COVID-19 is a Budget Challenge for StatesBut There Are Solutions – The Pew Charitable Trusts

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As the impacts of COVID-19 continue to reach communities across the country, significant shifts in federal, state, and local budgets are forcing policymakers to grapple with sharp reductions in revenue and the changing needs of the people they serve. Although the importance of relying on research data and evidence in policymaking has been proved in times of prosperity, it is critical in the face of a global recession. The Results First Initiative was born out of the last major shock to the global economy: the 2008 recession. As states and counties seek to make informed decisions about spending to realize better outcomes during the current economic downturn, the initiative provides a framework for allocating limited resources. Specifically, it highlights tools that states can use to make smarter budget decisions at a time of rapidly declining revenue.

By April 2020, social distancing became the norm, initial jobless claims hit historic levels, students engaged in virtual learning, and the main focus of the U.S. health care system turned to keeping one step ahead of the coronavirus pandemic. In short, the needs of communities across the country shifted dramatically in a short period of time.

What can policymakers do to respond to these changing needs? A key step is to assess the variety and quality of programs that a state funds. This can help ensure thatin the midst of a rapidly changing economycurrently funded programs can still deliver the outcomes any given population requires. The Results First Clearinghouse Databasebrings together information from nine national clearinghouses, providing government officials with an easy way to access and understand evidence that supports public health and other critical social programs. Those charged with making difficult decisions about which programs to expandand which to cutcan use this resource to determine how to maximize the effectiveness of state dollars and ensure that programs reach those in need.

In addition to the clearinghouse database, there are other effective tools that states can use to inform their budget decisions. Two approaches to evidence-basedbudget developmentare:

Examples of the effective use of data to inform budget decisions can be found here.

When policymakers need to make quick and challenging determinations about public spending in a policy environment like that of COVID-19, they should start by assessing the quality of evidence supporting the programs and making data and research an essential tool in the budgeting process. Where available, states can use existing performance data about programs to help inform decisions now and in the future.

Whether legislating through an economic expansion or a recession, policymakers should follow the same practices and principles of evidence-based policymaking. It is critical that states employ data-driven, long-term strategies when assessing programs and creating budgets to make the most of taxpayer-funded programs.

For additional research and analysis related to COVID-19 preparation and responses, please sign up for regular newsletters here.

Sara Dube is a director and Carli Dimino is a senior associate with The Pew Charitable Trusts Results First initiative.

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COVID-19 is a Budget Challenge for StatesBut There Are Solutions - The Pew Charitable Trusts

How To Avoid ‘Revenge Pollution’ While Reviving the Economy – Earth911.com

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As the economy reopens and we venture out into the world we once knew, it is tempting to try to make up for lost time that time we could have spent traveling, shopping, and restaurant and bar hopping. Perhaps you have already made a list of things you wish you had or places you want to go.

The term revenge pollution refers to theincreased emissions that result from accelerated economic activities after a recession, such as the one resulting from COVID-19. As the economy re-opens, try to be mindful of activities that may contribute to revenge pollution. With oil at historically low prices, many will be tempted to go for a long drive if they can still afford it but with a little effort you can prevent polluting more as the lockdown lifts.

One area of focus should be the use of plastic. The plastics industry pollutes our environment in the places it is made, plastic recycling has reached a critical point, and plastic waste covers our planet. The low cost of oil makes virgin plastic cheaper, which reduces the financial benefits of plastic recycling.

When reusable products are not applicable, compostable foodservice ware can reduce our use of petroleum-based single-use plastics. Bioplastics are made from renewable plant-based materials. Conventional plastics, on the other hand, are made of non-renewable petroleum and natural gas. Comparing compostable bioplastic made from corn to the petroleum-based plastic PET, the manufacturing of the bioplastic produces half of the carbon dioxide as traditional plastic.

Composting provides a natural solution to help prevent climate change.

When organic matter enters a landfill, the anaerobic environment creates methane, a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Recent efforts from NASA to identify where methane was being emitted found that some landfills were super-emitters. If you have space and time, you can create a home composting system.

An even better option is to have access to a commercial composting service. If you dont have access to a service that can process yard waste, food scraps, and compostable products, let your local elected officials know that this is a priority for you.

Another way we could all reduce our environmental impact is by traveling less. Popular destinations have suffered so much from the negative impacts of tourism that overtourism is now a word in the Cambridge English Dictionary to describe the problem. In addition to the impact of crowds of tourists on the destination, a single transatlantic flight is estimated to cause 32 square feet of Arctic ice to melt.

Globally, air travel has decreased by 40 percent since COVID-19 has entered our lives. This means that the 344 million metric tons of carbon emitted from air travel have been eliminated.

But these climate-beneficial gains will be lost if we return to our pre-pandemic behavior.

What can you do? Re-think future major trips. Instead of visiting an exotic place, you could watch a documentary about it. Or visit your loved ones more often via video chat instead of air travel. After all, sometimes the point of travel is not where people are physically going, but what state of mind you are trying to achieve.

Car travel has decreased with stay-at-home orders in many states. Vehicular traffic miles decreased by 70 percent in the last two weeks of March in the United States, according to Streetlight data analyzed by US PIRG. This is the result of working from home and fewer essential trips in general.

A typical automobile emits 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year; even a few weeks without driving can make a difference. Perhaps after the stay-at-home orders lighten, we can continue to decrease our vehicular miles traveled by teleworking and trip-chaining our errands to optimize each mile.

Consider working with your employer to see if you can work more from home or on a flex schedule that reduces your gas use because of stop-and-go rush hour traffic.

The consumer goods we consume have a carbon footprint. Each step of producing these goods from resource extraction to manufacturing, shipping, and disposal takes a toll on the environment. However, amid the pandemic in March 2020, American shopping decreased by 8.7 percent on consumer goods; people are curtailing discretionary consumer spending.

If you have to shop, ordering delivery from a local store is the best way to reduce carbon emissions by at least half per item compared to shopping with online-only retailers. Perhaps we can learn to curtail spending by sharing more and doing without the next necessary object.

Above all, the best idea we can adopt from this pandemic is to listen to scientific experts. Although we can pretend to be medical professionals (and public health officials, virologists, epidemiologists, statisticians, etc.), what we can take away from the pandemic is that we should trust the experts who have been working diligently to protect our best interests.

It is the consensus of scientists that human-made climate change is a threat. Now is the time to listen to climate change scientists, 11,000 of them would like us to take climate change seriously.

Lauren K. Olson is the zero waste manager at World Centric. She holds a masters degree in community sustainability specializing in decision-making about waste, and a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental economics both degrees from Michigan State University.

Feature image byJan Vaek from Pixabay

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How To Avoid 'Revenge Pollution' While Reviving the Economy - Earth911.com

COVID-19 Crisis: Understanding the State of Economy during and after the Lockdown – Economic and Political Weekly

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A friend asked me recently how the economy is running when most people have not been working due to the lockdown across several countries to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Except for the production of a few essential items, the production, sale, and consumption of other goods and services have come to a standstill. Virtually, the entire economy has been stalled. What does this imply for a society?

Traditionally, women have been working at home, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children, and doing other household chores. But, in our modern society, most of the things used in our homes come from outside, produced by others. There is so much division of labour, based on specialisation, that we produce little of what we consume. The farmer may produce the wheat they consume but they have to get manure from outside. So, the earlier self-sufficiency of village life is gone.

This outside represents the market, where we exchange what we produce with what others produce. In a primitive society, this exchange happened in the form of the barter system, and now in the modern society, we use money we earn from producing what we individually produce to exchange for what we need. Money is only a medium of exchange, and it should not be confused with the income that someone earns. Income is earned from work that is done outside our home. A spouse whoworks at home does not get paid, but a maid who comes from outside to do exactly the same work in our houses gets paid and that is counted as income. So, when we pay the maid, we are exchanging our labour for their labour.

Consider Robinson Crusoe, marooned alone on an island, where he would have to produce everything: food, fetching water, shelter, clothing, energy, and so on. Life would be rudimentary. He would not be able to produce a spoon if he does not have a knife to carve a piece of wood, or produce a cooking vessel if he does not have the skill of a potter and energy to bake mud or clay.

But, we are not Robinson Crusoe cast away on an uninhabited island. We live in a society that has a lot of capital of all kinds with which one can potentially produce what all of us need. For this, human labour is required to run machines, as society is not completely robotised.

Against this backdrop, when a lockdown is announced, people cannot go to their places of work, and production halts. Only essentials are allowed to be produced. For instance, those working in the milk processing units, drinking water supply, electricity, among others can go to work. However, other workers are required to isolate themselves at home to meet the objective of lockdowns, like containing the spread of virus in the current scenario. The modern-day production of goods and services is concentrated in some pockets that are widely dispersed geographically. So, the produced goods have to be moved to the consuming centres all over the globe. This requires finance, trade, and transportation. Consequently, no country or a region in a country is self-sufficient. There are global supply chains, so even nations are not self-sufficient. Only a few large economies have relative self-sufficiency. Even large economies, such the United States (US) and the European Union, import a lot of common consumables from the developing world. While some of those imports are consumed (like, clothing and electronics), others (like, machines) are put to use in production units.The smaller economies are even more dependent on imports.

