As a member of Germany’s AI Plattform Lernende Systeme it is very inspiring to read this progress report and learn what has been achieved by Germany’s best experts in this field.
Self-learning systems are increasingly becoming a driving force behind digitalisation in business and society. They are based on Artificial Intelligence technologies and methods that are currently developing at a rapid pace in terms of performance. Self-learning systems are machines, robots and software systems that learn from data and use it to autonomously complete tasks that have been described in an abstract fashion – all without specific programming for each step.
Self-learning systems are becoming increasingly commonplace supporting people in their work and everyday lives. For example, they can be used to develop autonomous traffic systems, improve medical diagnostics and assist emergency services in disaster zones. They can help improve quality of life in many different respects, but are also fundamentally changing how humans and machines interact.
Self-learning systems have immense economic potential. As digitalisation takes hold, they are already helping companies in certain sectors to create entirely new business models based on data usage and are radically changing conventional value creation chains. This is opening up opportunities for new businesses, but can also represent a threat to established market leaders should they fail to react quickly enough.
Developing and introducing self-learning systems calls for special core skills, which need to be carefully nurtured to secure Germany’s pioneering role in this field. Using self-learning systems also raises numerous social, legal, ethical and security questions – with regard to data protection and liability, but also responsibility and transparency. To tackle these issues, we need to engage in broad-based dialogues as early as possible.
Plattform Lernende Systeme brings together leading experts in self-learning systems and Artificial Intelligence from science, industry, politics and civic organisations. In specialised focus groups, they discuss the opportunities, challenges and parameters for developing self-learning systems and using them responsibly. They derive scenarios, recommendations, design options and road maps from the results.
The Platform aims to:
shape self-learning systems to ensure positive, fair and responsible social coexistence,
strengthen skills for developing and using self-learning systems,
act as an independent intermediary to combine different perspectives,
promote dialogue within society on Artificial Intelligence,
develop objectives and scenarios for the application of self-learning systems,
encourage collaboration in research and development,
position Germany as the leading supplier of technology for self-learning systems.
The Global Offshore Sailing Team is proud to announce that we will be organizing an Expedition Andaman Sea from April 14th to 22nd, 2022. This expedition is being held to promote international understanding and environmental awareness for this geopolitically important and naturally beautiful region.
One of the highlights of the expedition will be a wreath laying ceremony to honor and pay tribute to those who have worked for peace in this important geopolitical region and for the promotion of the conservation of the Andaman Sea’s beautiful nature. This ceremony will be an homage to the rich values and culture of Thailand and its people, whose engagement is key to the Andaman Sea.
We invite all individuals and organizations who are committed to these values to join us in this important expedition and contribute to our mission of promoting understanding and awareness in this important part of the world.
“Expedition Andaman Sea aims to promote international understanding and support international relations by creating awareness about the geopolitical importance of the Andaman Sea region. As part of this goal, the expedition will lay a wreath to honor and commemorate those who have served and engaged themselves for peace in the Andaman Sea. This gesture serves to underscore the importance of peace and stability in the region and the efforts of those who have worked towards this goal.”
Jochen Werne – Expedition Leader
„The Andaman Sea is a vital and diverse maritime ecosystem that is essential to the health and productivity of the region. From its abundant marine life to its stunning coral reefs, the Andaman Sea is a treasure worth protecting. The protection of this ecosystem is closely tied to the United Nations‘ sustainable development goals, and it is a major goal of Expedition Andaman Sea to promote these goals and the initiatives being undertaken to support them. Join us on this once-in-a-lifetime adventure and help us raise awareness about the importance of preserving the beauty and prosperity of the Andaman Sea for generations to come.“
Guido Zoeller – Co-Founder Global Offshore Sailing Team
After a challenging 2022 this year ends with HOPE due to a rally of technological innovation breakthroughs. Technological progress has the potential to help address many of the challenges facing the world today, including the energy crisis, the need for better education, and financial inclusion. Three of them shall be brought to your attention: 1. CLEAN ENERGY – Breakthrough in nuclear fusion technology; 2. EDUCATION – ChatGPT is changing the way to experience artificial intelligence; 3. PRIVACY & FINANCIAL INCLUSION – New compliant pathways for privacy and security in the blockchain-based financial ecosystem
Breakthrough in nuclear fusion technology
One area where technology is helping to address the energy crisis is through the development of nuclear fusion as a potential source of clean, abundant energy. Nuclear fusion is a process in which atomic nuclei combine to release energy, and it has the potential to provide a virtually limitless source of energy with low carbon emissions. While significant progress has been made in developing fusion technology, it is still in the early stages of development and has not yet been fully commercialized. However, the potential for nuclear fusion to help address the energy crisis makes it a promising area of research and development.
