Meet and Greet the CODES community

Hi everyone....thanks again to those that attended the launch and engaged in the chat / QandA. Looking forward to creating new relationships on the site and building out a network of like-minded people. 

Hello everyone! I hope this message finds everyone well. It is an honor to be part of this group and I take the opportunity to thank you for the invitation. I am a geographer and researcher with experience in the areas of soil degradation, desertification, land use, remote sensing and geospatial data. I am available to help with whatever is needed.

I am Thiago Henrique, Brazilian, I have a degree in Public Policy and I work with research in public governance for sustainable development.

In 2017 I published the book Governança Territorial, Participação e Desenvolvimento: Considerações sobre a experiência do estado de Minas Gerais.  (Territorial Governance, Participation, and Development: Considerations about the experience of the state of Minas Gerais.) " This study was the result of my bachelor's research, where I was able to do an exchange at the University of Coimbra, Portugal with funding from the Program Santander Universities.

I'm currently developing the project "The relationship between climate change, public policies and environmental governance: is another institutional architecture possible?" Among other things, this research seeks to defend the idea that coordination and governance structures are necessary for the efficiency of public environmental policies and for countries to organize themselves in order to comply with international agreements as well as the commitments of sustainable development. 

 

I'm happy and honored to collaborate with this incredible project. I'm available for whatever the tasks.

:)

Hello everyone and thanks for the invitation to this group.  Am currently working in UNICEF-Bangladesh my work focuses on ICT and Technology for Development. I have personal passion for sustainable development and more so ensuring that digital solutions enhance the drive towards sustainable development.  Great to be part of this group to collaborate. 

Hii everyone. Thanks for the invitation to this group. Am a Municipal Secretary/Executive officer/City Manager working with local government. Am happy to join the forum. Am also looking forward to contribute to CODES.

Greetings. Thank you for the invitation. My name is Kenyatta. I am very pleased to be part of the group. I am a qualified Business Analyst, Digital Business Analyst with experience in Agile, waterfalls/ lean...I have been working within governmental institutions , non governmental organizations private, and public sectors. I believe together we can make our dreams come true.

My aim to explore ideas, understand experiences,and gain detailed insights into  Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)  involved collection of data.  https://northantsfgmca.org/blog/

Hi everyone, my name is Michael Oghia. I have focused on ICT sustainability since 2016, and my background ranges from policy and development, to Internet governance and journalism. I recently joined the Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance (SDIA) to coordinate our external relations activities.

Hello everyone! I'm really excited about this initiative and I hope you are doing well. I am a researcher in industrial ecology working on the development of web-applications for macro-economic sustainability scenario creation, and currently moving into automation methods of data collection for environmental impact assessment of supply chains. Looking forward to contributing to CODES and see what we can make of it together. 

Hi All.  I am interested in the engagement of individuals, families, communities, regions and nations in the global tribe to connect knowledge and activity between all sectors.  We are working on the progression of knowledge from first awareness to the highest levels of research and the inter-relationship between the life indicators.  Also involved with UNEP regarding international standards for environmental accounting and audit.  Please to help wherever possible.  Would welcome the opportunity to speak with Geoffrey Boulton too.

Hello. I am Mike Cardinale, and I am a member of the IEEE Society for the Social Implications of Technology. My main interest is in transportation technologies, including batteries, motors and off-vehicle infrastructure. The society, however, has members from 40 other electronics/electrical societies within the IEEE, and I can help leverage those interests to support the CODES initiative.

Hello everyone! Not quite sure how I got on the list but I'm glad that I did. I've been trying to reach someone from the UN about the SDGs regarding a documentary film I've been developing and I'm glad I'm finally able to contribute to the SDG efforts as an IT professional and a storyteller. I'm a Filipino immigrant that now lives in Los Angeles, California working as an IT Manager and working on independent filmmaking and social entrepreneurship on the side. I finished and got distribution for my first feature film called Running For Freedom available on Amazon Prime about the "toughest footrace in the world". I'm developing a slate of films related to the SDGs. "Seeds of Hope" about the missing mangroves in the Philippines. "Salt of the Earth" about sustainable agriculture and soil health. "Spark of Hope" about renewable energy inspired by Jeremy Rifkin's book, The Third Industrial Revolution, that lays out a vision of a smarter, distributed energy generation and distribution using microgrids that sets the stage to unleash a wave of economic growth from micro-entrepreneurs, especially from the Rural Global South.

Greetings, colleagues,

I am delighted to be included in this conversation. I am Co-Founder and VP of Business Development at Choco4Peace, a startup based in Montreal, Canada, that supports constructing and sustaining peace in post-conflict regions of Colombia by empowering farmers, women, youth, Indigenous and other at-risk people through access to markets for their chocolate-producing cacao, innovative finance and disruptive technology.

Our work sits at the nexus of many a number of intersecting fields: living income, regenerative agroforestry, finance, disruptive tech, environmental peacebuilding, digital impact economics, and of course, chocolate. If you are interested in learning a little more, I have included an executive summary of our program (EN/ES/FR).

Looking forward to connecting with you further and exploring the ways we might conspire for good.

Warmly,

Matt Whiteman

Choco4Peace - Colombia Program Executive Summary.pdf161.43 KB

Choco4Peace - Programa Colombia Resumen Ejecutivo.pdf162.5 KB

Choco4Peace - Programme Colombie Sommaire Executif.pdf162.28 KB

looks interesting Matt. I'll check it out. I'm thinking of utilizing cacao for social enterprise projects as well in the Philippines but I'm not sure where to start.

