CES 2023 to Focus on Tech's Role in Addressing Global Challenges

CTA is partnering with the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) on a CES 2023 initiative to show the role of technology in support of U.N. efforts “to advance human security for all [HS4A],” CTA said Wednesday. Conferences and keynotes will highlight innovation and products that are improving people’s lives around the world, CTA said. “Tech innovation gives us the tools to work toward a better world and has always been the catalyst for historic change,” said CTA CEO Gary Shapiro.

The concept of human security recognizes the importance of personal well-being tied to food, access to healthcare, personal income, environmental protection, personal safety, community security and political freedom, said CTA. CES 2023 will showcase technology innovations and thought leaders dedicated to addressing these global challenges, it said.

Technology innovation and entrepreneurship “can be a powerful and adaptive force to address society’s daunting challenges,” ListenUp CEO Walt Stinson, a director of the HS4A campaign, told us Wednesday. He's speaking Sunday on HS4A at the IX Global Baku Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan.

“We want to raise awareness of the importance of having a dialogue about the individual life experience and how we can improve human security for everyone around the world,” Stinson said: “That discussion really hasn’t reached critical mass yet.” Stinson said his involvement stems from his belief that tech can potentially play a pivotal role in solving human security problems “if they ever reach crisis level.”

Governments can be slow to act, but big and small companies “can act quickly to innovate and solve human security issues,” particularly environmental ones, Stinson said. He cited blockchain as having the potential to drive down the cost of banking in third-world countries, which can help raise the standard of living in underdeveloped regions. And social media can help people play a role in the political process, he said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic, global warming, the high cost of education and the surging food shortages resulting from the war in Ukraine illustrate the importance of developing innovative solutions to the full range of human security issues.” said WAAS President Garry Jacobs.

CTA also announced its first CES 2023 keynoter Wednesday. John Deere CEO John May will join other Deere executives to discuss purpose-driven sustainability and how advancements in technology are addressing the challenge of feeding the growing global population. The company has been a CES exhibitor since CES 2019.