with young leaders and speakers at Panel 7, moderated by Kateryna Yushchenko, First Lady of Ukraine 2005-2010.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3E5asL2nqg&list=PLyYeX567_xhNGVrczQxs4gku89r0xdxVU&index=15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIX1uCSGLjg&list=PLyYeX567_xhNGVrczQxs4gku89r0xdxVU&index=9

Young leaders at 8^th Global Baku Forum are very delighted to join the Young Leaders of Global Alliance for Digital Governance.

Here are some pictures of Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan and young leader panel 7.

Six Problems for Young Leaders of Global Alliance for Digital Governance to solve

by Editor | Nov 14, 2021 | News

Sponsored by the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid, the United Nations Centennial Initiative, the Boston Global Forum, the Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation, the Global Alliance for Digital Governance, the Government of Massachusetts, MIT Connection Science, and Cyber Politics at MIT, the Young Leaders of Global Alliance for Digital Governance will try to solve these six problems of the world:

1. Misinformation, Disinformation, and Global Enlightenment Education
2. Value System and Innovation Ecosystem of AI World Society (AIWS)
3. Building trust of leaders between nations
4. Fundamentals for new international cooperation on the basis of standards of the Social Contract for the AI ​​Age
5. Controlling and monitoring state power in the digital age and AI
6. Tackling challenges, threats, and dangers from Big Tech

Big Tech Won’t Remake the Global Order

by Editor | Nov 14, 2021 | News

In the article from Foreign Policy https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/11/08/big-tech-wont-remake-the-global-order/, Stephen M. Walt, a columnist at Foreign Policy and the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard University, highlighted:

If you had to bet on which will shape the future, the smart money would be on states over technology.

Why states will win

For all their shortcomings, states remain the dominant political form in the world today. The number of independent states has grown steadily since 1945 because different ethnic or national groups continue to crave the security and autonomy that only self-government can provide. (If you don’t understand why groups want their own state, just ask Kurds or Palestinians what life is like without one.) Some states do not protect their own populations very well, but most states do a fair job of providing basic security most of the time. And when emergencies arise—9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, a catastrophic weather event—people don’t call Tim Cook or Sergey Brin to fix the problem; they turn to the government.

Even today, corporations, banks, NGOs, and Big Tech are all ultimately backstopped by rules enacted and enforced by governments. If corporations enjoy certain privileges (such as limited liability, legal personhood, or the protection of Section 230 of the U.S. Communications Decency Act), it is because governments have given these to them. When Huawei suddenly couldn’t get the chips it needed, it was because a government decided to block these sales. States also control the ultimate weapon: the legitimate use of force. It is states that decides when and whom to fight, and when they do, citizens in nearly every country willingly march into harm’s way.

Professor Alex Sandy Pentland, MIT, co-author of Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment, commented:

“It’s a false dichotomy, both states and tech are reshaping world order…just as happened with guns, banking, etc.   tech is changing wealth and ability to sense and act; some states are seizing that for their purposes…but so are non-state actors Including terrorists, trade companies, and financial institutions.

China would not be nearly so important on world stage without dominance in tech, and could not govern so completely without it”

BGF invites you to debate on this topic.

Please send your comments to [email protected]

Global Enlightenment Leaders mentor and support Young Leaders of Global Alliance for Digital Governance

by Editor | Nov 7, 2021 | News

Global Alliance for Digital Governance has established a young leader network for digital governance. Global Enlightenment Leaders, who will mentor and support young leaders, include:

Governor Michael Dukakis, Chair of Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation

Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Co-Chair, NGIC; President of Latvia 1999-2007

Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel 1999-2001

Dalia Itzik, President of Israel 2007, President of Knesset 2006-2009

Zlatko Lagumdzija, Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2001-2002; deputy Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2012-2015

Yves Leterme, Prime Minister of Belgium 2008, 2009-2011

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, President of Croatia 2015-2020

Petre Roman, Prime Minister of Romania 1989-1991

Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine 2005-2010

Boris Tadic, President of Serbia 2004-2012

Tzipi Livni, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel 2006-2009

Ana Palacio, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain 2002-2004

Gennady Burbulis, First Deputy Prime Minister to the Russian Federation 1991-1992, State Secretary

Eka Tkeshelashvili, Deputy Prime Minister of Georgia 2010-2012

Kateryna Yushchenko, First Lady of Ukraine 2005-2010

Maria Fernanda Espinos, 73rd President of the UN General Assembly; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador 2017-2018; Minister of Defense 2012-2014

Lazar Comanescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania 2008, 2015-2017; Secretary General of the Permanent International Secretariat (PERMIS) of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)

Mats Karlsson, Former Vice-President of the World Bank

Key messages of Club de Madrid President Danilo Turk at Annual Policy Dialogue Oct 27, 2021 “Rethinking Democracy”

by Editor | Nov 7, 2021 | News

On this, the Twentieth anniversary of its foundational conference, Club de Madrid wants to mobilise a critical mass of support to discuss, define and advocate a much-needed Democratic Renewal.

