GEEF

Background and Rationale

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its subset applications such as machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) have gained widespread attention, as well as some skepticism about its major promises in increasing productivity and efficacy in activities previously undertaken by humans. AI can be divided into two types: narrow and general. General AI describes a type of application that effectively replicates the processes of a human brain without any human intervention. This is the type of AI usually depicted in popular media, which has often led to suspicion by the general public. However, this type of AI is at present theoretical and there are no applications in use today. The type of AI that surrounds us is Narrow AI, which is trained to perform specific tasks under human supervision. Some AI capabilities include obj!ect recognition, decision making, problem solving, understanding language, learning from examples, and other combinations or variations of these.

For the purpose of sustainable development, AI can serve as a valuable tool to keep track of SDG achievement and help arrive at the best decisions that take into account multiple societal, environmental and economic considerations. Many movements have emerged from this opportunity, such as AI for social good and AI for sustainability, as well as more focused activities like machine learning applications for climate change.

Some misdirected applications of AI could result in higher income inequality, narrower work opportunities, and concerns for personal privacy. Yet, we must be reminded that technological advancement does not occur spontaneously but is steered by human intention and need. The international community has already established principles to direct AI solutions to ensure a better future for all. In 2018, the European Commission established the High-Level Expert Group on AI and published the Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI. The following year, the OECD published the Recommendation of the Council on Artificial Intelligence agreed upon by all member countries and several partner countries.

Borrowing from the case of Korea, we can observe how different actorsgovernment, industry and academia are engaging in AI to serve society. In 2017, the Korean government established the Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with the mandate to suggest policies pertaining to AI and other data technology. A leading example of industry's work in AI is that of NAVER LABS, hich ecenl ceaed a 3D model of Seol and mapped all of its roads, enabling the development of safer and more efficient transportation services, and thus bringing positive benefits to the city's population. Yonsei University has also come into agreements with top technology companies such as NAVER and Kakao to implement educational services based on AI. The University has also gone beyond and integrated AI-based solutions to its very own Yongin Severance Hospital, part of the Yonsei University Health System.

The case of Korea portrays how multiple actors can engage and empower one another at the national level. On an international level, there are also many critical issues that call for the engagement and empowerment of different stakeholders in the AI and development spheres. A recent and vivid example is the COVID-19 pandemic and related issues, such as vaccine development and distribution. With global issues in mind, panelists are encouraged to discuss current and future approaches for international and interdisciplinary cooperation.

Intergovernmental organizations, governments, industry and academia are all engaging in different AI applications for sustainable development. However, we must avoid fragmented efforts and recognize the need to empower one another. The Featured Session will offer a platform to discuss current activities and possible directions for mutually empowering partnerships among different stakeholders to deploy AI solutions that can accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.

Session obj!ectives

Background and Rationale

In 2020, COVID-19 pandemic changed many parts of the society. In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we have taken a global response to pandemic, prioritizing preventive measures such as social distancing, tracking down the contacts and isolating the confirmed patients. However, although these restrictions are necessary, they have also caused many social obstacles, including economic burden, limited opportunities for education, and so on.

Health care sector is also experiencing various obstacles. Concerns on direct infection of COVID-19 have resulted in delays in essential medical services, and the burden of disease of primary healthcare and chronic diseases has increased dramatically. Even for developed countries with well-established health systems, these issues are burdensome, and for developing countries, the issue is worse.

A strong and resilient health system is essential to maintaining the health and sustainability of the members in this period of uncertainty. Rapid and accurate testing requires skilled personnel and sufficient supply of testing equipment. From simple treatment and medication to respirators, critical care, operating room and rehabilitation, medical care must be delivered within a single organic system. We experience that the strong and sound health care ecosystem that developed countries enjoy is thought of as simple relief or ideal state in many countries. The discomfort from this experience makes us feel a lack of universal health coverage (UHC) that we ultimately intend to achieve, and the COVID-19 pandemic starkly illustrates this issue.

We know what the last mile to achieve the UHC is. It is safe and affordable surgery. This is not just a story about surgical procedures. This is about the change and development of the health system. Through MDGs to SDGs, maternal mortality has reduced, and the number of healthy children increased, but this is not enough for the SDGs to be achieved by 2030. In order to overcome the last hurdle, it is essential to introduce safe and affordable surgery. Surgery saves the lives of millions of people every year and improves their quality of life. The economic benefit of surgery is very high compared to the ‘Cost of Doing Nothing’ we must bear when we don't conduct surgeries. Medical personnel trained for surgical procedures improve the quality of medical care, and logistics systems designed to maintain surgeries enable a stable supply of medicines. Therefore, surgery, referred to as the last stepchild of international health care, is an important component of a strong, resilient health system that will increase responsiveness to infectious and chronic diseases.

Yet 5 billion people do not have access to safe and affordable surgical care. This issue is most prominent in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) where 9 out of 10 people are unable to access true surgical care, resulting in surgery avertible deaths and disabilities. In the Western Pacific Region, access to safe and affordable surgery remains limited.

In October 2020, the World Health Organization Regional Committee Meeting for Western Pacific received the approval of the Action Framework for Safe and Affordable Surgery from all member states. The agreement on surgical treatment in the Western Pacific will be an important cornerstone of health care development and the resulting economic prosperity in the region. In GEEF 2021, we would like to discuss safe and affordable surgery in the Asia Pacific region and discuss future partnerships. We hope this will serve as a new chapter in cooperation with Asia Pacific region, which are facing a new challenge of improving health care quality and responding to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Session objectives

• Introduce the role of universal access to surgical, obstetric, anesthesia, and trauma care in achieving the SDGs.
• Discuss opportunities and challenges in providing access to safe and affordable surgical care in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Suggest action plans to support the financing of access to surgical care in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Propose international and regional partnerships to facilitate the strengthening of surgical systems.