In December 2022 the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has successfully sparked a fusion reaction that released more energy than went into it. Even though there’s still a long way to go toward fusion as a clean energy source, this step can be considered as a major step forward.
ChatGPT changes the way you experience artificial intelligence
ChatGPT, also known as OpenAI’s GPT-3 Chatbot API, is a natural language processing (NLP) tool developed by OpenAI. It is based on the GPT-3 model, which is a large, advanced AI language model that is capable of generating human-like text.
Overall, ChatGPT is changing the way we experience and interact with AI by making it easier to build and deploy chatbot applications that can understand and respond to user input in a natural, human-like way.
ChatGPT can be used to build chatbots and other NLP applications that can understand and respond to user input in a natural, human-like way. It is designed to be easy to use and integrate into existing systems, allowing developers to quickly build and deploy chatbot applications without the need for extensive training data.
One advantage of ChatGPT is its ability to understand and respond to a wide range of inputs and topics. It is trained on a large dataset of text and has the ability to generate coherent and contextually appropriate responses to a variety of inputs. This can make it a useful tool for building chatbots and other NLP applications that need to handle a wide range of queries and topics.
New compliant pathways for privacy and security in the blockchain-based financial ecosystem
Innovation in blockchain privacy can bring a number of advantages to the financial ecosystem, particularly in terms of increasing the security and confidentiality of transactions. By combining this innovation with a 100% collateralized stablecoin, it is possible to create a more secure and stable digital currency that can be used for a wide range of financial transactions.
One advantage of using a 100% collateralized coin is that it is pegged to a specific asset, such as a fiat currency or commodity, which helps to stabilize its value and reduce price volatility. This can make it more attractive to users, as it reduces the risk of loss due to price fluctuations. The German Digital Cash GmbH just announced to have issued the first 100% compliant, central-bank-money-backed, Made in Germany, Euro-coin on UniSwap, called Digital Cash Euro (DCEUR). READ MORE ON THE DCEUR HERE
In terms of privacy, a blockchain-based stablecoin that incorporates innovative privacy features can help to protect the confidentiality of transactions by making it more difficult for outsiders to track and monitor them. This can be particularly useful for financial institutions and individuals.
Researchers from German crypto blockchain-based payments fintech etonec and other organizations have proposed using zero-knowledge proofs to ensure regulatory compliance and privacy in stablecoins. They have created a design that allows fiat-based stablecoins to be used like cash, within limits.
Overall, the combination of a 100% collateralized stablecoin with innovative privacy features can bring a number of benefits to the financial ecosystem, including increased security, stability, and confidentiality.
Conclusion
Overall, technological progress has the potential to help address many of the challenges facing the world today, and it will likely continue to play a crucial role in finding solutions to these problems in the future.
December 2022 seems to be a good month in this respect. A month that shall give hope.
It was a great pleasure to meet again personally and be connected virtually with friends like Dr. Andreas Heindl and Dr. Johannes Winter who, like many others inside and outside this Digital Summit, dedicate their passion to the digitisation of Germany day after day. Their passion is the engine for Germany’s competitiveness and prosperity. Exchanges like today between Germany’s leading experts in the field of digitalisation and the German government are crucial for the country’s future innovation.
This was underlined today by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the ministers Robert Habeck, Volker Wissing, Nancy Faeser and Bettina Stark-Watzinger. A special motivation was given by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Japan’s Digital Minister Tarō Konō.
Congratulations to the organization committee and thank you for the kind invitation. Details can be found HERE
Digital Summit 2022
Germany’s digitisation continues to remain one of the main topics of the German government. The aim is to accelerate and promote digitisation processes and to exploit their potential to develop prosperity, freedom, social participation, and sustainability.
In this context, the Digital Summit remains the central platform for shaping the digital transformation with all parties involved. It focuses on the key fields of action within the digital transformation across ten topic-based platforms. The platforms and their focus groups are made up of representatives from business, academia and society who, between summit meetings, work together to develop projects, events and initiatives designed to drive digitisation in business and society forward. The Summit will serve to present the results of the work that has been done in the past, to highlight new trends and discuss digital challenges and policy approaches.
