A new United Nations initiative aims to ensure that advanced digital technologies in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) boost resilience to natural hazards and reduce disaster risks.
A new United Nations initiative aims to ensure that advanced digital technologies in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) boost resilience to natural hazards and reduce disaster risks.
The Global Initiative on Resilience to Natural Hazards through AI Solutions is led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Universal Postal Union (UPU), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The initiative will explore AI use cases, provide expert guidance, and support research, innovation, and standards development amid increasing climate volatility and disaster risks worldwide.
It also aims to create an AI readiness framework to assess and improve national capacities for using AI in disaster management.
“Technical standards are key to ensuring AI is used safely, responsibly and equitably in disaster management – a field where decisions must be made quickly and carefully,” said ITU Secretary-General.
The new initiative will consider seismic, hydrometeorological and other natural hazards, as well as compound or cascading events that can result in disasters.
“This reinforces our work to promote AI-based resilience through Early Warnings for All – the groundbreaking push to protect everyone on Earth with timely disaster alerts by 2027,” he said.
Keeping up momentum on AI-driven disaster response
The new Global Initiative builds on the work of a focus group launched by ITU, WMO, and UNEP in 2021.
That focus group analysed promising applications of AI for disaster management, curated 27 use cases, and laid the groundwork for new international standards.
Its studies explored AI-enabled advances in data collection and handling, the modelling of natural hazards and disasters, and emergency communications.