Session objectives

• SDG 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
• SDG 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
• SDG 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
• SDG 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
• SDG 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
  
  • Target 9.5 Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending.
  • Target 9.b Support domestic technology development research and innovation in developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, inter alia, industrial diversification and value addition to commodities. (9.b.1 Proportion of medium and high-tech industry value added in total value added)
• SDG 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development
• SDG 15. Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
• SDG 17. Partnerships for the Goals “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development”
  
  • Target 17.6: Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge-sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism (17.6.1 Number of science and/or technology cooperation agreements and programmes between countries, by type of cooperation)
  • Target 17.8: Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology

Background and Rationale

In 2020, COVID-19 pandemic changed many parts of the society. In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we have taken a global response to pandemic, prioritizing preventive measures such as social distancing, tracking down the contacts and isolating the confirmed patients. However, although these restrictions are necessary, they have also caused many social obstacles, including economic burden, limited opportunities for education, and so on.

Health care sector is also experiencing various obstacles. Concerns on direct infection of COVID-19 have resulted in delays in essential medical services, and the burden of disease of primary healthcare and chronic diseases has increased dramatically. Even for developed countries with well-established health systems, these issues are burdensome, and for developing countries, the issue is worse.

A strong and resilient health system is essential to maintaining the health and sustainability of the members in this period of uncertainty. Rapid and accurate testing requires skilled personnel and sufficient supply of testing equipment. From simple treatment and medication to respirators, critical care, operating room and rehabilitation, medical care must be delivered within a single organic system. We experience that the strong and sound health care ecosystem that developed countries enjoy is thought of as simple relief or ideal state in many countries. The discomfort from this experience makes us feel a lack of universal health coverage (UHC) that we ultimately intend to achieve, and the COVID-19 pandemic starkly illustrates this issue.

We know what the last mile to achieve the UHC is. It is safe and affordable surgery. This is not just a story about surgical procedures. This is about the change and development of the health system. Through MDGs to SDGs, maternal mortality has reduced, and the number of healthy children increased, but this is not enough for the SDGs to be achieved by 2030. In order to overcome the last hurdle, it is essential to introduce safe and affordable surgery. Surgery saves the lives of millions of people every year and improves their quality of life. The economic benefit of surgery is very high compared to the ‘Cost of Doing Nothing’ we must bear when we don't conduct surgeries. Medical personnel trained for surgical procedures improve the quality of medical care, and logistics systems designed to maintain surgeries enable a stable supply of medicines. Therefore, surgery, referred to as the last stepchild of international health care, is an important component of a strong, resilient health system that will increase responsiveness to infectious and chronic diseases.

Yet 5 billion people do not have access to safe and affordable surgical care. This issue is most prominent in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) where 9 out of 10 people are unable to access true surgical care, resulting in surgery avertible deaths and disabilities. In the Western Pacific Region, access to safe and affordable surgery remains limited.

In October 2020, the World Health Organization Regional Committee Meeting for Western Pacific received the approval of the Action Framework for Safe and Affordable Surgery from all member states. The agreement on surgical treatment in the Western Pacific will be an important cornerstone of health care development and the resulting economic prosperity in the region. In GEEF 2021, we would like to discuss safe and affordable surgery in the Asia Pacific region and discuss future partnerships. We hope this will serve as a new chapter in cooperation with Asia Pacific region, which are facing a new challenge of improving health care quality and responding to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Session obj!ectives

Background and Rationale

Higher education needs to change in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution which requires talents associated with diversity, connectivity and resilience. Higher education already has faced several phases of change, including the transfer to online from offline classrooms due to COVID-19. Online classes further emphasize the importance of communication and the need for changes in teaching style and its contents. Therefore, Yonsei University has been building an online class platform, Y-EdNet, by forming partnerships with several other schools. The platform would be open to not only Yonsei students but also to many others from domestic and foreign universities so that a wider audience becomes eligible to high quality lectures. In this challenging era, the role of universities is becoming essential as they need to foster more active communications among students and support them to learn more effectively even in non-face-to-face situations. Furthermore, it would be crucial to prepare classes related to human rights sensitivity and respect for diversity to promote a healthy communication environment.

Session obj!ectives

• Discuss the necessity of innovation in higher education based on SDGs 4: Quality Education
• Introduce Y-EdNet being built by Yonsei University in line with the shift in the educational paradigm that values digital lectures
• Share each university’s plans for innovative higher education
• Propose international and regional partnerships to facilitate the innovative change in higher education

Related SDGs

• SDG 4. Quality Education
  
  • Target 4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

1. Johann Sebastian Bach, Suite for Cello Solo No.6 in D Major BWV1012
    Jungran Lee, Cello
2. Jean Sibelius, Symphony No.3 in C Major, Op.52
3. Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No.9 in D minor, Op.125, IV. Finale
    Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Key Concepts

• Medical education consists of undergraduate and postgraduate training. Postgraduate training includes participating in residency training and continuing education programs. Postgraduate training is important for medical school graduates to develop their specialties. However, postgraduate training in Africa is not standardized in each country.
• Recently many domestic and international institutions started working together to improve postgraduate training in Africa.
• This session will introduce and discuss the status quo and challenges of postgraduate training from the perspectives of local professors, students, and international health workers.
• During the session, the speakers will discuss the impact of postgraduate training on the Christian medical mission.
• The session will also cover how the COVID-19 pandemic affected postgraduate training.

Session obj!ectives

• To share information
• To discuss what should be done to improve the postgraduate training in Africa
• To facilitate networking