Greetings from Zimbabwe. My name is Gertjan van Stam and I work transdisciplinary at the at the intersection of technology and society, with a focus on meaning making and embodyment (community deposits here), Looking forward to the discussions, hoping all contribute and cherish consensus as "the system [is] set up for participation in power not its appropriation, and the underlying philosophy [is] one of cooperation, not confrontation.”, quoted from Kwasi Wiredu (1995): In democracy and consensus in African traditional politics: A plea for non-party polity. African techniques facilitated the Paris agreement, see Akshat Rathi (2015): in This simple negotiation tactic brought 195 countries to consensus

Hello All,

My name is Elizabeth Adams.  I'm a current Race & Tech Fellow at Stanford University.  My recent work has focused on Public Oversight of Surveillance Tech (postme.mn).  I spent the past 3 years focused on AI Ethics & working with City Council Members in Minneapolis on Civic Tech policy initiatives including the recent ban on Clearview AI’s Facial Recognition technology.

Due to the enormous heavy lift of this initiative and witnessing the agonizing human & community burden to fight against harmful AI, my focus is now on developing opportunities for social actualization in AI to advance personal and society success.  My hope is to chart diverse and inclusive paths for Purposeful AI, where societies can thrive and prosper as we build a more sustainable environment and planet. 

Dear all,

I am not sure if i should post this here. Please advise accordingly

Just a suggestion.

A bout "Action-learning lab: Transforming in the systems in the decade of Action"

With Practical knowledge and background in the field of Business analysis, Digital Business analysis from all project life cycle, I can confirm that there is a greater horizontal similarity between the two courses ,"Action-learning lab: Transforming in the systems in the decade of Action" and Business analysis .  According to Senge's book, He wrote about the concept of system dynamics, Organizational change and creative process. Business, project analysis is about analysis of organization and users needs and opportunities, define rules and approaches, design process systems analysis, get feedback, review...

I would like to take this opportunity to thanks all the initiators for their continuing support and help toward this project. Having an open mind has allowed them to established such a powerful training program material. I will encourage all staffs, volunteers who want to make this project possible to take advantage of this opportunity that come your way. what I have read so far is amazing. The training will give you a greater understanding of responsibility within your role.

Dear all,

Thank you for your invitation. I am passionate environmental and climate freelance journalist. I MA and more than 11 years experience in the area. I love to share ideas with thoughtful people and discuss our planet's sophisticated problems and forward solutions in different methods. I appreciate the CODE platform. Let's keep in touch!

Hello! I'm an environmental engineer specializing in the design and gamification of environmental data. There's a big topic that I think is central to the mission of CODES and I've love to see it brought into the charter - that's the mandatory disclosure or transparency of environmental data. This means applying the type of thing we have for car safety ratings and nutritional labels. Much environmental data is hidden or not collected at all - or it's not real-time, or it's geographically very course, or it's not produced in a way that is machine-readable or easily accessible. Once data is publicly available in a way that is easy to use and understand, rapid change can be built upon this data skeleton. If we don't have it, change is slow and hard. Please listen to this podcast interview I did with Harvard professor Archon Fung where he explains the power of disclosure. https://youtu.be/OkNnEMSzYek

Dear CODES colleagues!

Thank you for including me on your mailing list. The European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC.org) provides a bridge between the public sector and private companies with interests in Earth Observations (EO). Our overall philosophy is to help the public sector decision-makers as a way to boost the industrial sector.

Given that the green transition must be built on a foundation of data and science, EO data will be a powerful tool that ensures that the environmental and economic indicators defined in the SDGs are reported on in an accurate and timely manner.

One of the activities of interest may be the e-shape.eu project, where EARSC is involved in the user uptake, the project represents the largest coordinated effort to showcase operational services in the field of Earth observation research in Europe. It develops and promotes European EO capabilities with and for the users.

Through this group, I hope to contribute by providing views on how the EO service industry could play a role and demonstrate the added value of EO data and contribute to the UNEP's Digital Transformations programme, meanwhile, kind regards and looking forward to having the opportunity to further exchange with you all.

Monica

Hello everyone, dear CODES community,

thank you very much for inviting me to join. It is an honor to be part of this community and I hope to contribute to the discussion with my personal view on what is relevant for a sustainable future in a digitalized world.

Currently, digitalization is neiter fair nor sustainable. We made great progress during the last years by raising questions about how digitization would support sustainable development. There is the chance of changing the narrative of digitalization as a tool for more humane world. But for me, the focus of the discussion on the environmental impact - as important as it is -  is too strong.

Digitalization - rightly - lacks trust with citizens and users. It enlarges societal divides and diminishes the common good. For progressing in using digitalization as a force for good whe have to reorder the basics of datafication and algorithmization. Digital human rights, personal protection on the net, digital inclusion, digital divide, well-being, solidarity etc. have to be further incorporated into the sustainability discussion.

I  would love to see the societal challenges raised by digitalization to move up the agenda. I hope that CODES contributes to it!

Looking forward to further discuss this with you.

About me:

I am passionately working on corporate digital responsibility and sustainable digitalisation for some years now. With my company WiseWay, I support medium-sized companies and corporations in digital transformation. In doing so, I combine my decades of experience in managing digital innovation and product areas in ICT industry with my professional expertise in sustainability management and organisational development. I am author of the  "Praxisleitfaden Corporate Digital Responsibility"  published 2020 at Springer in German (just about to prepare the English publication). I wrote for entrepreneurs and managers to becoma sensitized to the topic and step into it.  I develeloped a model of corporate digital responsibility with 15 action fields that I derived from "undesired side effects" of digitalization from a stakeholder perspective.

Greetings to all of you from Bonn, Germany

Saskia

Hello All,

Nice to be here. I am a Land Management professional and an Academic Professor based in Nigeria.

I am passionate about getting oil spills damage properly assessed  for the payent of adequate compensation to victims and have been involved in related research since 2007

I participated in the UNEP led groundbreaking  Environmental  Assessment of Ogoniland Project in Nigeria 2009-2011.

Post publication of this landmark report in 2011, I have continued to undertake research in the area of soil remediation and its impact on livelihoods of local farmers.

