This session will cover the path-breaking technology and smart approaches in delivering seamless service and in achieving risk resiliency. E-government and smart local governance are among the thematic areas that will be discussed. The session focuses on best practices, key elements for success, and barriers that the Philippines and other developing countries must overcome to succeed in installing smart systems. The key questions to explore are: What will enable the application of more responsive sub-regional smart solutions to achieving development and resiliency goals? What lessons from around the world can Philippine national and local governments learn for their smart-city-related initiatives on disaster risk governance and digital platforms?

The goal of this webinar is to draw insights on how developing countries like the Philippines can adopt and sustain the implementation of smart systems in governance to achieve resilience against future risks.  The speakers and panelists are invited to provide the global and local perspectives on smart systems and other innovations in governance and those that aid the public sector’s ability to seamlessly deliver services and achieve sustainable development. 

Program

Speakers:

AI and big data use cases to support public policy

• Ms. Stephanie Sy
  Chief Executive Officer, Thinking Machines
  
  
• Dr. Alfredo Mahar Francisco A. Lagmay
  Academician, National Academy of Science and Technology
  Professor, National Institute of Geological Sciences, University of the Philippines
  
  
• Dr. Laura Ignacio
  Director, Center for Monetary and Financial Policy
  Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Moderator: 

• Dr. Sheila V. Siar
  Director, Research Information Department
  Philippine Institute for Development Studies

Profiles

MS. STEPHANIE SY

Chief Executive Officer, Thinking Machines

Stephanie Sy is the Chief Executive Officer of Thinking Machines, a leading data science technology startup with offices in Manila and Singapore. Her company has published original research in artificial intelligence at top industry conferences such as the International Conference on Machine Learning. The company is part of the UNICEF Innovation Fund for its work on building open-source artificial intelligence models to help address poverty and development issues.

DR. ALFREDO MAHAR FRANCISCO A. LAGMAY

Academician, National Academy of Science and Technology
Professor, National Institute of Geological Sciences, University of the Philippines

Alfredo Mahar Francisco Lagmay is an Academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology and a Professor at the National Institute of Geological Sciences, University of the Philippines (UP). He is the Executive Director of the UP Resilience Institute and the Director of the UP Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards Center. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of the Philippines and holds a PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of Cambridge. Lagmay is a leading international scientific expert on natural hazards.

DR. LAURA L. IGNACIO

Director, Center for Monetary and Financial Policy, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Laura Ignacio is the Director of the Center for Monetary and Financial Policy of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Prior to the BSP, she was a Research Consultant at the World Bank and an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from the University of the Philippines and her PhD in Economics from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

DR. SHEILA V. SIAR

Director for Research Information, Philippine Institute for Development Studies

Sheila V. Siar is Director for Research Information at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). Before PIDS, she worked at several international organizations, including the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, International Rice Research Institute, and International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (now called WorldFish Center). She has a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Auckland in New Zealand and a Master of Arts in Public Administration from the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan

Presentations