Given such a scenario, when China, the hub of the global manufacturing sector, announced lockdown in late January, supply chains have been affected across the globe. Progressively, as more and more countries came under lockdown, global production has been increasingly affected. These global supply chains can only be revisited once the world recovers from the ongoing pandemic.

Generally, manufacturers hold some raw material in stock so that even if supplies are affected for any reason, they can continue their production. But, maintaining inventories come at a financial cost, since working capital is borrowed from banks, and an interest is paid to banks in return. So, companies try to minimise their inventories. Many businesses now work on the concept of just in time; get inputs every day and produce every day to cut down costs on inventories. Such a business is considered efficient. Due to such business structures, a supply disruption, due to the lockdown, immediately stalls production in the entire supply chain.

For instance, if cotton is unavailable, thread cannot be produced, and because of that cloth production stops. The processing units do not get work. In turn, garment manufacturers and cloth merchants are affected. The transportation industry carrying finished products, the accountants and shopkeepers, and a whole host of workers throughout the chain lose work in a single stroke.

A lockdown does two things. First, workers cannot go to work, and second, the supply of inputs are disrupted, so that production largely stops. So, even though workers and capital both exist, production stops.

Generally, world over, production is carried out in large- and small-scale industrial units. In India, there is also the medium and cottage industry, or the unorganised sector. The large and medium industrial sectors by definition have a lot of capital and machines while the rest have minimal resources. A working capital is needed to buy raw materials and inputs, and to pay workers their salaries. At the start of a business, to buy machinery and to construct factory buildings, among others, loans are taken from banks. The smaller unitsget loans from private lenders, or have to invest their own savings. In a nutshell, businesses work with a lot of debt on which they pay interest.

An interest is paid outof revenue generated from sales. So, if sales stop, repayment of loan or payment of interest becomes difficult, and businesses begin to fail. Such loans from the banks turn into non-performing assets (NPAs). However, if production continues when sales have stopped, more inputs are needed and more unsold products accumulate, so more working capital is required and more interest has to be paid. As a result, losses increase, and companies stop production in a lockdown.

Healthy companies maintain reserves (savings) which they can use for a while, but that is not the case with weak companies or smaller industrial units. Generally, in the cottage industry, savings are used to carry out the production, but when production stops, there is no income flow.So, savings are used for consumption.

A working capital is required to carry out production, or to restart. This comes from banks, which, in turn, get it from their depositors in theform of savings. It is the working capitala form of investmentthat keeps the economy running. Since production is not possible without it, investments are crucial than consumption to keep the economy going.It is known that if investments decline then income declinesand so do consumption and savings.

As workers earn their wages and businessmen their profits from production, both are negatively affected in a situation of economic lockdown. The demand in the economy falls, and even if factories are in a position to produce, they do not carry out production lest inventory builds up. As production capacity becomes idle, more investment does not make sense. As investments decline, there would be another round of reduction in incomes and consumption levels, becoming something like a vicious cycle. This is the story of a near-complete lockdown, only when essentials are allowed to be produced.

Savings are the amount of the income left after consumption. So, if incomes collapse, so do savings. But, in any case, consumption has to continue, so people withdraw their savings and past deposits from the banks and financial institutions. Small businesses use their savings for current consumption. As a result, deposits in the banks decline, and simultaneously, credit demand falls as production and investments are affected. That is why an interest rate reduction by the central banks does not give a boost to the economy, because businesses which are shut do not need credit. Banks park any excess funds with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as is the case currently.

A vast majority of Indians who are working in the unorganised sector and the poor have low incomes and hardly any savings. So, when incomes stop, their consumption drastically falls. They are the ones who are now migrating from the cities to villages where they feel that their families will at least get food. This model of uneven development, which has been forcing people to migrate, has to be re-examined after the pandemic. Similarly, those running small and cottage industrial sectors are bound to exhaust their savings within a short while, and would not be able to restart their businesses when the situation limps back to normal.

On the other hand, organised sector employees, having fixed incomes, will continue to get at least a part of their salaries for some time and would be able to continue their consumption of essentials. But, this would also mean loss of savings for the companies, and they too cannot sustain it for long. The self-employed, elderly, and retired people have no option but to use their savings.

Businesses, which had already been stressed in a slowing Indian economy prior to March 2020, will now face a failure. Among them, those which have been depending a lot on borrowing (highly leveraged) will be the first ones to fail. Many firms in the financial sector are in this category, and can fail. As these firms are all interlinked via credit, so when one fails to return a loan, the next fails too, and the domino effect takes over, as it happened when Lehman Brother Holdings had failed in 2008 in the US. Though the three-month moratorium announced by the government for the payment of interest to banks could help check business failure to an extent for some time, it may not, however, be enough because production and income generation have stopped during the lockdown, and their revival is uncertain. Despite the fact that businesses that have large reserves (savings) could face less trouble, they too will come under strain due to the prolonged lockdown.

Although agriculture, mining, forestry and logging, and fishing could continue, but as incomes fall, demand for their produce would also decline. In such a situation, either they have to reduce production, or their prices would collapse. For agriculture and fishing, the looming danger is that the price of produce could fall at the source, but in consuming centres in urban areas, due to shortages and profiteering, their prices would rise. Therefore, regulation of trade would become crucial in the coming days.

As the lockdown is likely to be recovered in stages, production could recover gradually. However, the demand for non-essential items would remain low as consumer sentiment and capacity utilisation are down. As it would take some time for investments to pick up, employment and incomes could only revive gradually.

Businesses, which have exhausted their working capital, or have failed during the lockdown, would not be able to restart operations immediately. Even if they want to, banks would be wary of lending to such businesses because of the fear of loans turning into NPAs. In fact, the financial health of banks and other financial institutions would also be precarious, owing to the adverse impact of the lockdown.

As the economy is currently running at 25% of its capacity, compared to what it was in February and before, and assuming that this period of economic inactivity lasts for two months and then it recovers slowly to pre-crisis level in a year,India could see 35% and more drop in its gross domestic product (GDP) levels in this financial year. The economy would lose more than Rs 70 lakh crore of production and GDP would come down to Rs 130 lakh crore from Rs 204 lakh crore in 201920. Most of this loss will be that of the small and unorganised sectors of the economy and that is why many of these units would collapse. So, support would be required both for workers and the small businesses and that can only come from the government, the collective. It would have to provide essentials to the people, so that they do not face hunger, and societal disruption is prevented. It is a medical emergency, so massive investment is required in health infrastructure to tackle the disease. All this would require tightening governance which has been notoriously weak in India.

How does the government finance the massive increase in expenditures that would be required to tackle the pandemic? Taxes are collected from the incomes of people and also from production and consumption. But if the economy produces much less and incomes collapse, then tax collections would also fall. Other revenues would also fall as they too depend on economic performance.

Since GDP would be down by 35%, tax collection would fall by much more than this amount, as essentials would come with alow tax rate of zero rate. Currently, whatever production is taking place, it is mostly essentials. As per my calculations, revenues of centre and states could fall by 50% to 8% of the reduced GDP of 202021. So, from Rs 32 lakh crore, it would be down to about Rs 10.4 lakh crore. It may be noted that last year, the tax/GDP ratio was around 16%. This cannot even meet the current levels of expenditures much less the burden of new expenditures due to COVID-19. No wonder the state governments are complaining of shortage of resources and they have to carry much of the burden of taking care of the people.On the other hand, government expenditures have a committed part, like, interest payment which cannot be reduced.More measures such as a curtailment of salaries, defence expenditure, travel, meetings, and so on would be required. Investments could be postponed, and new projects could be shelved to reduce expenditure. But, it would also mean bringing down employment levels further in the economy. If expenditures are not slashedas the fiscal deficit was already at 10% of the old GDPitcould touch 15.5% of the already reduced GDP levels. In fact, even before this crisis emerged, the fiscal deficit was already at 10% of the GDP pointing out at the poor health of the economy. The possible rise in fiscal deficit levels could be attributed to a drastic fall in the revenue (around 17% of the already reduced GDP projections), increased expenditure to sustain at least half of the population (amounting to 14% of the GDP) and increased medical expenditures to deal with the pandemic.

Against such a backdrop, the government has to go in for a survival package by massively bringing down expenditure and providing a basic minimum for the population to survive, and to contain the spread of infection through lockdown.

Thus, even though machines, factories, and offices exist, the economy has stalled, and restarting production would be difficult if the lockdown lasts for a few months. The poor and the unorganised sector producers who have little savings would be the worst sufferers. As the governments resource position is badly stretched, it could only cater to survival. Most of the economic challenges that have come to the fore due to the COVID-19 crisis are a result of an uneven development. Once the pandemic is tackled, there has to be a serious rethink about our development paradigm and how our society should be run.

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COVID-19 Crisis: Understanding the State of Economy during and after the Lockdown - Economic and Political Weekly

Healthy Oceans: Keeping Asia and The Pacific Afloat – Jakarta Globe

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Memories of idyllic beaches and vibrant waves may seem far away while we remain at home.To the people in the Asia Pacific, our namesake bears a nod to the Pacific Ocean, whichprovides food, livelihoods, and a sense of identity, especially for coastal communities in the Pacific island States.

