Alice envisions the future is a unique program run by Microsoft in partnership with Avanade and Accenture which allows high school girls around the world to develop their understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) – the world's leading technology in terms of its potential for building a better future. Named after Alice's inspirational and curiosity-driven adventures in Wonderland, participants are treated to workshops led by industry experts, in addition to receiving help from Microsoft, Avanade and Accenture mentors to develop their own projects, before pitching them to a panel of judges. "When we look at the gender gap among AI workers, it makes me think that we really need to do something," says Ana Maria Stanciuc, EMEA Education Marketing Lead at Microsoft. "Events like this help teach girls to trust their imagination, to believe in their ideas, and to show that there are no limits. "Having different mentors helping them with design-lead thinking, technical and business skills is an incredible resource.

In Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, there are over 5 million children with some form of disability. With the right support, many of these can thrive in mainstream education. As a result, up to 75 percent of these children are excluded from quality education. The situation is made even more difficult when resources are stretched to begin with. In Romania, a country which has the second highest teacher-to-student ratio in Europe, it can be difficult for children with disabilities to get the specific support they need to thrive, whether that's in or out of the classroom.

Despite applying multiple filters and typing in carefully crafted keywords, you still can't find what you're looking for online. Overwhelmed by choice, you scroll the page for the fourth time trying to choose one of the 15 shades of white paint. Do you want Paper White or Chalk White? Maybe you want beige instead. You start to wish you never undertook this do-it-yourself (DIY) project; surely, shopping should not be this hard. Ensuring a smooth and stress-free experience is critical in retaining and attracting new customers.

Microsoft and AstraZeneca have announced an artificial intelligence (AI) collaboration for the benefit of healthcare patients, by introducing the AI Factory for Health. Founded in partnership with Inria, the French national research institute for the digital sciences, the AI Factory embodies Microsoft's determination to contribute actively to the deployment and development of AI. Since its founding, 27 startups have enjoyed the support of the AI Factory – each benefiting from a partnership encompassing technical, marketing and business elements. From mentoring to technical advice on their solutions, to recommendations on how best to promote and market them through co-marketing or co-selling, Microsoft offers each startup personalized advice at every stage of its growth. With the benefit of two years' maturity, Microsoft and its ecosystem have now identified five key sectors for the AI Factory to pursue: health, environment/energy, transport, financial services and food production.

Between 2010 and 2050, the global road network is expected to grow by 60 percent. Many of the new roads will emerge in areas that are still undeveloped in Africa, South America or Asia, further limiting the habitats of endangered animals. Many roads are unplanned or even illegally built. In rainforests, which are very important for the global climate, illegal road construction already leads to deforestation, slash-and-burn and colonization.

It covers more than two-thirds of our planet and makes up more than half of our body composition. It sparks life, grows food, and has the power to carve through mountains and shape the earth. Water is one of humanity's most precious resources, and we must do everything we can to conserve its natural balance. We've seen evidence of climate change causing worsening droughts around the world, with an impact on farmland and a decrease in crop yields. Due to expanding urbanisation causing water to deviate from its natural path, we've also seen the onset of rapid, unnatural flooding.

Almost 12,000 years ago, the first seeds of agriculture were, quite literally, planted, resulting in a dramatic growth in human population. Today, as before, agriculture is heavily dependant on water. As global temperatures rise however, we are seeing an increase in water risk, making improved water management vital to agriculture sustainability. Major droughts around the world have affected agricultural production, while other extreme weather events such as floods or tropical storms, are also increasing. Thankfully, there are groups working on solutions to help overcome these challenges.

"When mistakes happen, patients die. I remember thinking to myself'What is going on here?' When Simon Kos practiced critical care medicine in intensive care and anaesthesia early on in his career, digital technology was not well established. "I saw mistakes – avoidable mistakes – happen all around me," he states. Now Chief Medical Officer at Microsoft, Kos is at the forefront of a medical revolution. His ambition is infectious, and his passion is fuelled by his first-hand experiences of the power that technological transformation, such as artificial intelligence (AI), can bring to our lives. Transforming healthcare The term AI is thrown around a lot these days. For many, it conjures up images of a dystopian future where robots have infiltrated society and have replaced our jobs – a perception born out of silver screen fantasies. "People think about artificial intelligence and immediately jump to the science fiction perceptions of robots," Kos states. "Instead, when you distill it, it's about using data in autonomous, mathematical ways, to deliver insights.

After more than ten years of collaboration in a joint research partnership, Microsoft and Inria (National Institute for Research in Digital Sciences) have launched phase four of their initiative, with one key goal – to accelerate the deployment and adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within France's technology ecosystem. This new phase of the partnership between Microsoft and Inria will focus on AI technology to unleash its potential, while putting it at the service of French companies. The launch focuses on two key framework components – research, and the transfer of skills and expertise. In addition to this research, both organizations will also share their knowledge and guidance with the startups of the AI Factory program, developed by Microsoft France, Inria, and Station F. Both partners will intensify the support received by these startups, enabling them to benefit from the expertise, learnings and applications resulting from the work carried out by researchers from Microsoft Research and Inria. The digital transformation projects deployed by Microsoft on behalf of major French companies will also accelerate their implementation and enable the French economy's flagship organizations to stimulate the development of new products and applications.

She has no body, no face, no desire to drink coffee or eat pasta, or even watch cat videos on YouTube. She is, in fact, a specially designed AI juror. Created by Belgian AI engineering service provider Faction XYZ and advertising agency DDB, Pearl has one purpose – to impartially, and without bias, select the best advertising campaigns in the world. Designed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Belgian MIXX awards by selecting a winner in a new AI Intelligence Award category, Pearl is a fascinating experiment to determine whether or not creativity is measurable. Powered by Microsoft's Video Indexer Service – a tool which automatically analyses videos using machine learning to uncover insights – Pearl was fed with all international MIXX case studies from the past ten years, and given three months to analyse the texts, videos, music and results.