 Welcome to Geneva for WISIs Forum 2019 where we celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the event and I am delighted to be joined by Salma Abassi, Chief Executive Officer of E-Worldwide Group. Salma, thank you very much for talking to us today. Thank you very much for inviting me. You're very welcome. So Salma, you have been involved with WISIs Forum from the very start, haven't you? And you've seen it grow. What into? I mean, tell us about the changes you have witnessed over the years. First of all, I think it's all been growing in the positive direction. It's become more and more inclusive and more initially it was a lot of just panel discussions and policy level. Slowly over the years it's now more case studies, more country presentations, so a lot of learning and sharing is going on. And I think they're now going, delving deeper into the actual key topics that are relevant to today's information and digital society. So, you are at WISIs Forum this year to discuss various topics, you've just mentioned it. Topics you are involved with as a company, so tell us about the different panels and discussions you have been attending or moderating. Okay. Basically, our company works across the whole spectrum of the STGs, technology for development and achievement for a safe and secure society. In that context, Monday morning, 9 o'clock, we started with a session on cybersecurity, the emerging laws of cybersecurity. The room was full bulging at the seven people at the door, so I was delighted at 9 a.m. of the interest. This shows me that cybersecurity is a very big concern as we now progress digital inclusion and intrusion. In all aspects of our life it's very important for countries to understand how to keep the citizens safe and of course their most important critical infrastructure. So that was the beginning. Yesterday was a panel about bridging the digital divide, which is also equally important that as we move forward, how do we bring in all groups in all countries, all, let me say, marginalised groups to benefit so that the widening digital divide is harnessed. And then today it will be about the ethics and artificial intelligence. So as an engineer, as a techie, I believe that the ethical aspect and development design, understanding the consequences of artificial intelligence is very important from the beginning. Yeah, it's the type of discussion we should be having. We should have had, let's say, a few years ago and not now. Yes, it's actually too late in many cases, but it's important for the next generation for us to put this in place. You can see what's happening with Facebook. It's out of control. And for Mark to stand up and say to Congress, right, please help me, governments get involved, it's a bit late. It's planning. I like 80% planning, 20% execution. We're always playing catch up with the digital technology and it's not going to change because everything's changing very quickly. It's a dynamic environment. The applications change. Today, after the artificial intelligence, I will also be talking about communication for accessibility and inclusion. I have a passion for people with disabilities that we need to make sure that they are engaged in society. And just like the elderly, a lot of groups are now being excluded. And then tomorrow we have our own session, which E-Worldwide is organizing for digital addiction and internet addiction. So how do we address these issues and bringing regulators and civil society and the youth to talk about it? How can we help them absolutely engage but keep it balanced and safe life? And then the closing session we have on Friday is with Airbus on an agricultural transformation program that I'm very happy that we developed three years ago based on our experience with malnutrition. So how to empower the rural communities, particularly women with a knowledge and access to funds and adequate balanced diet. And I'm very proud that we're piloting this in Nigeria, in a particular northern state, Kaduna state and Karno state. And I've been asked now, can we discuss this for Bhutan, India and Bangladesh? So we're going to be very busy. By the sound of it. You've mentioned the digital divide and bridging that gap. Because we're still facing challenges in that sense. Tell us about how we can overcome that. I think that this is probably one of the most important areas that governments need to focus on. The digital divide is actually increasing. I won't go into why it's increasing, but what governments need to do is to take targeted specific interventions that address the groups that are basically are being further pushed away from the digital divide. And they need to look holistically. Yesterday, the time minister was talking about this as well. And I love the fact that he said, it's not just the digital divide. They're all divides as the economic divide, education divide and this cultural social divides. And of course, we have the gender digital divide, which is unfortunately the psyche of men isn't changing in many cases. There's obviously the he for she campaign. So wonderful. They're enlightened men. And we discussed this a little bit before. However, I feel that governments need to make concerted efforts where indicators are in place. Obviously, there are many for the SDGs, but at a national level, really understand the issues. Last week, I was in Marrakech with the Islamic Development Bank. And we were talking about the smart economy, the digital economy and what kind of leadership is needed. And I said, everybody can look on the Internet and find the top 10, top 12 leadership skills. But I said the most important one is the nonverbal communication of creating an environment of inclusion. So I believe governments need to focus on the social side to actually create a more inclusive society that's going to help bridge the digital divide. So it's policy. It's having the right curriculum in place that targeted integrated interventions that focus at rural communities, women, elderly, disabled and not in one sector, across multiple sectors. That's how we can bridge the education divide, the access to health and other government services. And it's the government's job to play that enabling role in this space. So just like for artificial intelligence, it's important that it's not an afterthought. So when it comes to bridging the digital divide or the gender digital divide, it can't be an afterthought. It's got to be built in. And so what we're doing in that space last year, we launched an initiative called Right Skilling. And Right Skilling is exactly what it means. If I'm an engineer, I need the other skills. So what are those right skills for me? So it's customized, localized skills. But it starts with primary school. Again, in Nigeria, in Africa, we started the program in primary schools. Obviously, being not a girl, but a woman, I focused on girls. So we targeted girls, boarding schools and primary schools where we were teaching the children ethics, social and civic responsibility. When you build in this mindset in young children, they're growing up with it. Last year, I was in Austria talking at the developers forum with Wozniak. Can you imagine? I remember him when I was in Silicon Valley as a young woman. And we were talking about how developers need to think of the consequences of their work. If big business is after money, what are you after? What is the legacy you want to leave behind? Do you truly want to have children addicted to going in rapid holes? Because the companies aren't going to be ethical about it. They want to make money. The bottom line is how much money can I make as a corporation and give share value, right? The shareholders want to have more stock prices. But the consequence of that artificial intelligence can run wild. There were two examples that I heard on Monday. One was that I didn't know this. Apparently, satellite went out of control for 18 hours. It was taken over by artificial intelligence by another country. That's so much as known. But who and what they did, nobody knows. The second thing, a husband and wife were having a discussion in their home with, you know, their Alexa on that thing that's listening. And they were talking, Alexa, thank you. They were talking about something romantic. The next day, they received a box of condoms. Now that is scary. How did that machine switch on? And then how did it interpret that they were getting intimate in their conversation? I find that very intrusive and scary. So for me, teaching the children about what, teaching the young future developers and that's why I'm saying primary school aged children, that the civic responsibility ethics, that's where it has to start. So that when they grow older and if they choose to go into STEM, they understand the consequences and the humanity side of development and their responsibility as future developers. Okay, Salma, Abassi, thank you very much. Thank you very much.