I have special interest in the delivery of SDG 15.

Happy to be here.

Hello everyone, I want to thank you for inviting me to this group. I am a mechanical engineer,  researcher and a project manager. Digitalization has taken over analog, with the new normal of working remotely and big data analysis in digital transformation in environmental development sustainability. The world needs everyone contribution to drive this change forward.

Hi everyone,

Thank you for inviting me to this group. I recently joined the SDIA (sdialliance.org). Before that I co-founded 30MHz, digitalising horticulture with platform and wireless sensors. And before that I co-founded 9apps, an AWS consultancy.

We were very early on AWS (Amazon Web Services), moving companies (mainly startups back then) to the public cloud. We wrote 3 books for O'Reilly on how to build big systems on AWS. And build 30MHz on AWS.

I believe cloud computing (especially infrastructure as a service) enabled enormous innovation. The cost of building a large online system has decreased with several orders of magnitude.

But, now is the time to take this forward. I joined the SDIA to figure out how to help build the next version of these digital infrastructures. It should be even cheaper (easier). They have to be cleaner. They have to be local. And they have to increase freedom (to choose, to move, etc.)

So, I am happy to be part of this group!

Groet,
Jurg.

Hi everyone

Thanks a lot for inviting me to this group.

I am a climate researcher with expertise in vector-borne disease modelling. As an example, I was leading an important climate change malaria risk assessment that was published in PNAS in 2014. 

I have a wide range of research interests (computing, physics, climate and climate change, statistics, epidemiology, risk modelling, public health, tropical diseases…). My research focuses on the use of climate data for humanitarian well-being through the use of complex models and methodologies.

I am also listed as a climate expert for UNECA-ACPC, led by Africans for Africans, and I already attended several webinars and events online.

I am happy to be part of this group and help on climate data applications for health and other sectors.

Meilleurs voeux

Cyril

My sincere apologies for spamming the comment section. We are organizing an online workshop titled "Climate Change Malaria Action" for UK and South African early career scientists funded by the British Council for COP26. The workshop will takes place online, involves partners from the University of Liverpool, IBM and the University of Pretoria and fits many relevant UN SDG and COP26 goals.

More information (application and details) can be accessed at https://sites.google.com/view/climatechangemalariaaction/home

Best wishes

Cyril

Hello All,  

Hope this mail message finds you well. 

My name is Aynalem Woldargay from Ethiopia, i working at Addis Ababa University, EiABC as planning monitoring and evaluation expert, CEO of women & children empowerment project (volunteer), Webster ... I am so excited to be part of CODES community. 

I have an awareness how digitalization vital for sustainability development that, for last 3 years http://aynalem.ulcraft.com/newsi founded women and children development project(volunteer) and i formed various community around the global for that project and all work of the project was digital and on online. I am so interested to serve the CODES...

Regards,      

Thanks David for your leadership in bringing this group together!  Hello everyone, my name is Sherwood Moore, and I am the co-chair of the Climate Action and Accounting Special Interest Group (CA2SIG) with Linux Foundation's Hyperledger blockchain DLT platform. Our mission is to help develop an open global climate accounting system to support stakeholders' efforts to manage our single planetary carbon budget and achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. To accomplish this, the CA2 SIG is fostering a collaborative network of stakeholders to explore how to use digital technologies such as blockchain DLT, open source software, AI, IOT, Big Data, machine learning, etc. to create a transparent climate accounting system that is capable of balancing global climate emissions against global climate actions in order to achieve a net-zero carbon future.

Hello All:

My Name is Dr Venkataraman. Great to be a part of this community. I am an energy economist by profession with 20 years of experience and an environmental economist (Ph.D. in Environmental Economics)  by training. I am currently working for US Department of Defense on energy resilience projects. I also have a part time role with the Digital Economist where the focus is on enabling technological convergence for a human centered solution to the most pressing challenges as we go deeper into the 4th industrial revolution.  

Look forward to exchanging ideas and contributing in a meaningful manner towards a very important initiative.

Hello everyone, I've been out of town with really slow internet for a couple of days but it is great to see this much activity in this group & also to be a part of it. Great to meet you all - Monika Manolova, a PhD in Geographic Information Systems from Bulgaria, I am currently in the telecom sector, but decided it would be appropriate for me to get involved with this initiative due to the fact that I am volunteering as an expert for the Digital National Alliance in BG on digital ecosystems and inclusion and as a member of the digital innovations hub in agriculture out here. My main focus of interest is applications of advanced digital technologies ML and AI in geoscience for the purposes of sustainability and equality. I am afraid the kickoff questions would not be easy to resolve, but I would be happy to volunteer my time and support from my organizations to get more people involved & engaged in this as I believe it crucial we break down the walls between digital and sustainable. Cheers & best, Monika

Dear David, dear CODES Community,

thanks for this great initiative and the many contributions so far which demonstrate such a vibrant common vision and shared values towards a digital planet for sustainability. We are very excited to contribute to this mission with all of you. 

My name is Frédéric Donck, a European lawyer by training, I have spent the last 30 years in the e-communications sector and the Internet industry, working for Policymakers, Industry and Civil Society.

I am here on behalf of a recently established Foundation "Digital Goes Green". The mission of this Brussels based Foundation is to bridge digital and green transformation, and in particular to provide concrete solutions to lower the environmental impact of digital services. 

We have a unique and innovative approach that enables us to address the entire digital services ecosystem with a view to change the way digital services are financed, designed, deployed and delivered. 

You can find our Mission Statement here: https://www.digitalgoes.green/mission/

We look forward to work with all of you as we already see much traction from many of your contributions which align with and/or complement our own mission.

Salutations! Nice to be with you all here.