Sadly, escalating strains on the marine environment are threatening to drown progress and our way of life.

In less than a century, climate change and unsustainable resource management have degraded ecosystems and diminished biodiversity.

Levels of overfishing have exponentially increased, leaving fish stocks and food systems vulnerable. Marine plastic pollution coursing through the region's rivers have contributed to most of the debris flooding the ocean.

This year's research fromEconomic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap),"Changing Sails: Accelerating Regional Actions for Sustainable Oceans in Asiaand the Pacific", shows that our picture of the ocean is remarkably shallow.

The challenge in tracking the progress on ourocean lies in insufficient oceanic data on health and resources management. Without data, we are swimming in the dark.

Existing oceanic data are available for only two out of ten targets for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14: Life Below Water, showing that our picture of the ocean is far from complete.

Due to limitations in methodology and national statistical systems, uneven information gaps have persisted across countries.

Insufficient or missing data createssignificant information gaps about ocean acidification, fisheries, research efforts, economic benefits for small island developing states, and least developed countries.

Defeating Covid-19 has been a numbers game and we need a similar commitment to data for the state of our shores.

While there is much we cannot see, images of plastic pollution have become commonplace.

Asia and the Pacific produce nearly half of global plastic by volume. Beating this challenge will hinge upon effective national policies and re-thinking production cycles.

Strong national statistical systems willsupportcountries to monitor trends, devise timely responses, and clear blind spots impeding action.

Close cooperation among countries in the region is also required for transboundary ocean management and linking ocean data. Through the Ocean Accounts Partnership, Escapis working with countries to harmonize ocean data and provide a space for regular dialogue.

Generating complete data on fish stocks, fighting illicit fishing activity, and conserving marine areas must remain a priority. The environmental decline is also affecting dwindling fish stocks.

Our region's position as the world's largest producer of fish has come at the cost of overexploitation. The percentage of stocks fished at unsustainable levels has increased threefold from 10 percent in 1974 to 33 percent in 2015.

We must also work with the shipping community to navigate toward green shipping. As an ocean-based industry, shipping directly affects the health of the marine ecosystem. Enforcing sustainable shipping policies is essential to mitigate maritime pollution.

Unequal shipping connectivity also remains as a challenge in the region. While the most connected shipping economies are in Asia, the small island developing statesof the Pacific experience much lower levels of connectivity, leaving them relatively isolated from the global economy.

Closing the maritime connectivity gap must be placed at the center of regional transport cooperation efforts.

Countries also need to re-thinkproduction cycles to overcome plastic pollution.Keeping the ocean plastic-free will depend on policies that promote a circular economy approach. This strategy minimizes resource use and keeps them in use for as long as possible.

That will require economic incentives and disincentives, coupled with fundamental lifestyle changes. Fortunately, several countries in the region have introduced successful single-use plastic bans.

Escap's Closing the Loop project is reducing the environmental impact of cities in Aseanby addressing plastic waste pollution and leakages into the marine environment.

The magnitude of our ocean and its challenges represent how extensive and collaborative our solutions must be. Hence, translating international agreements and standards into national action is also crucial. We must fully equip countries and all ocean custodians to localize global agreements into tangible results.

Escap is working with member states to implement the International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements on emissions reduction and environmental standards.

While the Covid-19 pandemic has temporarily reduced emissions and pollution on the ocean, this should not be a moment of reprieve. Instead, it is time to take transformative action for the ocean.

In the post-pandemicera, we must use the critical years ahead to steer our collective fleets toward sustainable oceans. With our shared resources and commitment, I am confident we can sail in the right direction.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nation's under-secretary-general and executive secretary of Escap.

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Healthy Oceans: Keeping Asia and The Pacific Afloat - Jakarta Globe

Northern Dynasty Minerals: Alaska’s Pebble Project Approaches Key Permitting Milestone As COVID-19 And Collapsing Oil Prices Threaten State’s Economy,…

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VANCOUVER / ACCESSWIRE / May 14, 2020 / Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX:NDM)(NYSE American:NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the "Company") reports that, though fewer than 400 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Alaska, placing it among the lowest states in the country on an absolute and per capita basis, the economic impact of the global pandemic on the largest US state are both severe and ongoing.

As a result of COVID-19 and an unprecedented worldwide collapse of oil prices, almost 20% of Alaska's workforce - some 62,000 people in a state of less than 750,000 - have active or pending unemployment claims. Some economists forecast 50,000 Alaska job losses this year.

Meanwhile, with average oil prices languishing in the low $20/barrel range through April and May - less than a third of the price required to balance the state budget - Alaska is entering its sixth consecutive year of deficit spending. The state has virtually depleted the substantial budget reserves it built up over decades of high oil prices, and is now faced with generating new sources of revenue, introduction of personal income or other taxes, and/or vastly reducing future capital and operating expenditures.

"Certainly, many expect North America's oil and gas sector will be challenged to generate significant investment in new production in the years ahead, and Alaska's tourism sector has also been severely impacted by COVID-19," said Northern Dynasty President & CEO Ron Thiessen. "The minerals sector, on the other hand, has a much stronger outlook - with prices for gold and precious metals surging in the near-term, and the medium-term view for copper and base metals suggesting an extended runway for investment and growth."

Thiessen said Alaska is well positioned to benefit from the anticipated resurgence of mineral commodity prices, and a corresponding increase in investment in mineral exploration and development. He noted Alaska recently rose to the #4 position among 76 jurisdictions ranked in the Fraser Institute's annual Survey of Mining Companies - 2019 (released February 2020) for overall Investment Attractiveness' - in part, due to the rise of resource nationalism and other threats to foreign investment in developing countries, and the strong commitment to the rule of law' in Alaska the United States.

Alaska is home to several large-scale and late-stage development projects. These include: Northern Dynasty's 100%-owned Pebble Project, expected to receive a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) from the US Army Corps of Engineers in mid-2020; the Donlin Gold Project in southwest Alaska, owned jointly by Barrick and Novagold, which received its Final EIS and ROD in 2018 and is currently advancing through state permitting; and, several promising mineral prospects in northwest Alaska's Upper Kobuk mining district, held in joint venture by Trilogy Metals and South32, to be served by the proposed Ambler Road currently being permitted by the Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority (AIDEA).

"As these and other development projects advance and come on line, the billions of dollars in capital and operating expenditures they generate and thousands of high-paying Alaska jobs they support will make mining an even larger contributor to the state's economy than it is today," Thiessen said, noting Alaska already benefits from five hardrock mines and one coal mining operation.

"Alaska truly has one of the world's greatest mineral endowments. When you combine that with a skilled workforce, strong and experienced regulatory agencies, and a political leadership and citizenry that understands and values the important contributions that responsible resource development can make to a modern society, I believe Alaska has a unique opportunity to emerge in the next decade as one of the world's premier destinations for mining and mineral development."

Thiessen said all of Alaska's hardrock mines are modern, long-life operations with exemplary records of environmental, social and financial performance, including high-levels of in-state employment and procurement. He cited the Red Dog mine, in particular - the largest zinc producer in the world, operated by Teck Resources on NANA Regional Corporation lands - as a project that generates hundreds of millions of dollars each year for distribution to the state's Native corporations, while drawing more than 55% of its workers from NANA's shareholder base.

Thiessen said the Pebble Project is expected to support as many as 1,000 full-time, direct jobs during mine operations, with average compensation in excess of $100,000/year, and up to 2,000 indirect jobs in the broader Alaska economy. Every year, an operating Pebble mine would generate more than $400 million in in-state expenditures, and contribute some $66 million annually to state government coffers - including contributions to Alaska's Permanent Fund.

During mine operations, the Pebble Project would also contribute an estimated $21 million each year in tax revenues to the Lake & Peninsula Borough, the regional jurisdiction in which the project resides. These funds, totaling some $420 million over 20 years of mining, would increase the borough's existing tax base and budget by 2 - 3x, and provide an opportunity for local government to vastly expand the health, education and other public services it provides in 17 rural villages in southwest Alaska.

Given the significance of these benefits to the region and the state, and the long-term economic implications of COVID-19, Alaska's State government recently wrote to the US Army Corps' of Engineers urging the lead federal agency to continue its steady advancement of a Final EIS and ROD for the Pebble Project. The Draft EIS released last year, and a preliminary Final EIS circulated to cooperating agencies earlier this year, make clear that Pebble is a project of merit that will fully co-exist with clean water and healthy fisheries in southwest Alaska.

The April 15, 2020 letter from Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Commissioner Corri Feige to US Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District Engineer Colonel Phillip Borders recognizes the new economic realities facing the state. It reads in part:

"We strongly encourage you to adhere to your defined NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) schedule. With economic impacts felt at the federal, state, and local levels from COVID-19 and the current oil prices, we should be doing everything in our authority and ability to keep projects of statewide importance moving forward.