During the next three days, experienced political leaders and thinkers, as well as practitioners and civil society leaders from around the world will gather to identify good practices and innovative ideas that will help us in the task of crafting actionable recommendations, with the objective of rebooting old and new democracies alike.

This 2021 Annual Policy Dialogue aims to facilitate, promote and support a set of recommendations aimed at protecting, preserving and revitalising a kind of democracy that will prove effective for democratic actors at a global and national scale. In this process, we have focused our preparatory work on three specific challenges, considered key in rethinking democracy today: the new information ecosystem, responsible leadership, and resilient institutions.

For this purpose, we have established a network of partners, nearly 50 organizations of diverse nature and from all over the world, but all committed to strengthening contemporary democracy. They are like-minded organizations, institutions and individuals that have contributed to the content development of this Policy Dialogue.

But the Policy Dialogue we are starting today is only one step in an important process. We hope to continue working with all of you taking these recommendations forward as we seek impact and positive change to strengthen democratic values and practice.

Let me highlight that, in coordination with our network of partners and with the guidance and insights of our three Working Groups Leaders we have produced a set of position papers that will serve as the basis of our discussion in this Policy Dialogue. These papers are available in our platform.

The first Working Group is focused on the New Information Ecosystem and on how to reconcile truth, trust, and freedom of expression in today’s democracies.

The Second Working Group centered its work on Responsible Leadership and Democracy from the perspective of values and accountability.

The third and last Working Group focused on the issue of Resilient Institutions for Resilient Democracies

This 2021 Annual Policy Dialogue is not taking place in a vacuum. Our reflections on Rethinking Democracy are necessarily colored by the particular context of the COVID-19 pandemic. While some of us may be beginning to feel that the worst is behind us, millions of people, many of them in democratic countries, are still struggling with the threat the virus has been posing to lives and livelihoods for over 18 months.

Earnest and resolute reflection on democracy is critical at present, as it is regarding our ability to build back, or forward, better after the pandemic. Building back better requires policies that will address the existential challenges of our time, such as the risks and the opportunities that digital transformation brings to protect fundamental rights. Without their protection and promotion, we cannot build healthy democracies.

Club de Madrid and the Boston Global Forum (BGF) have been working for a few years on the potential of digitalization as a driver of democracy and multilateralism. A better world after COVID 19 pandemic will have to be a rights-based digitalized world. And it will have to be organized multilaterally. In this context, a global norm-setting initiative is imperative to put technology at the service of people.

We will continue working to contribute to global consensus-building around a democratic, rights-based agenda for the governance of Artificial Intelligence and digital societies. Our efforts will feed into the work of the Boston Global Forum AI World Society and its initiative on “Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment”, which will continue to develop and promote a Social Contract for the AI Age as well as an AI International Accord.

We will feed into these efforts by combining policy proposals on fundamental rights in the age of AI and issues-based policy discussions around specific areas where digital technologies and AI are being deployed to achieve democratic rights-based governance of AI and digital societies.

CEO of Boston Global Forum speaks about the Future of EU on the Global Stage at 8th Global Baku Forum 2021

by Editor | Nov 7, 2021 | News

On November 6, 2021, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, co-founder and CEO of the Boston Global Forum, spoke at the Panel “Future of EU on the Global Stage” together with panelists Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, President of Croatia 2015-2020, Yves Leterme, Prime Minister of Belgium 2008, 2009-2011, Emil Constantinescu, President of Romania 1996-2000, moderated by Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia 1999-2007; Co-Chair, NGIC. Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan contributed ideas in maintaining the role and position of EU in the Age of AI and Digital, below are his key messages:

1. EU can lead in building an Age of Global Enlightenment

• Europe was the major contributor to the Enlightenment in the 18^th century.
• Today with AI, Digital, and Blockchain, the world needs a new model for politics, society, and economy based on democratic values and standards.
• The EU can play a leading role in collaboration with the US to make the Age of Global Enlightenment – Smart Democracy.
• In 2020, BGF created the Social Contract for the AI Age.
• The Social Contract for the AI Age is the fundamentals and standards for international relations and of the Age of Global Enlightenment.
• Relations with the US, Russia, and China are defined on standards of the Social Contract for the AI Age

2. EU can lead to Global Alliance for Digital Governance

• Building and leading Global Alliance for Digital Governance.
• The first step: EU lead in solving misinformation, disinformation, and global enlightenment education.