I'm Dave Thau, working on the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) Global Science team, heading up data and technology efforts there. I'm a computer scientist focusing on artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, remote sensing and of course, conservation and biodiversity. I've spent the last 20 years or so working on a variety of environmental and biodiversity projects, including 8 years at Google working on Google Earth Engine and related projects.

Looking forward to further discussions with you all!

Best,

Thau

Hello.  Jim Fruchterman here, CEO/founder of Tech Matters, the Silicon Valley tech for good nonprofit (alongside our parent NGO, Benetech). I'm here probably because we are developing Terraso, the integrated landscape management tech platform component of the 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People initiative (UNDP, Rainforest Alliance, WWF, Conservation International, Commonland, Tech Matters and our convenor, EcoAgriculture Partners, as well as 30 other technical partners). 

Dear David,

thank you and all your colleagues for a great overture to CODES, and most of all for all the work you have done in the past that has led to this!

I know you have a lot of enthusiasts and professionals who want to contribute with rolled up sleeves and hands-on. I want to contribute as well. As a member (especially for the business development) of the International Research Center on Artificial Intelligence established last year under the auspices of UNESCO, our team www.ircai.org operates in accordance with the UNESCO SDG and is so far active in the field of environment, circular economy, learning and education, health and assistance to the disabled. We are also developing other pillars.

We have excellent relationships with UNESCO, the OECD, the WB, the European Commission and the OER network (academia, government, professionals…) in many countries.

IRCAI’s overall objective revolves around Research, Advocacy, Capacity Building and Dissemination of information about artificial intelligence and other advanced ICTs.

IRCAI objectives in short:

Research

1. Open AI solutions
2. Facilitate AI adoption
3. AI scenario planning
4. Cross-disciplinary reflection on AI
5. AI Observatory

Policy innovation

1. Development of indicators
2. Policy support
3. Multi stakeholder engagement
4. Civic society outreach

AI Talent Development

1. Training
2. Networking

Impact and Outreach

1. Advocacy
2. Engagement
3. Strategic alliances and networking with other institutions

We also approach the concepts of how to ensure the operational viability of the market in the market (eg green bank credit rating for green AI supported technologies, Pilot Village for virtual and physical exposure of excellent solutions, collection and processing of environmental data and solutions using Event Registry https: // eventregistry.org/ and others), which would enable excellent solutions to penetrate the market and benefit the well-being of society as soon as possible.

Kind regards!

Ervin

Dear all,

Great to see such an interesting group of colleagues passionate about green and digital here. I'm Jan Kennis, Lead Expert Digital for Development at the Belgian Development Agency Enabel (www.enabel.be). We are currently expanding our portfolio to include more projects on the green economy and are linking environmental sustainability also with digital development. We are here mainly to learn from other with good practices and can contribute later from our side too. We are also willing to contribute to the community in itself. Looking forward to the exchange here!

And a short biopic of myself: I'm passionate about using technology as a lever to improve the impact of development work, and would like to go from D4D to E4D, which is not Education for Development, but more Enabling Development During a Digital Drive. We are part of a rapidly digitalizing work and have to make sure our actions are part of that too. And on the other hand, mankind is impacting the planet as never before. Therefore, we need to link those two fields if we want to be sustainable. By training, I'm a biologist, so combining both worlds comes natural to me.

Jan

Hi everyone! Just a quick introduction from my side: My name is Hannah Kromminga and I am the co-founder of the Greentech Alliance www.greentech.earth, a global network of over 500+ Greentech Startups. I am supporting CODES with industry insights. Super excited about it! If you want to get hold of me, best to email [email protected]. 

I am from Nigeria and have more than three years of experience in the environmental management, climate action, and humanitarian sectors. I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography. Currently, pursuing a Master of Science in Urban and Regional Planning. I am a U.N. Online Volunteer and have volunteered as a researcher at Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre / Norwegian Refugee Council, Energy Globe Foundation GmbH, and as a community wells and boreholes design advisory group at Cameroon Association of Active Youths (CAMAAY). Moreover, I have participated in seminars, webinars, and online conferences on climate change, sustainability, water, soil, and energy nexus. I am a member of the International Association for Impact Assessment. I join CODES to gain more understanding of digital environmental sustainability and to publish digital articles on climate actions and eco-friendly environmental policies as well as promote environmental policy in Nigeria using a digital platform. Also, my academic research focuses on impact assessment of water and sanitation at IDP camps in northeast Borno State, Nigeria. Looking forward to connecting and partnering with you by incorporating the digital transformation nexus.

Hi everyone, a quick introduction from my side: My name is Johanna and I work as a researcher at TU Berlin in the nexus of sustainability and digitalization. I think the CODES coalition is a great opportunity and I look forward to the exchange here!

Speaking of exchange, I would like to draw your attention to the International Symposium on European approaches to Sustainable Digitalization we are hosting on the 6th of May 2021. This Symposium wants to provide a forum for debate amongst civil society organizations, science, and policy-makers how to join forces to address the question: How can digitalization be shaped in a way that nurtures common goods and respects planetary boundaries?

We have great guests, including familiar faces from the CODES community (David Jensen, Éliane Ubalijoro) - please find out more here: https://www.ioew.de/veranstaltung/european-approaches-towards-a-sustain…

Kind regards from Berlin

Johanna

Hello everyone!

I am Luisa and I work in the intersection of sustainability and digital worlds by helping NGOs, private companies and international organizations build platform to support, and scale, data-driven decision-making. I have a background in environmental engineering and management, as well as expertise in geospatial data.

I look forward to learning from all of you and to contributing, however possible, to the exciting space that is digital environmental sustainability.

Don't hesitate to reach out - I am always happy to chat!

Cheers,
Luisa

Hello Everyone!

It's nice to see all the warm introductions and such a great talent pool.

I am Marta, Knowledge Manager working for UNEP to coordinate development of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) Digital Platform: https://digital.gpmarinelitter.org/

Looking forward to engaging with this group! 