This year’s Digital Summit of the Federal Government will be held on 8 and 9 December 2022. The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action will jointly coordinate the summit’s preparation in the future. In the new legislature, new formats, concrete results and international impulses are to make it the driving force and showcase for digitisation in Germany and beyond.
Nomura Research Institute, one of the largest think tank in Japan has been appointed by the Government of Japan-Ministry of Economic, Trade, and Industry (METI) to promote the globalization of Japanese and Foreign companies in Japan and to understand the current business & living environment of Japan.
This study is to help the Government of Japan formulate better foreign policies in the future.
It’s with pleasure supporting this initiative, which aims to promote international understanding through exchange.
Read more at Nomura Research Institute (https://www.nri.com) and Japan-Ministry of Economic, Trade, and Industry (METI) (www.meti.go.jp/english/)
It was very inspiring to have the opportunity to participate in the workshop on responsible quantum technologies with some of the world’s most recognised experts in the field. Congratulations and thanks a lot to the organisation committee.
The second quantum revolution has been ongoing for more than two decades now and many countries around the globe have noticed the promises of these technologies. Just in the last decade, the number of publicly supported national initiatives grew from zero to more than 15, with globally more than 20 B€ of public investments allocated or planned. Both the number of new publications per year and patents granted on quantum technologies (QT) has also been climbing steadily for the last decade, so has been the number of start-ups being founded and established companies getting into the field. Finally, the field started receiving attention from private funding sources in recent years, which some have been calling the ‘quantum gold rush’. Within two decades, QT became a strong contender for a potential future industry from a topic that was mainly discussed in physics conferences.
All this rapid development triggered a sort of quantum ‘race’, where countries, companies, and institutions compete to become the first to achieve a checkpoint or to be the current best at some quantum benchmark. However, it is also noted by many that the real/transformative effects of QT on society will be in the long run. In this respect, we would like to initiate a discussion on responsibility and introduce QT as a noteworthy emerging topic for technology assessment (TA) studies.
This workshop aimed to be another step towards establishing connections between the QT and TA communities and to introduce some current discussions in the QT community to a new audience. It is organized as a collaboration between the QuTec project under KIT-ITAS, and the QUCATS Coordination and Support Action of the Quantum Flagship program.
The conference program consisted of panels such as:
Panel on Responsible Education and Workforce Development for QT
Moderator: Araceli Venegas-Gomez (QURECA)
Panelists: Tatjana Wilk (MCQST), Maria Luisa Chiofalo (University of Pisa), İlke Ercan (TU Delft)
Panel on RRI and Ethics in QT
Moderator: Pieter Vermaas (TU Delft)
Panelists: Oxana Mishina (CNR-INO), Carolyn Ten Holter (Oxford), Douglas K. R. Robinson (CNRS), Robert Whitney (Université Grenoble Alpes)
Panel: How to think responsibly on the geopolitics of QT?
Moderator: Astrid Bötticher (University of Jena)
Speakers: Pieter Vermaas (TU Delft), Matthias C. Kettemann (IQEL, University of Innsbruck/HIIG), Mira L. Wolf-Bauwens (IBM Research Europe)
It is with great sadness that we have been informed by our friends of the Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club Dover of the death of a unique personality, sailor, leadership example, GOST member of honour and friend – Admiral of the Fleet, The Lord Boyce.
He will forever accompany us on board in our midst. May he rest in eternal peace.
Messages of Condolence and personal notes:
On a really sad note Lord Boyce who was the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and who many of us have met passed away yesterday. A really good and nice man who we are going to miss. Look up his obituary. We were very privileged to have him as a friend.
Bernard Sealy
Dear Skipper, that are really sad news. May he rest in peace forever. All our thoughts are with our English friends.
Götz Credé
…for us of the Global Offshore Sailing Team this is a big loss but for the faith that distinguishes us The Lord Boyce will always accompany and guide us in our future missions, by sea and by land.
Stefano Malvestio
He was the BEACON for GOST! Thank you!!
Bernd Lehmann
It is truly sad, but we are very lucky that we had him to invite and guide us through his parliament, the House of Lords!