Key Conclusions of the Final Report from the Club de Madrid Policy Lab “Fundamental Rights in AI & Digital Societies: Towards an International Accord”

by Editor | Nov 7, 2021 | News

• There is no doubt that digital technologies, and AI, in particular, have, for better or for worse, generated a revolution for fundamental rights. Building an international agreement on digital governance has complexities and the global policy and geopolitical environment plays a key role in facilitating or limiting the construction of this agreement.
• Common democratic values such as respect and promotion of human rights, and the rule of law are crucial to underpinning digital policy as an essential starting point to move towards that agreement.
• Challenges such as AI and data governance that domestic frameworks cannot address alone are crucial points on which we must focus. From there, we can start with small but important steps to build a culture of agreement on digital issues – _with a premium on the Transatlantic space, that has the advantage of shared values.
• In a field where so much is yet to come, we are convinced that international cooperation for Artificial Intelligence and digital technologies is an opportunity to write the rules together. The Framework for AI International Accord, a part of the e-book “Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment”, presented at this Policy Lab is a significant start for this goal.
• We need some internationally agreed fundamental rules or norms to guide the development of technologies; we cannot anticipate to protect rights we do not fully comprehend; and the efforts that already exist are essential to continue working on the objective that gathered us these three days. It will be a challenging process, because of the variety of values and approaches that are emerging in different parts of the world, but there is common ground to be found. And to that end, making principles operational and integrating a variety of stakeholders representing countries and communities in all their diversity, including inter-generational differences is needed.
• Many of the issues discussed intersect with the crucial work the UN is both doing and planning to do, under the leadership of Secretary-General Guterres, to maintain international peace and security, and support the achievement of the SDGs. AI, cybersecurity, diplomacy, and development – _not least social development – _all relate to defense and promotion of fundamental rights in the digital sphere. It is our aim that our recommendations, the United Nations Centennial Initiative, and the book “Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment” support ‘Our Common Agenda’ and, particularly, the Global Digital Compact proposal.
• There is no lack of goodwill and effort to build an AI framework on which different actors – governments, local governments, and non-government actors can agree. The UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence is a promising step in the right direction.
• We have also established a Global Alliance for Digital Governance that includes relevant stakeholders -governments, private sector, academia, civil society, international organizations- to reduce the digital field’s development gaps and bring communities together, thus contributing to the United Nations Centennial Initiative.
• We agreed on the need for a new social contract that takes digital transformation into account. To build a social contract suited for the digital age, going beyond traditional allies and reach out to those who think differently is crucial. The Social Contract for the AI Age is a recognized tool and will be fundamental for the Age of Global Enlightenment.
• Throughout this process of reflection, trust is essential and to obtain that we would need to build on security, privacy, reliability and fairness as crucial pillars that will promote digital technologies as a tool to serve inclusive societies.
• Protecting access to information, education and digital literacy and finding a balance between freedom of speech and the imperative to have a common truth will allow progress on drafting common rules on AI. In this regard, the AIWS City will be a practical model for addressing this issue.
• It is tough to craft legislation and rules for technologies that are not yet being used, so we need a risk-based approach to digital governance. In the case of AI, this approach will help to elaborate some of the requirements for its design, development and application phases.
• Ex ante and ex-post regulation are not incompatible. We need both to better govern digital. Ex ante regulation will allow institutions to provide guardrails for rights, including data rights, in the deployment of AI systems. Ex post regulation will allow AI systems to be audited. In this regard, we agreed accountability is a fundamental consideration in the deployment of AI technologies. We need to be able to explain how AI systems reach the decisions they reach and will allow us to work to stop the dynamics of discrimination, exclusion and inequalities that are being replicated and amplified by AI technologies. The Global Alliance for Digital Governance can be a significant movement for this mission.
• The Community Innovation Economy concept was introduced during the Policy Lab as a tool that empowers citizens to create value for themselves, for others, and for society through the application of AI, digital, block chain, and data science technologies. It is a sharing ecosystem that rewards both the creators and users of these technologies, as well as an ecosystem that encourages everyone to innovate.
• Despite the existing gaps in the regulation of digital technologies and their use, they have been fundamental tools of resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and we must not forget their benefits.
• Finally, we would like to mention that many of the discussions of the six Plenaries highlighted the significant contributions of the e-book, “Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment”, published by the UN Centennial Initiative and the Boston Global Forum.

AIWS City at the Policy Dialog “Rethinking Democracy”

by Editor | Oct 31, 2021 | News

Club de Madrid’s members contributed to Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment, making them distinguished leaders of Global Enlightenment Community in AIWS City.

We introduced some significant ideas of speakers at the Policy Dialog “Rethinking Democracy” organized by Club de Madrid in partnership with Boston Global Forum on October 27-29, 2021.

Regarding the continued support of international financial institutions towards increasingly autocratic states such as Nicaragua, Laura Chinchilla, Vice President of Club de Madrid and former President of Costa Rica stated: “International Financial Institutions must stop focusing only on the macro- economic and start looking at human rights”.

The former President of Costa Rica warned that international and regional organisations must act sooner when faced with a crisis of democracy. “If we operate under the logic that everything is fine, until everything is wrong, we end up with situations such as that of Nicaragua”, Chinchilla added.

Zsuzsanna Szelényi, Member of the Hungarian Parliament (2014-2018), explained the recent concerted effort by the Hungarian opposition to defeat Viktor Orban in the upcoming national election. Parties were able to come together and elect a single candidate by leveraging technology and digital activism. “Everything was online, as the public media was captured by the government. We now have the result, a candidate, who is a charismatic newcomer”, Szelényi said.

As a result of this experience, Szelényi concludes that “technology can deeply and strongly support democratic innovation”, but “it wouldn’t have worked without people first, coming out to the streets, and activists organising from behind”.