A wide range of approaches, technologies and practices already exist to tackle agrifood systems challenges.
Science, technology and innovation underpin them all and are an essential part of assessing risks, identifying trade-offs and finding new solutions to the complex problems that our world is currently facing with the updated negative projections indicating that more than 670 million people will still be facing hunger in 2030.
In this challenging context, and with only 7 years to achieve the Agenda 2030 goals, digitalization, innovation and the use of data in agriculture and AI have an essential role to play to support evidence-based policy, planning and implementation to improve efficiency in agricultural resources management.
‘Digital technologies’ are already in action in many areas including the improved access to information and markets for farmers, new innovative financial services, traceability of food, digitized e-Voucher and cash-based transfer schemes, and the exploitation of geospatial and big data technologies to provide new capabilities to farmers and other stakeholders” says Dejan Jakovljevic, FAO CIO and Director of Division of Digitalization and Informatics.
‘The imperative to build back better by leveraging digital transformation in the agrifood systems calls thus for new actions and concrete results and as Digitalization, recognized as a cross cutting Accelerator for Development, is a priority for FAO, we reiterate our deep commitment to engage all efforts possible towards achieving that goal' he adds.
FAO's long-term engagement in WSIS Forum has been a key element and mechanism for achieving this vision and work towards agrifood transformation through a better use of ICTs for development. Since many years, FAO is part of the World Summit on the Information Society under UNGA Resolution 70/125. It facilitates specifically the WSIS Action Line C7: E-Agriculture, allowing for the opportunity for information exchange, knowledge creation and sharing of best practices, bringing together relevant stakeholders, including government representatives, other institutions and international organizations, academia, the private sector and civil society together to concretely collaborate on scaling-up promising technological innovations.
The annual World Summit on the Information Society Forum is a global multistakeholder platform facilitating the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines for advancing sustainable development, organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, in close collaboration with all WSIS Action Line co-/facilitators and other UN organizations, while identifying emerging trends and fostering partnerships, taking into account the evolving Information and Knowledge Societies.
This year, the WSIS Forum 2023 is scheduled to be held from 13–17 March 2023 at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva, with the support of remote participation. Virtual workshops will continue in April & May. The theme of the WSIS Forum 2023 is ‘WSIS Action Lines for building back better and accelerating the achievement of the SDGs’.
It is following this vision that FAO Division of Digitalization and Informatics, jointly with FAO Office of Innovation, are taking this year again full advantage of the unique potential of WSIS as a global multistakeholder platform facilitating the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines for advancing sustainable development, and organizing a special event on ‘Digital in Action - Agrifood systems Transformation for SDGs achievement’, scheduled the 16th March 2023, 14.30-16.15 CET.
Bringing together representatives from the Ministry of Ecuador, the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and FAO field and regional offices from Bangladesh and the African Region, the event aims to bring forward discussions on key topics about Digital in Action for the Transformation of Agrifood Systems, through concrete solutions and examples of Digital capabilities as accelerators to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, including FAO Digital Village Initiative and the Hand-in-Hand Initiative and its enabling tool, the Geospatial Platform. The special session aims at creating synergies enabling an environment (e.g., policies, regulations, infrastructure, organizations, and socio-cultural changes) conducive to an inclusive and sustainable digitalization in agrifood systems and build back better in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘The FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31 recognizes that Innovation across agrifood systems is key to achieving the SDGs’ explains further Vincent Martin, FAO Office of Innovation newly appointed Director. ‘Recently, FAO adopted its first ever Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy that supports innovation and digitalization as enablers in the transformation of agrifood systems’ he adds, highlighting again the crucial potential of developing new digital capabilities and partnerships towards accelerating FAO four betters and the 2030 Agenda implementation.
Embedding Digital Innovations as a key component to common efforts and policies for agrifood systems is a priority for the Organization as it is the enabling tool that can bridge us all towards development, leaving no one behind.
Find the FULL AGENDA of the session HERE and below
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REGISTER HERE
SEE HERE OUR NEW VIDEO INTRO TRAILER: https://youtu.be/nTnmKZhHH90
Check here WSIS Forum 2023 Accreditation and registration procedures to attend in person.
TO ATTEND REMOTELY FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW:
- All participants are required to register to Virtual Participation here.
- Upon registration, you will be asked to validate you email address to continue the registration process. An email will be sent to you to validate your email address.
- Following the validation, you will receive an email with your Virtual Participation Registration Confirmation, including the link that directs you to the personal join session portal, that shows all the sessions.
- You need to select the session that you would like to attend and can join by clicking the ‘’join’’ button which gives you access to the virtual room.
- The virtual link will be available 15 mins before the scheduled start time of the session.
CHECK THE SPEAKERS BIOS below
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Read more about WSIS Forum 2023 here.
Visit the event's webpage on WSIS website here.