Israel Leads UN Innovation Conference on Fight Against COVID-19
17 May, 2020 |
4 years ago
Jerusalem, 17 May, 2020 (TPS) -- Israel led a United Nations (UN) innovation conference focusing on the global fight against the Coronavirus (COVID-19), an international sharing of knowledge that contributed to the war on the pandemic.
At the beginning of the year, Israel and Ghana were elected to head the UN’s Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Forum, the first time Israel was elected to this position. With the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the UN canceled all high-level events and forums, including the STI Forum.
However, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon decided to initiate a refocused, digital conference on innovation and technological tools to combat the virus.
In recent weeks, the initiative received international support, and several countries, including Mexico, Japan, Singapore, Kenya, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Rwanda and Barbados joined the Thursday conference.
UN Secretary-General for Digital Collaborations Dr. Jovan Kurbalija and members of the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine also participated.
The two-day conference featured several world-renowned experts discussing the connection between technological innovation and the fight against the Coronavirus and the fulfillment of UN development goals.
A session on “The Science of COVID-19” featured Israeli Nobel Prize winner, Professor Ada Yonat, a chemist, and another session on technology response to the virus was attended by Israeli scientist Dr. Kira Radinsky, recognized worldwide for technological advancements in predictive analysis.
Danon stated that “in a time of global crisis, uniting to share knowledge with the international community is important and the right thing to do.”
He further noted that this initiative is “widely supported by the United Nations, mainly because of groundbreaking Israeli innovation, and I have no doubt that it will contribute to the global struggle against the coronavirus, and further strengthen Israel’s position within the UN.”
