About us

AI for Good is the United Nations’ leading platform on Artificial Intelligence for sustainable development

AI for Good was established in 2017 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations (UN) leading agency for digital technologies. The platform is co-convened with the Government of Switzerland and in partnership with over 40 UN agencies. Its founding mission is to leverage the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to drive progress toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The spark of AI for Good rose from the collaboration between ITU and IBM Watson AI XPRIZE. The landmark moment in AI for Good’s journey was the inaugural AI for Good Global Summit 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland, bringing together over 400 top-minds in AI, including Stuart Russell, Yoshua Bengio, Fei-Fei Li and others. Over the years, the platform has grown far beyond its origins, evolving into a vibrant multi-stakeholder community including governments, academia, industry, civil society and UN.

Today, AI for Good is recognized as the UN’s leading platform advancing trustworthy AI for sustainable development.

With the historic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and global shutdowns, AI for Good swiftly moved online in March 2020. It launched hundreds of virtual sessions to sustain its mission to continue fostering collaboration on practical AI solutions to advance the SDGs. Under the motto “All Year, Always Online,” the platform leveraged technology to connect innovators with problem owners.

In 2022, the AI for Good Neural Network launched an AI-powered community and content platform designed to connect thought leaders, industry professionals, policymakers, researchers, innovators, and civil society from around the globe. This free platform offers inclusive access to all original AI for Good content since 2017. This shift marked a significant milestone that served as a dynamic space for collaboration, innovation, and capacity development on AI.

During this time AI for Good has delivered on its action oriented promise, giving rise to the Global Initiatives on AI and Data Commons, AI for Health (in partnership with WHO), on Resilience to Natural Hazards through AI Solutions (former ITU/WMO/UNEP Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence for Natural Disaster Management (FG-AI4NDM)),  AI and Multimedia authenticity standards collaboration (under the World Standards Cooperation ), AI for Road Safety (in partnership with UNECE) and pre-standardization focus groups on Artificial Intelligence Native for Telecommunication Networks (FG-AINN), AI and Internet of Things (IoT) for Digital Agriculture (in partnership with FAO), concluded focus groups on AI and Environmental Efficiency, Machine Learning and 5G.

Currently, with a thriving community of over 37,000 active contributors spanning more than 180 countries, AI for Good is now executing an ambitious programme on AI, guided by Resolution 214 (Bucharest, 2022) of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, and amplified by the new landmark Resolution A/78/L.49 of the UN General Assembly (New York, 2024). These AI resolutions underscore the necessity of developing safe, secure, and trustworthy AI systems that contribute to sustainable development. The recent adoption of Resolution COM4/AI at WTSA-24 (New Delhi, 2024) further emphasizes ITU’s mandate and AI for Good’s role in establishing trusted AI and providing capacity development to member states.

AI for Good continues to host the flagship annual Global Summit in Geneva, along with regional impact events across the globe, engaging youth through Robotics for Good Youth Challenges worldwide, Innovation Factory and Machine Learning (ML) Hackathons, Governance Day and International AI Standards Summit. All of this is to address urgent calls from global entities like the UN Global Digital Compact, the High-Level Advisory Body on AI, and the G20 to lead in AI standards and capacity-building.

As the platform continues to evolve, AI for Good remains firmly aligned with the collective priorities of the international community, advancing the transformative potential of AI for the benefit of all.

We only have 5 years to achieve the UN SDGs, and AI is impacting people and the planet. We are the AI generation, and it is our responsibility to ensure that no one is left behind.

A multi-stakeholder, interdisciplinary approach

GOVERNMENT

INDUSTRY

UN AGENCIES

CIVIL SOCIETY

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

ACADEMIA

The Goal

Identify practical applications of AI
Scale solutions for global impact
Accelerate progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goals

AI for Good Team

Chief, Strategy and Operations, AI for Good
TSB International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Programme Chair, AI for Good Former Deputy Director, TSB,
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Business Development and Operations Manager, AI for Good
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Business Analytics and Online Community Officer
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Digital Marketing Manager and Communications Officer
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Programme Coordinator ITU
International Telecommunication Union
AI and Robotics Programme Officer
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Digital Media Producer & Videographer
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Partnerships Manager
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Event logistics and virtual events manager
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Programme Officer
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Marketing Research Officer
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Membership & Business Dev. Officer
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Programme coordinator
TSB International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Senior Web Developer
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Social Media Officer
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Communications and Social Media Officer
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Programme Curators

Programme Chair, AI for Good Former Deputy Director, TSB,
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Director & Professor
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
CO-Founder and Director
AI Commons
Senior Researcher
Universitat de València
Professor in Electrical Engineering
Universitat de València
Professor of Computer Vision
University of Jena
Professor of Atmospheric Physics
University of Oxford
Assistant Professor
University of California San Diego
Professor and Chair of Sustainable Manufacturing
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Professor
Politecnico di Milano
CEO
Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)
Executive Director
World Geospatial Industry Council (WGIC)
Independent Research Consultant
Consultant
Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Technical University Berlin
Chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics
Harvard Medical School
Resident physician
Charité - Berlin University of Medicine
Director
NatureServe’s Biodiversity Indicators Program
Senior Researcher, Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring Program
Humboldt Institute
Executive Director
The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania Law School

UN AI Interagency Working Group Chairs

Deputy Secretary-General
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Outreach Committee

Chairman & Managing General Partner
REDDS Capital
Chair
Institute for Accountability in the Digital Age (I4ADA)
Chief Executive Officer
ACSILabs Inc
Founder and CEO
AIE3
Chair of the AI for Good Impact Initiative
Inventor/Musician and International Broadcaster
Perfect Pitch Productions
Chief Curator of Artistic Intelligence Visionary Initiative
R100 Studios

It’s in our collective interest that we can shape AI faster than it is shaping us. This summit, as the UN’s primary platform for AI, will bring to the table leading voices representing a diversity of interests to ensure that AI can be a powerful catalyst for progress in our race to rescue the SDGSs.

Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Secretary-General

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