-Marta

Greetings Honouralbes,

Thank you all for the opportunity to be here. My name is Samuel Adunreke, Executive Director Innovea Development Foundation. I am excited to be here as much as we look forward to collaborations.

https://www.sparkblue.org/user/126322/stream

https://www.sparkblue.org/system/files/2021-04/INNOVEA%20DEVELOPMENT%20…

I thank you very much for being with you in SparkBlue having been created by UNDP I thank for this good work. 

I am Severin SINDIZERA, an indigenous peoples' member. I am also a Global Coodinator of an international indigenous platform called " Indigenous Peoples Global Forum for Sustainable Development", IPGFforSD in acronym that you find its descrition on attachment. 

IPGFforSD Description, Global Indigenous Peoples Platform.pdf211.86 KB

Hello everyone, I hope you all are well.

I am a professor at the Tec de Monterrey in Mexico were I work in the  Sustainable Development Technologies and Civil Engineering department, mostly in social and environmental sustainable development projects.

I am very exited to be here and to be able to collaborate with all of you.

At IRCAI @UNESCO https://ircai.org/global-top-100/, the International Research Centre in Artificial Intelligence under the auspices of UNESCO we are launching a call for proposals for listing the Top 100 projects solving problems related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with the application of Artificial Intelligence. Including Climate Action – to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Join us!

Dear David and dear all, thanks for being part in this community. We' ve just started a project in Germany "Digitality as a new driver for a culture of sustainability", which takes up the cultural dimension and cultural institutions in the green and digital transformation. I'm also a co-founder of a Berlin based Network Culture and Agenda 2030 and will be very pleased to share discussions, insights and activities.

Hello everyone. I am really excited to be here. I am Sara Di Lonardo, an environmental biologist working as researcher at the Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Italian National Research Council (IRET-CNR). I am mainly involved in studing the optimization of agronomic and forestry techniques for the reduction of energy consumption and environmental impact due to anthropic activities and climate change (improvement of nutrition and sustainability of crops through the development and transfer of environmentally friendly crop systems based also on: a) the recycle/reuse of agricultural waste biomasses; b) the assessment of the impact of organic amendments on the microbiological characteristics of the soils and on the quality of the products; c) the (bio)stimulation and use of useful microorganisms (mycorrhizae and growth promoting rhizobacteria, PGPR); d) the increase in biological nitrogen fixing; the implementation of closed-cycle production systems; the efficient use of resources through the use of digital systems [proximal and remote sensing] to support decisions regarding irrigation and nutrition), the use of nature-based solutions to mitigate urban environment emissions, and, in general, the dynamics and interactions among pedophere, atmosphere and biosphere also through big data and remote sensing technology to tackle terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity changes.

Hello everyone,
It's great to read through all the introductions here, happy to be here and looking forward to collaborating with you!

I am Gitta Sender, I work at GIZ's headquarters in Germany, mainly on the nexus of digitalization and ecological sustainability. 

Together with Oeko-Institut we'll be hosting a virtual 2-day conference on the topic and will be pleased if any of you would like to join us to tackle these main questions:

• Which concrete measures are needed to ensure the ecological sustainability of digitalization?
• How can digitalization enable and support sustainable development? 
• And how can we learn from each other and cooperate in order to create favorable framework conditions and promote promising initiatives?

green.net.working
May 19+20 2021, 10 am - 3 pm (CET)
>> green-net-working.net

We are thrilled to welcome Prof. Dr. Dirk Messner, President of the German Environment Agency UBA, Honorable Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, RSA (tbc), Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary, German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Amel Saidane, President at TunisianStartups, Vivien Foster, Chief Economist at World Bank, Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor, CEO at Malaysian Green Technology Corporation and many more speakers.
(> Speaker overview // green.net.working)

Feel free to reach out - [email protected]

Best regards,
Gitta 

Hello Everyone,

Thank you David for the invitation to join this group of fascinating individuals. I look forward to getting to know you all more.

My name is Elsy Ibrahim, and I have been working with various types of remote sensing data for over a decade as a researcher, a trainer, and a consultant. I have worked on topics related to the mapping and monitoring of intertidal sediments, agricultural soil, landfills, and geological outcrops. Using satellite data, I have also worked on the detection of informal/illegal small mining activities and the monitoring of tropospheric air pollutants.

I look forward to this groups's upcoming discussions,

With kind regards,

Elsy

Hello Everyone,

Thank you David for the invitation to join this group.

My name is Simon Gardner, and I am the Head of Digital Environment at the Natural Environment Research Council in the UK. I'm looking forward to some rewarding discussions in the weeks and months ahead, in embracing the collaborative opportunities which this group will offer, and the chance to talk about some new initiatives from NERC in the digital space.

Best regards

Simon

Dear MEMBERS,

Happy to join this platform and exchange ideas about sustainability.

I am TAYEB, a MECHANICAL engineer and a future investor in renewable energy. I want to contribute to boost solar thermal for heating and/ or cooling in our REGION. SAHARA has a high level of sunshine in the world. SAHARA needs more DEVELOPMENT.

THANKS. 

Hi Everyone,

I am Kathryn Sforcina from Sydney Australia.

I am delighted to be invited to be part of such an important initiative! Thank you to David and the other co-champions for creating this space to think, do and collaborate together.

I stand at the intersection of global grand challenges and emergent technologies. Understanding the role and applications of emergent tech in making a more conscious, sustainable planet is at the core of my portfolio career. 

I am the Head of Strategy (Global) at IV.AI where one of my main focusses is on aligning the company's direction and offering with sustainability outcomes. This shift has seen our organisation begin applying our leading edge AI/NLP social engineering technologies to support enterprise business in communicating to consumers their sustainability value proposition and progress towards their ESG goals as well as measuring the true impact of their sustainability initiatives with respect to changes in consumer behaviour and social sentiment. We have also begun bridging the gap on measuring how the individual and collective actions / outcomes of such organisations relates back to the progress toward, and impact upon, the broader global challenges we face and the SDGs.