Guido Zoeller
It was a true honor having met this kind Gentlemen
Dr. Benon Janos
Memorable moments with Admiral of the Fleet, the Lord Boyce and GOST
In 1999, Guido Zoeller and Jochen Werne founded the Global Offshore Sailing Team (GOST). The mission: to challenge the seven seas to promote international understanding and create environmental awareness. The success was made possible by the highly committed team members and GOST supporters. Each is unique and has dedicated themselves to the set goals in dozens of expeditions from the Andaman Sea to the Arctic Ocean. Through its people’s diplomacy approach, GOST has created a network with the highest echelons of politics, business and diplomacy. In a One-to-One interview with with the highly recognised eco-book author Maurice Abbati, expedition leader Jochen Werne describes how this became possible and why passion, teamwork and inner fire are of utmost importance to achieve great goals.
MONACŒCOART® (MonacoEcoART, MŒA enPR= Monaco MyHeart) is a new media editorial project aimed at discovering sustainability from different angles with a special focus on projects, relevant figures, best practices and smart ideas linked to the Principality of Monaco and its vast network.
International expert in finance and blockchain, head of several private and corporate Banking divisions, keynote speaker, actively committed in diplomacy and economy transformation following the current shift to Sustainable Development as wished by United Nations and major political, technical and business bodies, he is extremely fond of communicating his passion for oceans and the virtuous interlink between human beings and nature. JochenWerne does believe in the importance of everyone’s potential diplomacy in contributing to keep peace and a balanced approach to preserve natural ecosystems. “Innovationandbusiness,societyanddiplomacy,oceanandpassionarestronglyconnectedandwe,togetherwithourdifferenttalentsintoday’sconnectedworld,canpushforwardwithpositivechangeforgoodeveryday”, in these words is enclosed the sense of his enlightened thought. His strong sense of adventure and respect for the scientific world at the service of Nature, led him to be involved in many ocean missions considerably appreciated by H.S.H.PrinceAlbertIIofMonaco and other major Head of States, notably the President of France and Austria. All that brought him to further increase his knowledge and experience. He also launched a targeted international group whose members from all over the world have relevant navalbackgrounds. This body aims at keeping live naval traditions and highlighting the role of ocean expeditions as a cornerstone of world balances.
MONACŒCOART® had the pleasure to collect a meaningful feedback directly from JochenWerne (J.W.), Co-Founder & Expedition Leader atGlobalOffshoreSailingTeam(GOST).
MONACŒCOART®: JochenWerne,how did your passion for the oceans and sailing comeabout?
J.W.:As a child growing up in the countryside on the border with Switzerland, the world outside my parents’ home always had a great attraction for me. Notably, the Sea with its magical sense of endless freedom, adventure and beauty has always been a trigger in my life. And this fascination still inspires me even though I have sailed the seven seas. Maybe it will never disappear. I had my first contact with sailing during school holidays onLake Constance. Then, I joined the navy, where I had the privilege to serve for almost twoyears as a navigator on the three-masted sailing ship ‘GorchFock. That finally ignited my passion for the oceans and sailing.
MONACŒCOART®: What values have you learned after so many years of shipping?
J.W.: The most important one is RESPECT. Probably every ocean sailor and mariner would confirm it. As a sailor you experience the marineelement in its most breath-taking calm and beauty and its most deadly and dangerous brutality. Respect helps to enjoy one side of the coin and survive the other. Respect leads to this deeper understanding that Nature is in many ways more important and also more powerful than ourselves. The fact that makes us feel humbly is to understand that Nature can always live without us, but we cannot live without Nature. Moreover, a sailor learns how to use Nature to benefit from its power in the best and most sustainable way and to emotionally experience its pure and infinite beauty.
MONACŒCOART®: Which marine expedition has shaped you more than others? Why?
J.W.: Every expedition has its uniqueness and therefore it is difficult to prefer one over the others. However, the ‘Arctic Ocean Raptor’ was very special to me. It took us from the northern Norwegian city of Tromsø across what sailors call the ‘devil’s playground’, the Barents Sea, to a spectacular natural habitat called Spitsbergen at 80° North. Despite its up-north location, the climate is quite mild due to the Gulf Stream. As our expedition approached Svalbard after three days of sailing through dense fog, we encountered a huge ice barrier that broke away from the cold eastern side of the island due to the warm conditions and drifted on with the current. This, combined with a 9-bft (= Beaufort scale) storm, made the voyage a real challenge, but also impressively demonstrated the fragility of our ecosystem.
MONACŒCOART®: Which measures do you think are most important to preserve marine ecosystems? Why?
