LocationsRemarks by Ms. Beate Trankmann at the 2024 Beijing Forum on Swift Response to Public Complaints
December 18, 2024
UNDP Resident Representative in China, Beate Trankmann, delivered remarks at the Parallel Forum 2: New Quality—Era of Digital Intelligence and Innovation of Urban Governance held as part of the 2024 Beijing Forum on Swift Response to Public Complaints.
尊敬的 靳伟(Jìn Wěi)副市长、Shahbaz Khan、张革(Zhāng Gé)书记、李俊杰(Lǐ Jùn Jié)区长、过勇(Guò Yǒng)副书记
女士们、先生们，下午好！
今天，我很高兴 代表联合国开发计划署 出席“新质——数智时代 与 城市治理创新 平行论坛”。(On behalf of the United Nations Development Programme, it’s my pleasure to be here today at this Parallel Forum on Digital Intelligence and Innovation of Urban Governance.)
Currently, more than half of the world lives in cities, and by the year 2050, this number is on pace to rise to over two thirds. Cities are dynamic centers of opportunity and growth, but with rapid urbanization also come complex development challenges such as inequality, environmental pollution, and infrastructure strain.
Our ability to address these issues and ensure that our cities are sustainable, green, and inclusive, will determine the future of humanity, and have a vital impact on our ability to protect the planet.
That is why it is essential that as cities around the world continue to evolve, our approaches to urban governance also evolve accordingly, and a key aspect of this will be effectively integrating new emerging technologies into city management.
In particular, digital intelligence has the ability to rapidly reshape our economies, societies and how we live. In addition to having the potential to lower emissions, and help drive low-carbon development, cutting-edge innovations like AI, big-data, and machine learning can be used to strengthen civic engagement and transparency in urban governance. Online platforms and mobile applications can facilitate greater citizen participation in decision-making processes, ensuring that policies are inclusive and reflective of diverse community needs. And technology can also be used to improve urban resilience to disasters and various crises.
For example, in Singapore, AI is being used for predictive urban planning. By creating a digital twin of the city that integrates data on infrastructure, traffic, and environmental conditions, the government is able to simulate and predict the outcomes of different scenarios before they actually happen.[1]
And here in Beijing, as part of the city’s “AI+” action plan 2024-2025[2], big data and large language models are being used to provide responses to questions and complaints through online platforms, improving the efficiency of public services – very much in line with the overall theme of this forum!
"Only by re-imagining urban governance for this digital age, can we effectively address the many urgent challenges we face. Cities are more than just physical spaces—they are vibrant ecosystems of human ingenuity and innovation, that in many ways provide a window into our future."
Despite these promising advancements, at the same time, we must also remain cautious. While the benefits of digital technologies are vast, they also come with risks. Without proper governance and safeguards, they can also work to create new divides and deepen inequalities – only exacerbating the very issues we most need to address.
One of the key concerns in this regard is access. For example, a digital tool that provides critical information to the public during emergencies is only effective, if everyone has the necessary technology, knowledge, and skills to utilize it. Special care must be taken so that more vulnerable populations such as the elderly are not left further behind, as public services become increasingly digitalized.
In addition, artificial intelligence is only as objective as the algorithms that power it, and those algorithms are written by people. As such, human biases can find their way into AI technologies, which can then work to perpetuate prejudice, discrimination, and misinformation. As AI systems also rely on data, proper governance and regulatory frameworks are critical to guard against data abuse, and infringement on individual privacy.
At UNDP, we recognize both the risks and great potential of digitalization for development. We are therefore committed to working together with Beijing and all stakeholders across government, private sector, and academia, to ensure that emerging technologies are properly deployed to help build sustainable cities.
Indeed, given China’s position as a global pioneer in exploring frontier technologies, the knowledge and experience of its leading cities like Beijing, can provide critical insights to inform discussions on how to effectively and responsibly, leverage digital intelligence to advance sustainable urban development.
In closing, I want to thank the organizers for their invitation to speak at this important event, and I very much look forward to the exchanges during the session ahead.
Only by re-imagining urban governance for this digital age, can we effectively address the many urgent challenges we face. Cities are more than just physical spaces—they are vibrant ecosystems of human ingenuity and innovation, that in many ways provide a window into our future.
By working together to direct digital intelligence towards designing and managing cities more sustainably and inclusively, we can ensure that looking through this window, we see a brighter world for generations to come.
Thank you.
[1] https://www.weforum.org/stories/2022/05/digital-twin-technology-virtual-model-tech-for-good/
[2] https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/beijing-ai-plan-2024-2025/
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