I am one of the co-facilitators for the Best Practices Work-stream for the Governance of Environmental Data - an initiative under the UN Internet Governance Framework (IGF) Policy Network for Environment and Digital (PNE). We would welcome all members of CODES to participate in this important work to help environmental data become more transparent, accessible and interoperable for all. Please register your interest for this initiative here.

I am a non-exec director / board member for Farmbot Monitoring Solutions, a remote sensor agtech company that is committed to supporting sustainable outcomes for the livestock industry by helping them manage and monitor their water resources.

I am also in the process of writing a book titled: Digitalizing Sustainability, that I am co-authoring with David Jensen (UNEP). The book is due for release in November 2021 through Routledge Publishing Group.

In my spare time, I can be found exploring the connection between the journey of self / soul and indigenous culture, being on country, tribal ritual and council.

So that just about sums me up :) Looking forward to meeting you and getting to work with you all!!

Dear colleagues, in the run up to the CODES event next week, I wanted to provide a paper that was produced for this week's Science, Technology and Innovation Forum.  The paper reviews the electricity consumption and environmental impacts of our current digital structure.  If taken all together, the current structure consumes about 9 per cent of global electricity demand.  This has accompanying environmental impacts, from climate change to air pollution.  I hope this paper will help us consider how to mitigate these more challenging environmental impacts as the digital transformation happens.

T05-roehrl-ai energy demand.pdf399.59 KB

Dear colleagues,

In reviewing the paper for the upcoming workshop I'm struck by the incorrect use of language.  While this group's mission seems to be focused on 'environmental sustainability', the paper only seems to mention 'sustainability'.  I would suggest that we stay focused on environmental sustainability in our discussions and mention the other two pillars of sustainability (social, economic) as and when needed.  I feel that if we aren't precise in our language we will lose focus and not achieve our environmental sustainability objectives.

Sorry for the multiple messages.  I am hoping that the CODES discussions will focus on the 'how' we achieve environmental sustainability through digitalization.  What I see in the current paper is very much the 'what' needs to be done.  Unfortunately much of the 'what' has been said before and there isn't very much of the 'how' out there.  For example, the report says:

"As our global economy undergoes digital transformation, there are opportunities to ‘hard code’ environmental sustainability as a foundational feature"

How can this hard coding be done?  There aren't any 'how' statements in the paper on this critical piece of the puzzle.  Some very tiny impact examples are given of what some of the bigger high tech companies are doing.  I would suggest that the group really explores the above statement and tries to develop the 'how' statements that will further flesh it out and make it more actionable for people.

Hello again colleagues,

Although the paper mentions the fragmentation of the internet in passing, I think the broader question is government control of the internet.  With China and now possibly India, blocking open dialogue on various different internet channels and the shutting down of the internet by authoritarian regimes or regimes in crisis, there are sound arguments to be made that the internet is now a tool of oppression and propaganda in most of the world, rather than a tool bringing greater equity and participatory governance.  If we are to stretch the discussion beyond environmental sustainability into social issues, this could significantly divert the energy and attention of the group.

Hello everyone, 

I would like to take the chance offered by yesterday's stakeholder consultation to finally introduce myself on this Discussion page as well. I am an international consultant and researcher who is currently finalising a Ph.D. in International Law at the Graduate Institute of Geneva and remains an affiliated researcher at its Centre for International Environmental Studies. I was previously with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the Global Health Centre of the Graduate Institute of Geneva.
 
My main areas of expertise in the context of digital transformations relate to the incorporation of environmental Big Data and Earth Observation in policy-making and implementation (with a focus on biodiversity and land use), on digital innovation policy, and on data governance frameworks in environment, climate and public health. With respect to this last aspect, I have served for the past few months as the lead drafter of the Report of the Lancet and Financial Times Commission on Governing Health Futures 2030.

I look forward to staying in touch and contributing to CODES activities.

Dario

Hello everyone. Thank you David and the other co-champions for creating this group, and for inviting me to join it. Just to introduce myself, I’m Martin Smith, the Project Director of a footprinting initiative partnering with Imperial College London. We’re using AI and Machine Learning to create an open-source, full life-cycle global footprinting mechanism, capable of calculating the carbon footprints of all consumer goods and services – instantly.

(Brief slide deck of our initiative is attached). 

Carbon Mark.pdf1.53 MB

Just found this introduction section, so building on Friday's excellent session this is me. 

Previously Chief Digital Officer at Atos UK, and COO/Dep CEO at Worldline UK&I, I co-founded the concept of Corporate Digital Responsibility in 2017/18 whilst leading a global research track on Digital Society in Thierry Breton's Scientific Community in Atos. 

I now host the website corporatedigitalresponsibility.net, which tries to aggregate content from the various countries and initiatives in this space. The most active CDR community is in Germany & Switzerland, but as you'll see on the site, there are references continuing to emerge globally. I am working with others who have defined CDR to create an aggregated definition that we hope to publish shortly. Also host a podcast series "A New Digital Responsibility" which you can find on Apple, Spotify, Google etc. 

I am working with Dr Saskia Dörr to translate her book "Practical Guide to CDR", published last year in Germany, into English. You can find her article, originally published in 2019 on intersection of digitalisation and sustainability, here https://corporatedigitalresponsibility.co.uk/blog-1/f/the-fusion-of-dig…

Delighted to be part of this global community led by David as such parallels with the principles of CDR. 

What an amazing collection of people working for our sustainable future. 

I work at CivicActions, a digital firm that works largely with government & non-profits. We do work with open source platforms like Drupal, to support impact driven organizations to more effectively accomplish their mission.  

