Climate change, clean energy and sustainability, building low emissions technologies and developing ethical artificial intelligence are some of the challenges being tackled by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, and the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) under a multi-million-dollar partnership. The recently established partnership between the two leading science organisations is aiming to accelerate joint research and initiatives in areas of mutual priority between Australia and the United States. CSIRO Chief Executive Larry Marshall said the two leading science organisations have already enabled a number of opportunities across the two countries in only a year, launching this month an AUD$100 million Global Centers initiative, partnering in the areas of responsible and ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI) and developing sustainable materials for global challenges. "As national science agencies, CSIRO and the NSF are working together to build international bridges for national benefit, strengthening our science and innovation to improve lives around the world," Dr Marshall said. "As the world races towards new applications for technologies like AI, it will take global collaboration to champion responsible and ethical applications that embrace the full potential of technological advances and drive healthy competitive advantages.

Imperial College London's major new initiative I-X will use artificial intelligence and data science to tackle global challenges. I-X harnesses the College's long-standing excellence in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, data sciences, and the many fields in science, engineering, medicine and business where they are applied. Its projects include developing new computational tools for improving image-based detection and diagnosis of disease, using AI to direct the design and implementation of new biological systems, and intelligent systems and networks for monitoring, control, and security of critical infrastructure. Other fields of research include human-AI cooperation, robotics and automation, and machine learning systems that understand the real world, such as self-driving vehicles. The initiative is housed over two floors at the Translation & Innovation Hub (I-HUB) at Imperial's White City Campus.

With every advancement in the digital world, we unlock a limitless resource: data. It is both a by-product and a driver of global development that has transformed how we make decisions. Not only do we have increased granularity and accuracy to inform evidence-based decision making, but through AI and machine learning, we enable technology to make decisions on our behalf. The value of this data is well established in the private sector. Successful businesses have captured this value through increasingly efficient and targeted advertisements and product design – with the global marketing data market worth an estimated at $52 billion in 2021.