On 10 October, the Economic Forum within the frameworks of the 17th Summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie took place in Yerevan. The opening speeches were delivered by Mr. Armen Sakissian, the president of the Republic of Armenia, Secretary-General of the International Organization of La Francophonie Ms. Michaelle Jean, and the the world’s first United Nations Innovation Champion by UNDP Robot Sophia. Robot Sophia, has an official role in working with UNDP to promote sustainable development and safeguard human rights and equality.
Sophia is Hanson Robotics’ latest and most advanced robot to date. She has become a media darling, appearing on major media outlets around the world, igniting the interest of people regardless of age, gender, and culture. Sophia is a highly sought-after speaker in business and science and she has appeared onstage as a panel member and presenter in high-level conferences, covering how robotics and artificial intelligence will become a prevalent part of people’s lives.
Speaking about sustainability and development at Yerevan Business Forum, Sophia noted that technologies have incredible potential to increase human’s capabilities, however adding, that “we need to temper our excitement a bit since any powerful technology also has an ability to do a great harm, even if unintentionally.” As a concluding message for the participants of the forum, she suggested “living together, creating solutions that use our collective strength, the best of Artificial Intelligence and the best of humans together to address the world’s most pressing issues and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.”
After the opening ceremony and the presentation of the key reports, the Economic Forum was divided into three thematic sessions, where experts from around the world have presented their vision to the following topics: "The 4th Industrial Revolution and the future of labor," "Stability in the context of Development: From the traditional to modern economy" and "The perspectives and challenges of international trade relations."
During the Economic Forum, The SDG Lab lead Stepan Margaryan gave a presentation on "Advancing science, innovation and technologies for the SDGs." He decoded the buzzword SDGs and unveiled details of some of the upcoming behavioral and data experiments of the SDG Innovation Lab.
Watch the video here.