Interview with the Head of United Nations Open Source Software Labs
canopic jug writes:
Back in 2014-2015, during the 69th session of the UN General Assembly, the ICT Strategy (A/69/517), was quietly approved. In it were provisions encouraging ICT collaboration and a mention of Free and Open Source Software. In line with these provisions a special open source software development lab has been established with locations in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Additional regions will be added. The labs, the United Nations Innovation Labs (UNTIL), are intended to accelerate society by addressing some of the needs assessed as being urgent.
The head of UNTIL is in an interview which might be of more symbolic value than anything else. However, it is news that the labs are getting off the ground.
UNTIL is poised to support local eco-systems in different ways, addressing as much as possible local requirements and integrating them with global requirements. UNTIL Labs, operational in Egypt, Finland, India and Malaysia, are creating cutting edge technology and can play the role of incubator and accelerator of existing solutions. The lab in India has a contract with UN-Habitat to build Afghanistan's first land registry using blockchain technology. The Lab in Malaysia is also using blockchain, to create a platform for ethical fashion in support of the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week's "Design to Sustain" initiative. The lab in Cairo is exploring new high-tech ways to improve Egypt's agricultural sector through robotics and IoT sensors to monitor field humidity and activate irrigation systems. And then there's Reboot the Earth. That was the UN's largest ever hackathon - over 1,000 youth in six countries coming up with solutions to the problem of climate change. Our collaboration didn't stop when the hackathons ended. After presenting their ideas to world leaders in NYC during the UN General Assembly week, winning teams returned to our Labs where they are receiving support to bring their ideas forward. As we speak, winners are building their solutions with UNTIL lab support, ready to present viable products at Davos next year.
We also see one of UNTIL's role as a broker of technology. Member States and the UN do not need to reinvent the wheel. There's lot of wonderful technology that already exists that could be of huge benefit if only it could reach the right beneficiaries worldwide. UNTIL is working to identify promising technologies as well as partners in Member States who could be early adopters, again, focusing on the SDG challenges, first. The first UNTIL question is always what is the 2030 challenge we want to resolve? And thereafter what technology could be adopted to resolve it?
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