J.W.: There is no doubt that before starting a movement or action, awareness must be raised. This step is of utmost importance, otherwise one remains lonely and therefore a committed but silent to action interlocutor. The Principality of Monaco has a long tradition of identifying problems for our marine ecosystem and taking action to make many aware of them. H.S.H. Prince Albert I of Monaco immediately recognised the dangers of bottom fishing with the new means of steam technology. Jacques Cousteau not only served science but brought the beauty of the sea into everyone’s living room with his work behind the camera and inspired new projects to protect the oceans. Last but not least, H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco is the perfect example of how this has not only become Monaco’s heritage but a lived tradition. We are grateful that he has supported us in our expeditions to raise awareness and thus contribute to the conservation of our marine ecosystems.
MONACŒCOART®: You have already pointed out several times that scientific and fact-finding missions are particularly effective for intercultural and diplomatic exchange. What makes them instruments of dialogue?
J.W.: Our oceans are the fluid connection between our nations. And even though we are citizens of nations, we all belong to one Planet. As seafarers, we are directly dependent on nature and national thinking takes a back seat. In the daily challenge at sea, nationality, race or gender are not important. What really matters is to achieve our goals as a team, otherwise we will all fail. This also applies to us as a human race. The challenges before us are global challenges that no single nation can solve alone. We need a collective effort, and we have so many examples where the global community has done it together. One of my favourite examples is the Antarctic Treaty, which was negotiated at the height of the First Cold War and still provides the basis for joint peaceful governance of Antarctica today.
MONACŒCOART®: What place does the Principality of Monaco have in the international expeditions that you carry out as part of the Global Offshore Sailing Team (GOST)?
J.W.: We are more than grateful to H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, the Yacht Club de Monaco, its Board of Directors with Bernard d’Alessandri, Gerd Ziegenfeuter, the staff and members as well as the press for their excellent support in our common tasks. Together we were able to achieve outstanding results. Starting with the expedition ‘Antarctic Blanc’ 2018, which resulted in a state act supported by 19 nations including the United Nations, to the Prince Albert I Memorial Expedition‘Navigators Heritage’. Together, we have succeeded not only in supporting science, but also in bringing people and nations closer together and raising awareness of the needs of our oceans.
MONACŒCOART®: GOST expeditions have been awarded the highest honours by heads of state and international institutions. What is the recognition to which you are most attached? Why?
J.W.: We are more than grateful to have been honoured with a State Medal for our commitment to environmental protection or with the Ancla d’Oro (Golden Anchor) of the Asociación para la Investigación y Difusión de la Historia Naval de Cuba and the Admiral of the Fleet the Lord Boyce Award for promoting international understanding. Among all the awards, the highest recognition for me is the fascinated smile on a young person’s face when one of the stories of the sea lights the flame of passion for marine elements. It is their spirit that will form the basis for future action. Just as others in the past like Jacques Cousteau have lit a fire in us for the Sea. It is the quote attributed to the brilliant Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of the beautiful novel Le Petit Prince, that probably describes it best: If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to long for the vast, endless sea. ***
It was a pleasure and inspiration discussing with other thought leaders future relevant trends in society and security.
As follow-up to their keynotes and moderated by Stefanie Dreyer, the panel participants Daniel Kroos (OSCE – Organisation for Security and Collaboration in Europe), Steven Koleczko (DGC – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Cybersicherheit), Jay Tuck (Investigative Journalist) and Jochen Werne (Prosegur Germany & Prosegur Crypto) discussed impacts of technological changes on society and security. The panel took place during the 25th anniversary of the Hamburg@Work Future Summit on the historic freight ship Cap San Diego in the port of Hamburg and consisted of outstanding streams on digital future trends with Nils Müller – Trendone, political trends with Federal Minister Wolfgang Schmidt, Dr. Thomas Mirow – Senator ret. Hansestadt Hamburg, Dr. Carsten Brosda – Senator Hansestadt Hamburg, Prof. Henning Voepel – cep, Centrum für Europäische Politik, Thomas Fuchs – Hamburgische Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit, technological trends with Dalits Steiger – SwissCognitive, Dr. Mira Wolf-Bauwens – IBM Research Europe
Congratulations to the board and the team of Hamburg@Work under the leadership of Uwe-Jens Neumann for this outstanding achievement.
We mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, who impressively dedicated her life to the service of people and the reconciliation of nations. Her Majesty was particularly supportive of third party international understanding initiatives, including on several occasions those of the Global Offshore Sailing Team. We join the people of the United Kingdom and all those around the world in mourning her loss. Her Majesty will always be gratefully remembered.
Jochen Werne on behalf of the Global Offshore Sailing Team
