China News Service, Beijing, September 7 (Reporter Sun Zifa) The 6th International Forum on Big Data for Sustainable Development was held in Beijing from September 6 to 8, focusing on the theme of "Digital Innovation, Inheriting the Future: Toward a New Heights of Global Sustainable Development". Nearly 700 representatives from 50 countries and 19 international organizations gathered together to discuss how to deepen the innovative application of digital technology in various fields of sustainable development, as well as the digital and intelligent cooperation path for the next stage of global development.
As an open international scientific research institution established by China to help implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote global development initiatives, the International Research Center for Big Data for Sustainable Development built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences will celebrate its fifth anniversary in 2026. It has attracted much attention and has been widely praised for its continuous provision of data support and technical solutions for global sustainable development governance.
At the opening ceremony of this forum, the President of the 77th United Nations General Assembly Kelesh Choubao, the former President of the Republic of Mauritius Amina Ghourib Fakim, the President of the Academy of Sciences for Developing Countries Kwarasha Abdul Karim, the former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Ibrahim Thio, the President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations Xi Chen Chengchuan and others spoke respectively. Participants spoke highly of the five-year construction achievements of the International Research Center for Big Data for Sustainable Development and pointed out that the center has formed the comprehensive capabilities of an institutionalized international research institution, and many tasks have been integrated into international multilateral practices of sustainable development. China has also become a leader in the global sustainable development transformation.
Academician Guo Huadong, Chairman of the 6th International Forum on Big Data for Sustainable Development and Director of the International Research Center for Big Data for Sustainable Development, gave a conference report titled "Digital Technology Empowers the Global Sustainable Development Process", systematically introducing the center's systematic progress and achievements in the Sustainable Development Goals data product system, monitoring and evaluation methods, think tank platforms, and capacity building in Africa and small island countries.
Guo Huadong said that facing the final stage of the 2030 Agenda, the International Scientific Plan for Digital Sustainable Development, initiated by the International Research Center for Big Data for Sustainable Development, approved by UNESCO, and implemented within the framework of the International Decade of Science for Sustainable Development, proposes to promote the integration of earth big data and artificial intelligence, digital empowerment, and joint creation of a sustainable future. Currently, the cooperation network of this plan has covered 59 institutions in 35 countries.
The two monographs "Big Earth Data Supports Sustainable Development Monitoring and Assessment - Methods, Data and Products" and "Big Earth Data Supports Sustainable Development Practices - Applications in Typical Fields and Regional Cases" officially released at the forum provide a reusable practical paradigm for countries to use Big Earth Data to serve sustainable development goals by building detailed methods and application systems for Big Earth Data to serve the 2030 Agenda.
In the high-level panel discussion session of the forum "Shaping the Future of Sustainable Development in the Digital Era", Chinese and foreign experts exchanged views on how digital technologies such as space Earth observation, big data, and artificial intelligence can solve real problems in global sustainable development. They focused on bridging the global digital divide, capacity building in developing countries, science and technology empowering the SDG sprint, and post-2030 sustainable development governance. They exchanged views, built consensus, and contributed diverse perspectives and practical ideas to digital technology empowering global sustainable development.
The forum lasted for 3 days, and also included 4 special sub-sessions, including "Building a Global Partnership for Digital Sustainable Development", "Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Empowering and Improving Countries' Scientific and Technological Innovation Roadmaps for the Sustainable Development Goals", "International Cooperation on Earth Observation, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Water Security", and "Digital Intelligence Empowering Sustainable Development - Youth Action", as well as 32 parallel sub-sessions. Multi-dimensional in-depth discussions were conducted around the SDGs' technological innovation, monitoring and evaluation, global collaboration, future governance and other directions.
It is reported that this forum is hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and co-organized by the International Research Center for Sustainable Development Big Data and the Institute of Aerospace Information Innovation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is supported by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Development Program, the Office for Outer Space Affairs, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Human Settlements Program, as well as international organizations and mechanisms such as the Academy of Sciences of Developing Countries, the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, and the International Decade of Science for Sustainable Development.