"The proposed Pebble Mine Project is important to Alaskans, as it will provide jobs, infrastructure, and revenues critical for local, regional, and statewide economies that are being significantly impacted by COVID-19. Keeping the Pebble Mine FEIS, Record of Decision, and associated required consultations, on their defined timelines will enhance the applicant's ability to initiate the state permitting process sooner."

"I would like to reiterate that it is precisely due to our current situation why it is imperative for us to stay on task and on schedule, perhaps now more than ever. When we make it through this pandemic, we will need to be prepared to reenergize our economy, job force, and revenue streams. Keeping the Pebble Mine Project on time will be a huge step in that direction, benefitting our statewide economy. As a Cooperating Agency assisting the USACE with the FEIS, we look forward to continuing to work with you towards a timely completion."

About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.

Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and development company based in Vancouver, Canada. Northern Dynasty's principal asset, owned through its wholly owned Alaska-based U.S. subsidiary, Pebble Limited Partnership ("PLP"), is a 100% interest in a contiguous block of 2,402 mineral claims in southwest Alaska, including the Pebble deposit. PLP is the proponent of the Pebble Project, an initiative to develop one of the world's most important mineral resources.

For further details on Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Project, please visit the Company's website at http://www.northerndynastyminerals.com or contact Investor services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114. Review Canadian public filings at http://www.sedar.com and US public filings at http://www.sec.gov.

Ronald W. ThiessenPresident & CEO

US Media Contact:Dan GagnierGagnier Communications(646) 569-5897

Forward Looking Information and other Cautionary Factors

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in its forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way construed as guarantees of the ultimate size, quality or commercial feasibility of the Pebble Project, that the Pebble Project will secure all required government permits, or of the Company's future performance.

Assumptions used by NDM to develop forward-looking statements include the assumptions that (i) the Pebble Project will obtain all required environmental and other permits and all land use and other licenses without undue delay, (ii) studies for the development of the Pebble Project will be positive, (iii) NDM will be able to establish the commercial feasibility of the Pebble Project, and (iv) NDM will be able to secure the financing required to develop the Pebble Project. The likelihood of future mining at the Pebble Project is subject to a large number of risks and will require achievement of a number of technical, economic and legal objectives, including (i) obtaining necessary mining and construction permits, licenses and approvals without undue delay, including without delay due to third party opposition or changes in government policies, (ii) the completion of feasibility studies demonstrating the Pebble Project mineral reserves that can be economically mined, (iii) completion of all necessary engineering for mining and processing facilities, and (iv) receipt by NDM of significant additional financing to fund these objectives as well as funding mine construction, which financing may not be available to NDM on acceptable terms or on any terms at all. The Company is also subject to the specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as general economic and business conditions, as well as risks relating to the uncertainties with respect to the effects of COVID-19.

The National Environment Policy Act EIS process requires a comprehensive "alternatives assessment" be undertaken to consider a broad range of development alternatives, the final project design and operating parameters for the Pebble Project and associated infrastructure may vary significantly from that currently being advanced. As a result, the Company will continue to consider various development options and no final project design has been selected at this time.

For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at http://www.sedar.com.

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Northern Dynasty Minerals: Alaska's Pebble Project Approaches Key Permitting Milestone As COVID-19 And Collapsing Oil Prices Threaten State's Economy,...

Should Sierra Leoneans be pawns on the SLPP-APC political chessboard? A Rejoinder – Sierra Leone Telegraph

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James Juana: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 14 May 2020:

I dont like responding to comments on forum. The moment a comment is made, whether you are saying the right thing or not, some readers look at it from a tribal or political point of view.

We are taking ourselves back to the prehistoric or tribal war days, while other African countries are progressing steadily towards their development goals.

Sierra Leone is the only country in which when the ruling party implements good development policies, the opposition cries foul because they are in opposition, or when the ruling party embezzles or signs unscrupulous deals it is applauded by its supporters.

The only country where people dance when the first case of coronavirus is reported.

Where are we heading?

What moral lessons are we teaching the future generations? What hope do we have for the future? Are we ever going to take bold strides towards modern civilization?

As an independent country, we started far ahead of others in the sub-region or the continent as a whole. Why are we at the ebb of global development?

These are issues as Sierra Leoneans we should be pondering on and brainstorming on the way forward. I read on the News how Botswana (which gained independence in 1966 and asked Sierra Leone for assistance to set up viable judiciary and educational systems), put aside P8.2 (US$700 Million) Billion as fund to respond to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Where are we?

Ruling party and opposition alike pledged support to the presidents proposition. When making the policy of transforming the economy from resource based to knowledge-based, all the parliamentarians overwhelmingly supported the policy.

If Sierra Leone becomes a better place to live, those suffering in the diaspora will not hesitate to return. It will not be an Ernest Bai Koroma or Julius Mada Bio issue, but all of us will be proud of our country. Why are we not looking forward to that? But we look forward to APC or SLPP ruling the country.

When a Sierra Leonean breaks the law, we want him/her to be set free because he is from our political party.

When Fiscal policies are not working, we ask for the removal of Finance Minister because he was the brain behind the success of the president.

When the Financial Secretary is earning above Le 80 million, we cry foul, despite the fact that this is the amount the former earned.

When individuals smuggle everything that makes Sierra Leone a better, we keep quiet and blame everything on the ruling government. We should all wake up from our nightmares.

What we are saying and doing will not enhance the better future that we want for our future generations Wake-up. Make meaningful contributions.

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ADA provides COVID-19 update in first-of-its-kind press conference to dental media – Dentistry IQ

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These are without a doubt unprecedented times for our generation of dental professionals. In response to these circumstances, Lou Shuman, DMD, CAGS, president and CEO of Cellerant Consulting Group,orchestrated a meeting on Friday between the leadership of the American Dental Association (ADA) and members of the dental media. In a 90-minute video conference, Dr. Shuman moderated a discussion that was intended to provide clarity and insight into the current situation.Iwas honored to attend the meeting.

In this article, I'll review the press conference and highlight key details that have not fully made their way to the general dental community.

To open the meeting, Dr. Shumanaccurately described the magnitude of the situation. "We currently face one of the most serious challenges in our lifetime," he said. "It is [impacting] our health, our lives, and the lives of our families and friends...our way of life, our economy, our own finances, and our profession. [...] How do we define 'safe' and how do we get clarity when there is so much noise?

The president of the ADA, ChadGehani, DDS,spoke first. He gave an overview of the pandemic timeline and discussed actions the ADA had taken. The ADA, Dr. Gehani said, had met with scientists, epidemiologists, and experts in every field. After doing so, the association made the difficult decision to recommend that dentists refrain from elective procedures. The decision was made in order to:

Dr. Gehani said the ADA will continue their advocacy efforts and update their resources and recommendations as new information comes to light. He further stated that theADA's Return to Work Interim Guidance Toolkithas had over 100,000 downloads, and that it is a comprehensive yet evolving tool to aid dental practices that are preparing to resume elective patient care.

The floor was then opened for questions. The following topics were covered: liability, the dentistdental hygienist relationship, support for dentists, public perception, the ADAs response, testing, and PPE. The ADA gave us their perspective of each issue. Some responses to the questions were predictable, but some interesting and new information was offered. Here are six key takeaways:

I would like to acknowledge Dr.Gehaniand the ADA executive team for listening and responding to the concerns of the dental community. It is my hope that this is the beginning of open and candid communications between the ADA and the dental media. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Lou Shuman and his concern for the dental community. It is heart-warming and inspiring.

While it may never be scientifically proven that the prolonged closure of dental practices resulted in the mitigation of the spread of COVID-19 in our respective communities, I agree with Dr.Gehani: We will get through this.

Pamela Maragliano-Muniz, DMD, is the chief editor ofDentistryIQ.Based in Salem, Massachusetts, Dr. Maragliano-Muniz began her clinical career as a dental hygienist. She went on to attend Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, where she earned her doctorate in dental medicine. She then attended the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Dental Medicine, where she became board-certified in prosthodontics. Dr. Maragliano-Munizowns a private practice, Salem Dental Arts, and lectures on a variety of clinical topics.

Editor's note:This article first appeared in theMorning Briefing, a daily newsletter published byDental Economics,DentistryIQ,Perio-Implant Advisory, andRDH.Learn more and subscribe here.

Forfull coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, visit theDentistryIQCOVID-19 Resource Center.

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In light of the pandemic, government’s policies and programmes target social sector – The Kathmandu Post

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The KP Sharma Oli governments policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal year appear to have taken the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic into account and refrained from setting an ambitious growth target.

The policies and programmes, presented by President Bidya Devi Bhandari to a joint session of the federal parliament on Friday, are largely targeted towards strengthening the economy and making it more productive at a time when most economies around the world are expected to contract in the wake of the pandemic.

According to Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, former vice-chair of the National Planning Commission, the government not mentioning a growth target for the upcoming fiscal years suggests that it has acknowledged the impossibility of achieving the high trajectory of double digit growth for the next four years as envisioned last year.

The policies and programmes have clearly indicated the impact of Covid-19 on Nepals future growth, although economic growth was impressive in the last two years, said Pokharel.

