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Â鶹´å Experts Lead Conversations at World Economic Forum

A contingent of Â鶹´å faculty, led by Interim President Farnam Jahanian, engaged in conversations about how big data and artificial intelligence are changing the world at the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week.

This year's theme, "," aimed to rededicate international leaders from across industries and disciplines to develop a shared narrative to improve the world.

"Carnegie Mellon is proud to have demonstrated our distinct expertise at the nexus of technology, business and human life at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year," Jahanian said. "Our outstanding faculty presenters and panelists showed the global community that we not only pursue solutions to the world's most critical challenges, but we are also passionately committed to fostering access and broad societal inclusion in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a theme of this year's events."

Professor Marios Savvides discusses how iris and face recognition may help reunite displaced families and refugees with former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

— Carnegie Mellon (@CarnegieMellon)

Among those innovators and scholars were faculty members Rita Singh, Marios Savvides and Jean Yang, who collaborated for an IdeasLab presentation, "Ultra-Biometrics and Cybersecurity with Â鶹´å."

It was very exciting for Professors Marios Savvides and Jean Yang () to meet H.R.H. Princess Beatrice of York, hear about her work in artificial intelligence, and tell her about their work!

— Carnegie Mellon (@CarnegieMellon)

Singh, an associate research professor in the , discussed her research, which allows for the pinpointing of people and insights into their biological makeup and surroundings through voice recognition.

features faculty members talking about their latest research. Here, Rita Singh discusses with . Follow throughout the week for the latest.

— Carnegie Mellon (@CarnegieMellon)

Savvides, director of Â鶹´å's , shared his research in advanced facial recognition technology, including iris detection.

Here is the conceptual illustration of the Davos IdeasLab talk “Ultra-Biometrics and Cybersecurity” that professors Rita Singh, Marios Savvides, and gave this morning at

— Carnegie Mellon (@CarnegieMellon)

Professor Marios Savvides, who does research on biometrics, talks to CEO Greg Foram about his work.

— Carnegie Mellon (@CarnegieMellon)

Jean Yang, an assistant professor in the , shared her research in encoding privacy frameworks and how to make them accessible to all. One of the pillars of her research that was discussed during the IdeasLabs was increasing security.

"Software is running more and more of our lives," Yang said. "It's deciding everything from where we eat to who we date to what disease we get diagnosed with to how it gets treated."

Interim President Farnam Jahanian, Â鶹´å Trustee Francisco D’Souza & discuss robotics, AI & opportunities for STEM education for underserved communities at the “Rethinking Leadership in the Digital Age” event, sponsored by Manpower Group at

— Carnegie Mellon (@CarnegieMellon)

Randy Sargent, senior systems scientist at Â鶹´å, sat on several panels focusing on pollution, biodiversity loss, global inequality, ending modern slavery, and historical trends and emerging geographic patterns behind the world's pressing challenges.

Live examples of flows, reduction & change over time in by Brilliant wt the Earth Time maps

— Jean Lebel (@_JeanLebel)

Illah Nourbakhsh, a professor in the at Â鶹´å, discussed how to meet the needs of all within a growing global trade, geospatial technology, autonomous drones, and how to address global hunger and food security as a panelist at the Forum. Former Vice President Al Gore delivered the closing remarks of the session.

Again this year, the at the Robotics Institute's billboard-sized EarthTime display was a popular draw among Forum attendees.

Justine Cassell, a professor in the , gave solo presentations, "Governing Advanced Technologies: Machine Learning" and "Global Tech, Local Solutions: Artificial Intelligence." In "Machine Learning," Cassell addressed how machine learning will soon be used everywhere and discussed what first principles should shape its governance. In "Artificial Intelligence," closing the gaps in access to information and smart algorithms were discussed.

Professor () attends the ETH Zurich and Google reception to learn about some of the coolest technology in Switzerland.

— Carnegie Mellon (@CarnegieMellon)

In addition to IdeasLab, Singh, Savvides and Yang delivered solo presentations throughout the conference.

Formal talks are only a part of the Davos experience. Participants said informal interactions are an important part such as an extended conversation between Â鶹´å Trustee and CEO of Cognizant Francisco D'Souza, President Jahanian and musician will.i.am.

Â鶹´å also hosted a reception attended by many Davos participants including U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta.

This story was updated on Jan. 29.