17 2019 ANNUAL REPORT GLOBAL CHALLENGES PROGRAM
CHALLENGE AREA
Making Future Industries Emerging technologies, new product development and the future of work. The United Nations recognises that technological progress is a vital part of achieving the SDGs, but we must look at new technologies holistically and strive to avoid introducing new problems as we solve others. Challenge Leader
SENIOR PROFESSOR GEOFF SPINKS
The Making Future Industries challenge has a critical and direct role in achieving the UN SDGs of Decent work and economic growth (Goal 8); Industry, innovation and infrastructure (Goal 9); and Responsible consumption and production (Goal 12). Historically, the practices embodied in these goals have actually created major problems like inequality, resource depletion, pollution and contributed to the climate crisis. The real challenge is to bring first-world standards of living to the entire planet while simultaneously reversing the effects of climate change, loss of biodiversity and depletion of natural resources. The interdisciplinary approach of the Global Challenges Program creates the ideal platform to develop technologies with a strong focus on ethical, social, environmental as well as economic imperatives. A major new initiative of 2019 will take this approach to investigate the ethical, legal and social implications
of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health and social care. The interdisciplinary team includes AI developers and statisticians along with medical, legal and business researchers. The project is timely and will inform the future development of new AI algorithms. Another major initiative of 2019 could succeed in taking the Global Challenges approach to the wider community. The opening of the UOW Makerspace on the University’s Innovation Campus aims to advance the ‘maker movement’ in our region with an emphasis on collaboration and knowledge sharing. We’ve already seen groups tackle big problems, like plastics recycling. Our aim is to develop the makerspace into a socially-responsible innovation hub by encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration of ‘citizen engineers’. One early finding is the benefits that come from bringing diverse people into a space and encourage them to explore and experiment in a collegial and supportive atmosphere.