In the last three years, Nepal witnessed continued growth of over six percent, leading the government to target an ambitious growth rate of 8.5 percent this fiscal year. But after the Covid-19 pandemic began to have severe effects on almost all sectors of the economy, the Central Bureau of Statistics, late last month, had projected the countrys economic growth at a meagre 2.27 percent.

This will be the lowest growth rate since the 2015-16 fiscal year when the economy grew by just 0.2 percent amid the effects of deadly earthquakes and the subsequent Indian trade blockade.

But analysts say that even a 2.27 percent growth rate is optimistic, given that the impacts of the pandemic on sectors like hotels, restaurants and tourism are expected to continue beyond the end of the health crisis. Although the statistics bureau has forecasted that all other sectors will head towards normalisation by mid-May, much remains to be seen, as Covid-19 cases continue to increase across the country.

The World Bank, in its South Asia Economic Focus report, early last month projected Nepals growth rate in the range of 1.5 to 2.8 percent in the current fiscal year, followed by 1.4 to 2.9 percent in 2020-21 and 2.7 to 3.6 in 2021-22.

These projections contrast sharply with the government's target of a high growth trajectory throughout the coming years. As per the 15th periodic plan 2019/20 - 2023/24, the government had aimed for an average growth rate of 9.6 percent during this period.

The governments target of this high growth rate was based on its focus on expanding physical infrastructure. But there have been numerous setbacks in infrastructure development due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the policies and programmes.

The priorities have been changed due to this pandemic. The priority of the government will be health, education, employment and economic recovery, said Bhandari.

Last year, the governments priority areas were infrastructure development, agriculture and tourism, the latter of which has been hit hardest by the pandemic with some estimates suggesting losses to the tune of Rs160 billion. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the hotels and restaurants sector will see a negative growth of 13.3 percent in the current fiscal year.

The social sector, such as education and health, has received priority after more than a decade and a half. During the Maoist conflict years, the focus of successive governments was on the social sector as infrastructure development was difficult due to the insurgency. During this time, Nepal made progress in meeting the Millenium Development Goals, most of them related to the social sector.

After the decade-long insurgency came to an end in 2006, Nepal renewed its focus on increasing investment in infrastructure to boost growth, but growth remained sub-par as the country entered into a period of political instability for another decade.

But unlike then, the social sector will not yield high growth immediately, compared to hard infrastructure, says economists.

Focus on health and education is good at the moment because of the pandemic, said economist Keshav Acharya. But they dont contribute to achieving large-scale growth immediately, like infrastructure.

The government is not in a position to target high growth, because nobody would trust such an assertion, said Acharya.

In fact, the governments assertion that the country was close to double-digit growth in the last two years was itself misleading because a gap of a half percent is also a big shortcoming, he said.

Although the government has prioritised economic recovery, experts say that the policies and programmes did not specifically address the assistance to sectors battered by the pandemic.

Bhandari said that the government is studying the impact of the Covid-19, based on which it will improve the supply system, the quality of health and education, increase agriculture and industrial production, and intensify development activities. Once the study is complete, an economic rehabilitation plan for the tourism sector will be introduced, according to the policies and programmes.

But Pokharel, the former planning commission vice-chair, said that the government did not specify how it would help small and medium enterprises and other sectors that have been greatly affected by the pandemic.

The government has talked about implementing many projects, but some of them could be discarded during a resource crunch like this, he said. The government can abandon some railway projects and rethink even on Nijgadh airport and focus on projects like Melamchi Drinking Water Project which are in the final stage of completion. Without economic recovery, generating more internal resources will be very difficult for the government.

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In light of the pandemic, government's policies and programmes target social sector - The Kathmandu Post

The future of recycling: 4 experts explain – News – The University of Sydney

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Residue from a recycling plant showing mixed waste including plastic, glass, metal and other contaminants. Professor Abbas says this is an example of a difficult waste stream to work with. Credit: Professor Ali Abbas, University of Sydney

Professor Ali Abbasfrom theSchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineeringis an expert in the circular economy aneconomicsystem aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resourcesand the conversion of plastic materials.

A key priority for all levels of government today is reducing plastic waste. A significant move towards addressing the challenge of plastic waste and waste in general was recently made by introduction of the circular economy policy in NSW," said Professor Abbas.

This policy aims to facilitate as much recycling as possible, as well as minimise waste.

Although we have done a great job in Australia on recycling, to realise the full potential of the circular economy, we need to measure the recycling potential of individual products and track their pathways and reuse in the economy," said Professor Abbas.

We also need to expand technology beyond traditional recycling methods, as some recycling processes cannot efficiently deal with difficult wastes and may in fact be harmful to the environment, all the while remembering that reuse, repurposing and remanufacturing are also important.

A system-wide analysis of plastic waste should be conducted. It could evaluate the role sustainable technologies, like chemical recycling and energy recovery (waste-to-energy), play in plastic value chains," said Professor Abbas.

Waste-to-energy recovers energy from non-recyclable plastic and other materials that otherwise would end up in landfill. This is a mature technology and is safely applied around the world, particularly in places where environmental monitoring and regulation can be implemented stringently.

Chemical recycling changes plastics back to fundamental chemical building blocks, which can then be used to make new plastic products, effectively displacing the need for raw resources.

Professor Thomas Maschmeyerfrom theSchool of Chemistryand theSydney Nano Institutehas commercialised, with his start-up,Licella,a new industrial process, Catalytic Hydrothermal Upgrading (Cat-HTR), that chemically recycles waste plastics to turn them into new products.

"Plastic waste is a serious environmental issue, but also presents a great resource opportunity," said Professor Maschmeyer.

"The water-based Cat-HTR process that I co-invented through my start-up,Licella,converts plastics into liquid (oil) and gas with a world-record 98 percent efficiency.

"The oil can be refined to new products, including chemicals, plastics and fuels, while the gas is used to run the conversion plant itself. This means no external energy input is needed other than electricity to run control systems and the waste feed system.Currently, large-scale commercialisation projects are underway in the UK and continental Europe.

This technology will unlock the chemical recycling of plastics in an unprecedented way.

We are also hoping to introduce the technology commercially into Australia where it was created, after all and we are currently looking at sites where we can get the licenses to operate.

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Bright Blue and WSP: Net zero more urgent than ever for government and business – Rail Professional Magazine

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Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, and WSP, the leading engineering professional services firm, have today published a major essay collection,Delivering Net Zero,which outlines radical new ideas for how the UK can deliver on its net zero commitment by 2050, with contributions from nearly 40 leading chief executives, politicians, academics and thought leaders from across the private, public and third sectors.

The essay collection from Bright Blue and WSP argues that delivering net zero is both an environmental necessity and an economic opportunity. It rejects the argument that the transition to net zero requires vast amounts of government spending and intervention, highlighting instead the progress that has been made on decarbonisation to date, and could further be made in the future, through well-regulated markets with sensible incentives from government.

The essay collection offers analysis and ideas across nine key areas: transport; land; utilities; buildings; industry; waste; finance; government; and, innovation. The publication provides inspiration to politicians, policymakers, and practitioners in advance of the Conference of the Parties (COP) 26 in Summer 2021 to implement innovative programmes and policies to ensure the UKs market-based economy can meet its net-zero commitments.

Bright Blue and WSP believe that COVID-19 has strengthened the case for action on the challenge of this century climate change. Governments, businesses and communities need and will be expected to do more to mitigate and build resilience to disruptive crises, such as global warming and extreme weather events.

The collection includes contributions from Nigel Wilson (Chief Executive, Legal & General Group), John Holland-Kaye (Chief Executive, Heathrow Airport Ltd), Peter Jelkeby (Chief Executive, IKEA UK & Ireland), Tony Juniper CBE (Chair, Natural England), Christine McGourty (Chief Executive, Water UK), Richard Walker (Managing Director, Iceland Foods), Nicholas Boys Smith (Co-Chair, Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission), Graham Stuart MP (Minister for International Trade), George Freeman MP (Former Minister for Transport), Ben Houchen (Mayor, Tees Valley), Professor Michael Grubb (Professor of Energy and Climate Change, University College London), Barny Evans (Sustainable Places Director, WSP), and many more.

Patrick Hall, Researcher at Bright Blue and report co-editor, commented: The UK has reduced its emissions by just over 40% since 1990 at the same time as its economy growing by 75%. A market economy can and should deliver deep decarbonisation. But achieving net zero emissions by 2050 is by no means an easy feat. Large parts of the UKs economy remain rooted in fossil fuels, and hard-to-abate sectors present the greatest challenge to decarbonisation.The coronavirus crisis should act as a catalyst for governments and businesses to urgently do more to address the challenge of this century climate change. The transition towards net zero is often seen as requiring vast amounts of government-led investment and intervention. Yet, this neglects the progress that has been made on decarbonisation to date and could further be made in the future through well-regulated markets with sensible incentives from government. This Conservative Government needs to examine and promote how market-based reforms could yield substantial economic and environmental benefits in the journey to net zero.