I am also a Drupal Core Accessibility Maintainer. Drupal drives this site and over a million others across the Internet. By working on digital accessibility we've helped make 2-3% of the internet more accessible by default. It was through systemic work on open source libraries that changes like this can happen and benefit everyone. 

I'd like to see the same thing happen with sustainability. This has technical implications, but also very much applies to many other sectors of how organizations prioritize and organize their digital representations. We can all do much more to reduce our footprint. As with accessibility though, we have to move it from individual actions to structural changes that make it just easier for individuals to do the right thing to do a great job. 

Looking forward to seeing where this community goes. 

Hello CODES community,

I am happy being part of the team.

Thank you.

J

Hello CODES community!

A few days ago, someone posted the link to a UNESCO selection notice in the comments here, but I wasted a lot of time looking for it and I can't find it. Please, does anyone have this link and can post it here again?
I am interested in this UNESCO call, but unfortunately I lost the link to see the details. :(

Hello everyone from Serbia. I am pleased to be a part of such a visionary community. It was inspiring and productive roundtable last week, and very good draft of the CODES report. Many thanks to the coordinators!

I am a founder of company Eon+ that is developing a digital platform for Environmental and Social Impact Assessment - Envigo. I would love to connect with the CODES members who are interested to share thoughts about the subject and more general ideas and visions for digital transformation of environmental and sustainability services.

Dear all,

I am not sure how I can invite people to the CODES group. This is why I am sending this message. 

I think the group would benefit from connecting with the CCAI community https://www.climatechange.ai/about

Perhaps you are already in contact with them but I figured I would send it through just in case you aren't. 

All the best,

Franco

Dear all,

I am sharing the following call for proposals as shared by the Global Partnership for AI's Responsible AI working group. This may be of interest to those in research related to digital / AI and environment. Please note approaching deadline of 18 June and be in touch with the listed working group with any queries.

Best,

June

In collaboration with the CEIMIA, the GPAI's Responsible AI Working Group is launching a Call for Proposal in connection with its project entitled "A Responsible AI Strategy for the Environment''. The consultancy is for the development of an action-oriented roadmap on the intersections between responsible AI and climate action to be disseminated ahead of the COP-26 in Glasgow, UK in November. Please refer to the Call for Proposal linked down below for more information. Proposals must be submitted before Midnight AoE, JUNE 18, 2021

https://ceimia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/RAI-WG-Climate-Change_Ter…;

Dear all

Within the partnership of Slovenian Jozef Stefan Institute and in cooperation with International Research Center for AI @UNESCO, we have knowledge and product called Event Registry that turn the power of AI in the field of news content and events into actionable insights. Event Registry (ER) is the world’s leading news intelligence platform, empowering organizations to keep track of world events and analyze their impact. I asked the director to prepare a thematic page for the content most exposed within CODES, where the useful value of this platform can be seen and, above all, tested on real, everyday news coming from various sources around the world.

The link for the CODES members:

https://eventregistry.org/monitoring?uri=ade7d937-4197-4ed7-a3c9-852b7d4baf98&articlesSortBy=fq&eventsSortBy=rel 

For live stream of news on selected topics, please go to "options" & "live map"

Wish you a nice day!

Hi All,

I'm David Lucido, founder of Sentient Hubs, a collaborative Simulation & Optimisation Platform (Global to Hyper-Local, 100% vendor agnostic). Our focus is addressing the need to accurately model and account for the cumulative and cascading impacts across economic, environmental, and social dimensions (see attached). It’s dynamic, interactive and holistic. Click here for 60sec video overview.

Look forward to being of service.

David

Sentient Hubs ISOP JUN2021eml.pdf1.6 MB

Now that things are kinda getting back to normal, I'm starting developing film projects again. I'd love to develop film projects that help raise awareness for CODES at the same time. Do you know anyone with an interesting story that ties in directly or indirectly with CODES?

Hi everyone. I wondered if anyone was able to help briefly - I'm mentoring an international team of students on a short summer intern project. I've asked them to look at the legal, regulatory, policy & ethical guidance around the world, specifically non-EU. They have decided to focus in on certain countries - Brazil, Venezuela, South Africa, Tanzania, South Korea & India. If you are in, or know about these countries in regard to environmental policy, or data privacy, or digital ethics etc. then would be great to hear from you & to either provide a brief input (spoken or written) as to pointers in those countries for current guidance & policies. 

Dear David Jensen and all.

I am new to CODES, having fallen hard under the spell cast by David. I come to this in a rather circuitous route.

Our organization, SmartNations Foundation and The Climate4.0 Project, are committed to developing highly sustainable, circular and regenerative Digital Transformation and Innovation (DX&I) Hub data centers to serve emerging, developing communities, societies, and economies to fully participate in the 4.0 economy.

These DX&I Hubs are Renewable Energy powered, smart Microgrid distributed, AI/ML-enabling HPC Cluster Computing and Cloud Services Providing with high-speed/low-latency Telecom/Internet Connectivity.

Our most-sustainable-possible (for both operational carbon and embodied carbon) data center designs and developments -- based on the community needs -- can provide excess clean energy to regional grids, have the the capacity to clean gray water, and have the possibility of improving the telecom connectivity capacity. These sustainable digital infrastructure facilities can be located in quite nearly every environment, depending upon the requirements.

Each data center site we select with our on-the-ground sponsoring partners -- usually academic and research institutions -- becomes a digital transformation and innovation hub.

For these digital transformation hubs, we intend to develop programs specifically intended to drive awareness and engagement on climate change mitigation and abatement, as well as SDG-related social and economic benefit through media outreach.

We currently have two significant Digital Transformation and Innovation Hubs in planning in East Africa. As we develop and bring these online, we will be hosting SDG social and economic development conferences at each institution.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or thoughts that you may have. I am thrilled to be engaged with all of you in the CODES CoP. 

