WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY FORUM OPENING SEGMENT Opening Statement

WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY FORUM

OPENING SEGMENT

Opening Statement

By

Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General

14 March 2023

 

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to take part once again in this important Summit, and to reaffirm FAO’s commitment to our common vision to build a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented information society together, and I wish to thank the organizers and all partners for their continuous and strong engagement.

This Forum represents a unique opportunity to exchange the most up to date information, build new knowledge and continue sharing our best practices on the global digital agenda, as well as our ongoing work to identify emerging trends, and build even stronger partnerships in the face of the rapid evolution of our information and knowledge societies.

This year's topic is timely as we face the reality that we are lagging behind in our efforts to build back better and achieve the SDGs. The world is in a very different place to where it was 7 years ago when we committed to the goal of ending hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition by 2030.

Recently we also participated in the UN SG’s high-level event in support of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) held in Doha, where we ensured that LDCs, and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) will be a priority. In this regard, at FAO we have also established a dedicated Office for SIDS, LDCs, and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs).

The gaps that need to be bridged are still too wide, and urgently call for bold and collective action. Our agrifood systems have been heavily affected by multiple shocks due to the pandemic, economic slowdown, the climate crisis, conflicts and the war in Ukraine. This harsh reality forces us to urgently reconsider our priorities and highlights the need to build more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable agrifood systems.

In this challenging context, leveraging the potential of global connectivity, with enhanced access to information, data and artificial intelligence as key accelerators and supporters of digital agriculture is essential.  In this perspective, I hope that our discussions this week will capitalize and build upon this close alignment between the Information Society Forum and the SDGs, focusing specifically on the role of digital technologies as means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Digitalization, the effective use of data in agriculture and rural development, and artificial intelligence play a key role in supporting evidence-based policymaking, planning and implementation to improve efficiency and productivity, as well as reducing negative environmental impacts, and it can have a transformational impact by creating opportunities for smallholder farmers and rural communities, through holistic and targeted interventions with concrete impact on the ground.

Yet, we still have a large digital divide, with only 47% of developing countries and 19% of LDCs having access to the internet, with barriers to digital adoption due to a lack of electricity in rural areas, literacy, digital skills, and lack of proper content, and specifically with regard to professionally oriented APPs. 

FAO has a strong focus on "Digital for Impact”, with technology, innovation and data as key crosscutting accelerators across all FAO’s work to reach impact at scale, as set out in the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31.  The aim of our “Digital for Impact” is to accelerate action to achieve the SDGS by promoting:

• One: better and more timely access to real-time actionable information; 
• Two: sustained engagement with farmers and agrifood systems stakeholders to maximize their benefits from new technologies; 
• Three: improved access to markets, credit and insurance through the application of digital technologies;
• Four: access to digitally enabled climate-smart agriculture solutions; and
• Five: enhancing the digitalization of emergency interventions and social protection mechanisms.  

FAO is promoting a policy agenda and public-private investments to ‘massify’ digital benefits and remove barriers to internet adoption, especially for women, youth, rural communities and vulnerable populations, through initiatives that improve affordability, user capabilities and infrastructure to leverage the potential of ICTs. These initiatives include among others:  

FAO's flagship Hand-in-Hand Initiative, launched four years ago, that aims at accelerating agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development to eradicate poverty (SDG 1), and end hunger and all forms of malnutrition (SDG2), as well as reduce inequalities (SDG10). The Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform was recognized in May 2022 with an Excellence Award as the best collaborative platform towards data-driven agriculture at the Geospatial World Forum in Amsterdam.

The platform leverages geospatial data and information to strengthen evidence-based sustainable agricultural development interventions and decision-making. 

FAO is also championing the 1000 Digital Villages Initiative, which aims to convert villages across the world into digital hubs to support the acceleration of rural transformation and reduce the digital gap, including the gender and rural divide, helping to increase resilience and to diversify incomes of farmers.

FAO is actively supporting efforts towards Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence, including through the Rome call for Ethics in AI, the UN work on common principles for AI, and our joint work with the ITU – an example of which is our joint paper on Digital Agriculture in Action.

We must recognize the critical need for a cross-sector, collaborative and multi-stakeholder participatory approach to ensure effective digital transformation at national and global level, across all economic sectors.

Dear Colleagues,

2023 is a crucial year as it is now time to bring together the Global Digital Compact to be agreed at the Summit of the Future in September 2024, building upon the political declaration adopted in 2020 on occasion of the UN’s 75^th Anniversary, as well as the launch of Our Common Agenda by the UN Secretary-General in September 2021.

FAO is firmly committed and fully engaged to enhancing partnerships across the UN system and beyond, and is actively participating in the multi-stakeholder digital technology track by providing its technical expertise to help shape an open, free and secure digital future for all.

Let us continue to work together in an efficient, effective and coherent manner to empower the potential of Digital to accelerate the achievement of the 2030 Agenda, and to achieve our common goal of the 4 Betters: Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a Better Life for all, leaving no one behind.

I thank you and I wish you fruitful interventions.