Mark Naysmith, Chief Executive at WSP UK, commented: Ensuring that big societal ambitions get delivered is what drives our planners, engineers, environmental consultants and technical experts. To us, there is no agenda greater than mitigating climate change and environmental degradation.Delivering net zero will be a team effort. As WSP is involved in all aspects of the built and natural environment, we felt it was important to convene some of the best minds from business, academia and government to explore how this agenda should be delivered, offering constructive ideas to move forward.The net zero agenda is an opportunity to build back better, level up the country, boost our national resilience and attract new talent into the built and natural environment , as well as being a societal duty. WSP is committed to being carbon neutral by 2025 and advises both national and local government as well as private organisations on sustainable practices, and I felt this collaborative essay collection would be a timely contribution to the national conversation on delivery.

Key policy ideas offered in the essay collection include:

The policies advocated by particular individuals are not necessarily supported by other contributors to the essay collection.

John Holland-Kaye, Chief Executive of Heathrow Airport Ltd, commented: Climate change is the greatest challenge facing our generation. The race to decarbonise our economy is one that we will always wish we had started sooner and run faster. Aviation is a force for good in the world and the advent of affordable air travel has changed our lives beyond recognition. Our challenge is to protect the benefits of aviation in a world without carbon.

Nicholas Boys Smith, Co-Chair of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, commented: One of the most energy intensive, carbon non-neutral things we humans do is build a building. The embodied energy in the bricks of a typical Victorian terraced house could drive a car more than ten times around the world. Reusing such a house rather than destroying it could significantly reduce its lifetime energy consumption.

Peter Jelkeby, Chief Executive of IKEA UK & Ireland, commented: In a world of growing inequality, climate emergency and resource scarcity, its evident that a better life can only mean one that respects the limits of the planet. Climate change is no longer a distant threat, but a visible reality. Its one of the biggest challenges that humanity faces and its affecting the lives of millions of people around the world.

Barny Evans, Sustainable Places Director, WSP, commented: Delivering net zero may well be the agenda through which local government regains its purpose as an agent of change. Theyre suddenly in the driving seat of one of the most progressive, radical and complex transformational agendas of our time.With two thirds of local authorities declaring climate emergencies, they have started to shift the dial away from target setting and signalling to action, and partnerships with business and the community to deliver will now be key. They are telling us that the real challenge will be around funding and maintaining community support, and were keen to help unlock that.

Graham Stuart MP, Minister for International Trade, commented: The world faces a formidable challenge in tackling climate change. The UK is uniquely positioned to lead the green industrial revolution and build prosperity as a result. We must continue with domestic policies that drive increased R&D, innovation, emissions reductions and first mover advantage in the UK, but also ensure that our dedicated trade department, DIT, seeks to remove trade barriers, strengthens the global trading system and maximises low-carbon UK exports for the benefit of both the planet and British prosperity.

George Freeman MP, Former Minister for Transport, commented: As we face the immediate threat of large-scale death, disease, economic damage and societal disruption, the issue of climate change might seem an irrelevance. Indeed, the combination of empty streets, clean air, satellite images of vanishing smog and the urgent need to restore global economic growth is already leading some to dismiss the green agenda as a luxurious indulgence we can ill afford. They are profoundly wrong.We would be wiser to treat the COVID-19 crisis as a warning of what happens when we take resilience for granted.

Nigel Wilson, Chief Executive of Legal & General Group, commented: Climate change, like the COVID-19 pandemic, is a challenge that will require a superlative effort combining: the best thinking provided by science, public policy, and economics including behavioural economics; the most effective delivery and implementation, by the public and the private sectors; and, the application of huge financial resources, where again there are both public and private sector elements.

Richard Walker, Managing Director of Iceland Foods, commented: The recent COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the devastating impact on people and communities of our carbon-emitting economy stalling. We still clearly need to reduce emissions, but now more than ever we need to do so in a way where some of the potentially negative consequences on peoples lives are mitigated and minimised.

Professor Michael Grubb, Professor of Energy and Climate Change at the University College London, commented: Renewable energy has surpassed all expectations. From their childhood of the 2000s, renewables have emerged in the 2010s as the boisterous, energetic and optimistic teenagers of the energy revolution, with offshore wind as the biggest and strongest for Britain, yet still visibly immature. A renewable future beckons, but leaves no room for complacency.

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Healthy Oceans Needed To Keep ASEAN Afloat – The Asean Post

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Memories of idyllic beaches and sonorous waves may seem far away while we all remain under lockdown at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, we need not look far to appreciate the enduring history of the ocean in Asia and the Pacific. For generations, the region has thrived on our seas. Our namesake bears a nod to the Pacific Ocean, a body of water tethered to the well-being of billions in our region. The seas provide food, livelihoods and a sense of identity, especially for coastal communities in the Pacific island States.

Sadly, escalating strains on the marine environment are threatening to drown progress and our way of life. In less than a century, climate change and unsustainable resource management have degraded ecosystems and diminished biodiversity. Levels of overfishing have exponentially increased, leaving fish stocks and food systems vulnerable. Marine plastic pollution coursing through the regions rivers have contributed to most of the debris flooding the ocean.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily reduced emissions and pollution on the ocean, this should not be just a moment of reprieve. Rather, recovery efforts have the potential to rebuild a new reality, embedded in sustainability and resilience. It is time to take transformative action for the ocean, together.

Despite a seascape celebrated in our collective imaginations, research shows that our picture of the ocean is remarkably shallow. Insights from Changing Sails: Accelerating Regional Actions for Sustainable Oceans in Asia and the Pacific, the theme study of this years Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, reveal that without data, we are swimming in the dark. Data is available for only two out of 10 targets for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14: Life Below Water. Due to limitations in methodology and national statistical systems, information gaps have persisted at uneven levels across countries. Defeating COVID-19 has been a numbers game and we need similar commitment to data for the state of our shores.

While there is much we cannot see, images of plastic pollutionhave become commonplace. Asia and the Pacific produces nearly half of global plastic by volume, of which it consumes 38 percent. Plastics represent a double burden for the ocean: their production generates carbon dioxide (CO2) absorbed by the ocean, and as a final product enter the ocean as pollution. Beating this challenge will hinge upon effective national policies and re-thinking production cycles.

Environmental decline is also affecting dwindling fish stocks. Our regions position as the worlds largest producer of fish has come at the cost of overexploitation. The percentage of stocks fished at unsustainable levels has increased threefold from 10 percent in 1974 to 33 percent in 2015. Generating complete data on fish stocks, fighting illicit fishing activity and conserving marine areas must remain a priority.

Economic activity from shipping must also be sustainable. While the most connected shipping economies are in Asia, the small island developing States (SIDS) of the Pacific experience much lower levels of connectivity, leaving them relatively isolated from the global economy. Closing the maritime connectivity gap must be placed at the centre of regional transport cooperation efforts. We must also work with the shipping community to navigate toward green shipping. As an ocean-based industry, shipping directly affects the health of the marine ecosystem. Enforcing sustainable shipping policies is essential to mitigate maritime pollution.

The magnitude of our ocean and its challenges represent how extensive and collaborative our solutions must be. Transboundary ocean management and linking ocean data call for close cooperation among countries in the region. Harnessing ocean statistics through strong national statistical systems will serve as a compass; guiding countries to monitor trends, devise timely responses and clear blind spots impeding action. Through the Ocean Accounts Partnership, the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is working with countries to harmonise ocean data and provide a space for regular dialogue. Translating international agreements and standards into national action is also key. We must fully equip countries and all ocean custodians to localise global agreements into tangible results. ESCAP is working with member states to implement International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements on emissions reduction and environmental standards.

Keeping the ocean plastic-free will depend on policies that promote a circular economy approach. This strategy minimises resource use and keeps them in use for as long as possible. This will require economic incentives and disincentives, coupled with fundamental lifestyle changes. Several countries in the region have introduced successful single use plastic bans. ESCAPs Closing the Loop project is reducing the environmental impact of cities in ASEAN by addressing plastic waste pollution and leakages into the marine environment.

Our oceans keep our health, the economy and our lives above the waves. In the post-COVID-19 era, we must use the critical years ahead to steer our collective fleets toward sustainable oceans. With our shared resources and commitment, I am confident we can sail in the right direction.

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China would be shooting itself in the foot if it bans Australian iron ore – Small Caps

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Chances are China wont act on the indirect threats made in recent days to take Australias iron exporters as hostages.

There are two prime reasons for this reckoning:

First, it would set off alarm bells around the world, angering major Western powers (who are already deeply annoyed with the COVID-19 disruptions) and concern the developing nations of South East Asia and Central Asia that are vital to Chinas Belt and Road Initiative.

Second, Chinas steel industry relies too heavily on our iron ore, there is no supplier able to fill any substantial gap if imports from Australia were markedly reduced, and Beijings hopes of revving up its economy depends on plentiful steel supplies later this year.

On the first issue, Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (and former Defence Department official), said in a radio interview during the week that he considered the Chinese threats to be bluster.

In reference to the incident in 2012 when China placed restrictions on Philippine banana shipments after the two countries had a naval stand-off over a contested shoal in the South China Sea, Mr Jennings compared that with what Australia is facing today.

Its one thing to stop buying bananas from the Philippines as China has done, he said. But if you go after Australia you are going after a G20 country and thats going to be noticed all around the world.

