29/05/2024
11:15 - 12:15 CEST
STATION Berlin, Stage 3

“Data Against Disasters: How Big Data and AI can protect us from future health crises” at re:publica

From the prevention of pandemics to the prediction of health risks – the use of data and AI brings unimagined opportunities: who cares that Data is accessible and AI used fairly, especially in African countries? The panel discussion explored the potential of digital tools in safeguarding global health at this year’s re:publica (#rp24).

Moderated by Christine Mundhwa, correspondent for Deutsche Welle and CNBC Africa, the discussion featured prominent experts from diverse sectors. Anna Sophie Herken, member of the Management Board at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, highlighted the immense potential of big data in healthcare, noting that health data is projected to comprise 30% of the world’s data by 2030. She emphasized the need for collaboration and trust-building across sectors and countries.

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Image 2/7: Christine Mhundwa

Image 3/7: Nina Bekele

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Image 5/7: Dr. Mary Mbole-Kariuki

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Dr. Mary Mbole-Kariuki, Project Coordinator of the African Union One Health Data Alliance Africa (AU-OHDAA) and Technology, Innovations and Skills Development Expert at the Inter African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) stressed the importance of fair access to data and AI, particularly in African countries. Nina Bekele from Google’s Social Impact Product Partnerships team discussed the role of technology companies in promoting global health resilience. The discussion also touched on the BMZ/GIZ DIPC initiative, which aims to strengthen digital health systems for pandemic prevention. The DIPC initiative exemplifies concrete actions taken to leverage digital tools for global health benefits.

About re:publica

re:publica Berlin is the conference for the digital society in Germany. It focuses on the exchange of knowledge and the networking of people on digital policy issues and promotes innovation and synergies between civil society, (net) politics, (traditional) companies, technology, science and (pop) culture. Participants include representatives from politics, NGOs, start-ups, media & marketing as well as well-known bloggers, activists, hackers, artists and social media experts. This year’s conference took place under the motto ‘Who cares?’ from 27 to 29 May 2024 at STATION Berlin.

MORE INFORMATION watch the Panel