Hi everyone!
So happy to join this community! Am a Division-Leader at Stockholm Environment Institute and my area of expertise lies within data and complexity science applied to SDGs and climate targets.
Happy to discuss with this community the various interesting and engaging topics at the intersection of sustainability and digitalisation.
Best,

Somya

Grüezi from Basel Switzerland,

I am the new kid on the block and look forward to being part of this critical initiative.

I am a passionate software technologist with 35+ years of global tech experience. For the past few years, I have been vocal about the need for Sustainable Circular Technology.
I am super excited to be part of this group. Having just read the paper that you have all been working so diligently on, I can see so many parallels and opportunities. I can't wait for us to dive in.

Best Regards,
Sally

Hello good people!

I'm thrilled to be included in this important initiative. I'm a writer and game designer in Seattle, and founder of the game technology company Machines & Dreamland: http://machinesanddreamland.com/

We are developing a platform called the World Integration Loop, or WIL, in which earth data is incorporated with digital goods marketplaces and game worlds in the cloud. We create dependencies between real-world IoT, GIS, LiDAR and other data and game mechanics. Games are designed to become more fun the more the planet measurably heals, and sales of in-game digital goods generate funds to support climate action partners in the field.

We are working with the AI GPT-3, developed by OpenAI, to develop our platform. Our vision is to create a technology-based climate solution that harnesses existing human behavior rather than attempting to change it.

I am especially interested in connecting with anyone who seeks solutions involving games, artificial intelligence, GIS, IoT, LiDAR, or the metaverse. Happy to be here!

Ryan

Hello everyone! My name is María Emilia Burgos. I´m International Analyst & Program manager on SDGs. A scholar at first and a Climate Activist by profession. European Climate Pact Ambassador. President of the Sicilian Association. Member of several NGOs working on SDGs, especially Climate Change.

I´m interested in climate action and how the SDGs as a whole show us the path we must follow. I´m SDGs Promoter. Member at Young Professionals in Foreign Policy. Global Juror for SDG13 Climate Action and Entreps Delegate representing Argentina. Sustainable fashion designer and entrepreneur. Founder "Fashion for climate" design at the service of planet and human security. Argentinian Ambassador at the Island Innovation. Climate Leader at Climate Reality. Speaker in presentations of climate change, sustainability, International Relations, foreign policy and sustainable fashion.

I´ve experience in scientific and academic research and written articles.

As an International Relations Analyst on climate change & SDGs, I believe that climate policy studies cannot be ignored by the foreign policy community.

Since for some academic climate change has evolved into a high political issue. Climate change impacts are seen in every region all around the world because climate change has no borders.

The 2030 Agenda and the SDGs are a guide and represent a holistic approach to understand and tackle sustainable development challenges and foreign policy.

Hello everyone, 

My name is John Mundy. I am working on digital climate smart agriculture projects with smallholder farmers globally with various organisations. I am interested to see what new technological advances can be applied in that context and how we can generate more application on the ground at scale. 

Current research and interest includes the overlaps of small-scale farming, carbon markets and ecosystem services.  

Looking forward to participating.  

Hello everyone! Greetings from Trinidad and Tobago. My name is Lika and I work at the UN ECLAC sub-regional headquarters for the Caribbean with issues of ICT for development and digital transformation. Our office primarily provides policy support to member States in the region, and capacity-building in our areas of expertise. Right now, we are working with digital public goods, and trying to build network for possible future project collaborations. I look forward to participating in the discussions in this group.

Hello David and many thanks for having me in this great initiative.

My name is Olga Cavalli, I am from Argentina and I am academic working in the Internet and ICT issues for several years.

My recent areas of research are artificial Intelligence and its impact in developing economies and the impact of ICT infrastructure on climtate change.

I am the director of a capacity building project which started in 2009 and has been organized every year since the, the South School on Internet Governance. In the 2020 edition the impact of use of ICT infrastructure in the climate change was a  hihglight of the agenda.

We have published the book "Internet Governance and Regulations in Latin America" published in honor of the tenth anniversary of the SSIG.

It is available online in Spanish, English and Portuguese languages, free for the community at www.gobernanzainternet.org

Looking forward for a fruitful and constructive dialogue!
Regards to all

Olga

** Moderators please remove if you deem inappropriate for the channel **

Dear Colleagues,

I wanted to firstly  thank you for your hard work and dedication with respect to the various initiatives / organisations you spearhead and the action you collectively take toward positive outcomes for our people and planet.

As some of you are aware, I am co-Chairing an initiative that was co-founded by the Swiss Government and the UN Internet Governance Framework ( the PNE) to explore the intersection of policy, environment and digital - including how we begin the road to creating policies that allow for environmental data to be considered, accessed and shared as a digital public good.

Please see here the link to further information about the Policy Network on Environment and Digital:

https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/policy-network-on-environment-pne

Please also see here further information about the Environmental Data working stream within this initiative:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vd8XkEeaPoMPuya5PAfgs8ap-4sfN1Ki/view?usp=sharing

We have some outputs that are due for delivery by the end of this year and we would very much welcome any involvement, from you or anyone you feel that could add value to  any and all aspects of this initiative - so please feel free to sign up to the mailing lists to be invited onto the calls / to receive correspondence. Please also feel free to share the link with anyone you feel might be interested too . We are trying to make this process as diverse and inclusive as possible so your help in spreading the word is also greatly appreciated!

If you would be open to being a guest speaker for one of our sessions, I will  also introduce you to the UNIGF appointed consultant, Flurina Waspi, who is coordinating the initiative. She can then discuss things further with you - please just let me know.

Thank you for your time and consideration. 

I hope to collaborate with you on this and many other initiatives for the planet.

My very best,

Kathryn

[email protected]

+61449176380 (whatsapp)