As, indeed, it already has been.

On Friday, an opinion column in The Washington Post was headlined Chinas attempt to strong-arm Australia should disturb the world.

We are not alone: the world is starting to take heed of Chinas pressure on Australia.

The Global Times newspaper, the English language mouthpiece for Beijing, set the latest rabbit running when it published an article where it cautioned Australia to wake-up and to reflect on its economic links with China, adding that China could easily turn to Brazil for iron ore.

No, it cant.

What it said next was shall we say? misinformed: While China is the only choice for Australias massive commodity exports, Australia is not necessarily the only option for China. There are also other countries like Brazil that can supply huge amounts of iron ore, coal or LNG to China.

Brazils iron ore exports have been struggling since the tailings dam collapse in January 2020 at the Brumadinho mine, the deluge killing 257 people, and which led to Vale being ordered to close several mines until they were inspected.

Production in Brazil is still not back to full force; in March, Vales shipments were 13 million tonnes short of expectations.

This year, Vales operations have been impacted by heavier than usual rain (causing flooding) and by the spread of COVID-19.

There has been a rapid spread of the virus in Para state, which usually accounts for 23% of Vales iron ore output.

Plus: its a lot further to ship to China than from Australia.

The virus has also had impacts on iron ore shipments from other countries. Miners in India, Iran and South Africa have all to comply with national shutdowns.

At present, China is reliant on Australia for 62% of its iron ore supplies.

Meanwhile, steel mills in China are ramping up production and on Wednesday iron ore futures at the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 2.2%.

Singapore-based steel and iron ore data analytics company Tivlon Technologies reported that spot prices of iron ore with 62% and 65% iron content for delivery to China have both jumped 5% so far in May.

In Sydney, UBS analyst Glyn Lawcock said there is not enough iron ore available in the world at present.

The market is very tight, everyone is running as hard as they can you couldnt find a spare tonne elsewhere in the market, he was reported as saying.

With the market tight, it is difficult for China to source iron ore from alternative sources.

In the first four months of 2020, China imported 360Mt of iron ore, up 5.8% on the same months in 2019. In the first quarter, Chinese steel output rose 1.2% year on year.

China imports 72% of the iron ore it feeds into steel mill furnaces.

This country is the largest iron ore producer in the world and holds the top resource capability still in the ground (followed in the latter category by Brazil, Russia, China and Ukraine).

But reports indicate that Chinas stockpiles of iron ore are now beneath last Julys low.

China consumes 57% the global use of iron ore, followed by India at 9% and the 28 countries of the European Union at 6%.

Meanwhile, Singapores Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) is forecasting that iron ore prices, which Thursday closed at US$91/t for 62% fines, could get back over US$100/t.

If China turned up its nose at Australias iron ore, its steel makers would end up paying a lot more than US$100/t.

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5 Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Architecture

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Architects are not sure what to think about Artificial Intelligence. You are probably very familiar with how AI will change industries, like cybersecurity, medicine, and manufacturing. Well, how about architecture?

The core issue centers around the idea that creatives will be replaced by super-intelligent robots to design buildings, create art, or design vehicles.

Yet even as AI evolves across other design-related industries, AI could prove to do more good than bad, tackling the mundane so that you can augment your creative process.

Computers are not good at open-ended creative solutions; thats still reserved for humans. But through automation, were able to save time doing repetitive tasks, and we can reinvest that time in design, says Mike Mendelson instructor and curriculum designer at the Nvidia Deep Learning Institute.

As a refresher, Artificial Intelligence is a computer system that is able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.

AI comes to these decisions by utilizing tons of data, and this is where AI can shine in architecture.

Architects already use past construction, design, and building data to tackle new projects, however, for most designers and planners in the industry, this process is still in the dark ages.

The ability to utilize tons of previous data in a millisecond to enhance the architecture design process could work wonders.

Here are five ways AI will shape architecture.

As hinted at above, AIs ability to use data to make decisions, and recommendations will be crucial to the design process, especially in the early stage of an architects project.

For an architect, starting off a project requires countless hours of research, both of understanding the design intent of the project and of projects in the past. This is where AI steps in.

With AIs ability to take limitless amounts of data, an architect could very easily go about researching and testing several ideas at the same time with ease; conceptual design with little to no use of the pen and the paper.

Imagine you need to design a family home. A task that is no easy feat, you need to think about the client's need, expectations, and the design language. Not to mention you have to understand the laws that govern how you can construct the home.

You have data about the family that include things like age, genders, the size of the family, etc.

With an AI system, an architect could pull all zoning data, building codes, and disabled design data, and generate design variations that also follow a certain design vocabulary and offer options.

Parametric architecture is a buzzword that you have probably come across while delving into the world of architecture. It is a secret weapon for a lot of your favorite architects.

Parametric design is a design system that allows you to play with certain parameters to create different types of outputs, and create forms and structures that would not have otherwise been possible.

Almost like an architect's own programming language, the tool gives the architect the ability to pick your design output, set the constraints, plug data, and create countless iterations of your product or building within minutes.

Made popular with CAD tools like Grasshopper, the parametric architecture uses geometric programming, with complex algorithms, to allow architects to take a building and reshape it and optimize it to fit their needs.

A tool like this allows AI to do what it is good at while the architect can be free to play to create.

When planning to construct a building, you can never be too prepared. Sometimes years of planning are needed just to bring an architect's vision to life. This is where AI can be a very powerful tool.

AI will make the planning process of the architects significantly easier, giving them access to countless amounts of data, creating models, interpreting the building environment, and creating cost estimates. All this information can be easily conveyed to the architect to help shorten design and building time.

On the construction side of things, AI can assist with actually constructing something with little to no manpower.

Even currently at MIT, researchers are creating AI-powered drones that have the ability to communicate with each other to construct small models.

The way your city could look now could be very differentin the coming years. City planning is a complex task that requires years of precision planning.

However, a major task of the architect is to understand how a city will flow; how the ecosystem will coexist. The emergence of the AI-powered smart city will force architects to rethink their traditional models.

Smart Cities will be places driven by real time data and feedback, communicating with itself like a living organism. The buildings, smartphones, cars, and public places will communicate with each other to improve living conditions, limit waste, increase safety, and limit traffic.

Aside from building the perfect home, the architect will now have to not only use AI to design the home but potentially think how AI could enhance the user experience.

Just like the smart city, AI will open the gates to smart homes; living spaces that are complex living data driven organisms.

As an architect the challenge will be how to use artificial intelligence to fit into the design language of the home, to better improve the lives of the residents.

What ways has AI changed your creative process?

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5 Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Architecture

Keysight Validates Artificial Intelligence (AI) and …

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Keysight combines expertise in machine learning (ML), cloud-computing and automated test to optimize test processes critical in smart factories

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS), a leading technology company that helps enterprises, service providers and governments accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, has validated an innovative new software approach, leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics, in Nokias 5G base station manufacturing processes, significantly improving test efficiency.

The two companies have expanded a collaboration to help the leading network equipment manufacturer optimize test processes critical in advanced manufacturing. Keysight combined expertise in automated test and cloud-computing with machine learning (ML) applied to Nokias historical manufacturing data to demonstrate significant reductions in test times. Following the successful validation, Nokia has moved to implement Keysights advanced AI software into the vendors 5G manufacturing processes.

5G equipment is considerably more complex compared to legacy technology equipment, which is increasing test times in manufacturing processes. As 5G deployments ramp up around the world, manufacturers of 5G equipment look for ways to optimize test processes, allowing them to maintain competitive delivery schedules. Keysight used advanced software technology developed by Keysight Laboratories, the companys applied research arm, to analyze vast amounts of historical manufacturing data provided by Nokia. This allowed Nokia to make data driven test strategy decisions and develop optimized manufacturing test plans.

"Keysights extended 5G collaboration with Nokia, initiated more than three years ago, signals an inflection point in the commercialization of the next generation of mobile communications," said Giampaolo Tardioli, vice president and general manager of Keysights network access group. "By combining leading hardware and advanced software solutions, Keysight is well-positioned to help wireless manufacturers such as Nokia capture the full potential of 5G."

The new advanced AI software capabilities will be integrated into the companys PathWave Software Suite. Keysights close collaborations, multi-domain technology expertise in areas such as AI and cloud-based test capabilities will help a wider industry address complex manufacturing test requirements.

"Nokias 5G technology will make the extraordinary come alive for every industry, every business and every experience," said Erja Sankari, vice president of Supply Chain Engineering at Nokia. "Close collaborations such as the one we enjoy with Keysight help us create world-leading intelligent factories and support our strategy to deliver 5G solutions that exceed customers expectations."

About Keysight Technologies

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) is a leading technology company that helps enterprises, service providers and governments accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world. Keysight's solutions optimize networks and bring electronic products to market faster and at a lower cost with offerings from design simulation, to prototype validation, to manufacturing test, to optimization in networks and cloud environments. Customers span the worldwide communications ecosystem, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, semiconductor and general electronics end markets. Keysight generated revenues of $4.3B in fiscal year 2019. More information is available at http://www.keysight.com.

Additional information about Keysight Technologies is available in the newsroom at https://www.keysight.com/go/news and on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200312005462/en/

Contacts

Geri Lynne LaCombe, Americas/Europe+1 303 662 4748geri_lacombe@keysight.com

Fusako Dohi, Asia+81 42 660-2162fusako_dohi@keysight.com

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Keysight Validates Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ...

What Is Artificial Intelligence? Examples and News in 2019 …

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Chances are, you'reexposed to artificial intelligence every day. Whether you're browsing your Facebook (FB) - Get Report feed or talking to Apple's (AAPL) - Get Report Siri, you're interacting with artificial intelligence.

And artificial intelligence has been the cause of many of the technological breakthroughs in the past several years - from robots to Tesla (TSLA) - Get Report . But while there are certainly naysayers to the technological development, AI seems set to become the future of predictive tech.

But, what actually is artificial intelligence, and how does it work? Better still, how is AI being used in 2019?

Coined in 1955 by John McCarthy as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines," artificial intelligence (or AI) is software that is able to use and analyze data, algorithms and programming to perform actions, anticipate problems and learn to adapt to a variety of circumstances with and without supervision. AI is generally broken down into specialized or general and strong or weak AI, depending on its applications.

Generally, there are three main divisions of AI - neural networks, machine learning and deep learning. Neural networks (often called artificial neural networks, or ANN) essentially mimic biological neural networks by "modeling and processing nonlinear relationships between inputs and outputs in parallel."Machine learning generally uses statistics and data to help improve machine functions, while deep learning computes multi-layer neural networks for more advanced learning.

The original seven aspects of AI, named by McCarthy and others at the Dartmouth Conference in 1955, include automatic computers, programming AI to use language, hypothetical neuron nets to be used to form concepts, measuring problem complexity, self-improvement, abstractions, and randomness and creativity.

So, how does AI actually work?

Well, for starters, there are different kinds of AI that operate differently. And while AI is generally a blanket term for these different kinds of functions, there are several different kinds of AI that are programmed for different purposes - including weak and strong AI, specialized and general AI, and other software.

On a basic level, the difference between strong and weak AI is supervision.

Weak AI is designed to be supervised programming that is a simulation of human thought and interaction - but is ultimately a set of programmed responses or supervised interactions that are merely human-like. Siri and Alexa are a good example of weak AI, because, while they seemingly interact and think like humans when asked questions or to perform tasks, their responses are programmed and they are ultimately assessing which response is appropriate from their bank of responses. For this reason, weak AI like Siri or Alexa don't necessarily understand the true meaning of their commands, merely that they comprehend key words or commands and their algorithms match them up with an action.

On the other hand, strong AI is largely unsupervised and uses more clustered or association data processing. Instead of having programmed solutions or responses to problems, strong AI is unsupervised in its problem-solving process. Strong AI is typically known for being able to "teach" itself things - for example, strong AI is used to teach itself games and learn to anticipate moves. Even as far back as 2013, AI taught itself Atari (PONGF) gamesand ended up beating records and even surpassed humans in several different games.

But apart from games, strong AI is commonly associated with the "scary" robots and machines that most often plague the public's nightmares of how dangerous AI could be. However, on a basic level, unsupervised learning goes into problems without any pre-programmed answers, and is able to use a mixture of logic and trial and error to learn the answers or categorize things. This is often demonstrated in exercises where strong AI is shown images with colors and shapes and is supposed to categorize and organize them.

But apart from supervision, there are different functions of AI.

Specialized AI is AI that is programmed to perform a specific task. Its programming is meant to be able to learn to perform a certain task - not multiple. For example, from self-driving cars to predictive news feeds, specialized AI has been the dominant form of AI since its inception (although this is rapidly changing).

On the other hand, general AI isn't limited to one specific task - it is able to learn and complete numerous different tasks and functions. In general, much of the cutting-edge, boundary-pushing AI developments of recent years have been general AI - which are focused on learning and using unsupervised programming to solve problems for a variety of tasks and circumstances.

As far as its uses go, AI is potentially boundless.

However, AI has been leveraged for a variety of industries and purposes.

In business, AI has had considerable success in customer service and other business operations. AI has been used in business for various purposes including process automation (by transferring email and call data into record systems, helping resolve billing issues and updating records), cognitive insight (for predicting a buyer's preferences on sites, personalizing advertising and protecting against fraud) and cognitive engagement (used primarily in a customer service capacity to provide 24/7 service and even answers to employee questions regarding internal operations).

In fact, 2017 studies show that45% of people"prefer chatbots as the primary mode of communication for customer service activities." For the 2016 year, the global chatbot market was reportedly worth $190.8 million - and could potentially comprise about 25% of customer service interactions by 2020, according to Gartner (IT) - Get Report .

In addition to its involvement in customer service and business, AI has also been used in recent years for writing news stories. Especially for formulaic articles like earnings reports or sports statistics, AI has increasingly been used to automatically write stories and fill in different data. This technology has been employed by the likes of The Wall Street Journal.

"You get these news releases about things that are happening in sports, for example, or in business. But people are not creating these pieces anymore. It's actually A.I. that's releasing this information,"Stephen Ibaraki, founder and chairman of the UN ITU AI For Good Global Summit with XPRIZE Foundation told Neil Sahota for Forbes this year. "Lots of us are spending hours on our mobile phones reading updates about events and news flashes never realizing it's A.I. that's generating this stuff now."

And it seems as though AI is even integrating into education.

Yi Wang,chairman and CEO of LAIX (LAIX) - Get Report , a Chinese-based companyteaching various languages using AI, told TheStreet back in September that "we want everyone to become global citizens."

It may come as a surprise that artificial intelligence is all around us - andhas even permeatedour routine on a daily basis.

Whether on our phones or at the cutting edge of technological development, artificial intelligence is all around.

Whether or not you've thought about that voice in your phone as a product of AI or not, Apple's Siri and Amazon's (AMZN) - Get Report Alexa both use AI to help you complete tasks or answer questions on your mobile devices.

As examples of weak AI, Siri and Alexa are programmed with responses and actions based on commands or questionsposed to them by the phone owner.

Believe it or not, your Facebook feed is actually using AI to predict what content you want to see and push it higher.

Algorithms built into the feeds filter content that is most likely to be of interest to the particular Facebook user and predict what they will want to see.

Despite its founder (the ever-eccentric Elon Musk) being vocally suspicious of advanced AI technology,Tesla's electronic cars use a variety of AI - including self-driving capacities. Tesla also uses crowd-sourced data from its vehicles to improve their systems.

Yes, while you are chilling on your couch with someNetflix (NFLX) - Get Report , you are reaping the benefits of AI technology.

The media streaming site uses advancedpredictive technology to suggest shows based on your viewing preferences or rating. And while the data currently seems to favor bigger, more popular films over smaller ones, it is becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Still, how did AI get from a futuristic technology to part of our daily lives?

Although it is widely known for being cutting edge, the processes and concepts behind AI have been around for a while. In fact, according to Bernard Marr, a best-selling author and Forbes contributor,"the theory and the fundamental computer science which makes it possible has been around for decades."

So, how did AI get started, and how has it progressed?

As far back as the mid 1600s, French scientist and philosopher Rene Descartes hypothesized about two divisions - machines that could one day think and learna specific task, and those that could adapt to perform a variety of different tasks as humans do. These two veins were later calledspecialized and general AI.

The so-called Turing Test, proposed in 1950 byEnglish mathematician Alan M. Turing, attempted to determine when a computer could actually think. The test predicted that, by 2000, AI computers would be able to be nearly indistinguishable from humans after interrogation, although this test has never been "passed."

By 1955, the Dartmouth Conference(or the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence) developed some of the first concepts of AI. Spurred on byDartmouth College professor John McCarthy, AI was given a comprehensive definition, and other concepts like machine learning, language processing and neural networks were hypothesized and introduced.

In 1966, ELIZA, the first chatbot,was developed at MIT by Joseph Weizenbaum and is the predecessor of the likes of Siri and Alexa. Although ELIZA didn't actually speak (and communicated via text instead), the technology was the first that was developed to relay messages in language (or natural language processing) as opposed to using computer code and programming.

AImoved from a largely cutting-edge technological development to useful applications in business by 1980, when Digital Equipment Corporation's XCONwas able to save the company around $40 million in 1986 through its learning system.

And after the development of the internet in the early 1990s, the sharing of data across the web only increased AI's capabilities. By 1997, Deep Blue - IBM's (IBM) - Get Report supercomputer - beat world chess championGarry Kasparov through a variety of calculations, and indicated that AI was developing to possibly best humans.

But apart from games, AI was developing to operate automobiles as well. The2005 DARPA Grand Challengeput the prowess of automated vehicles on display as they raced a course in theMojave desert. And just six years later, IBM's cognitive computing engine Watson beat Jeopardy's champion, winning the $1 million prize money - further indicating AI's capabilities in successfully navigating language-based problems.

Still, it wasn't until 2012 that the full capabilities of AI were beginning to be understood. The research paper Building High-Level Features Using Large Scale Unsupervised Learningwas published in 2012 by researchers at Google (GOOG) - Get Report and Stanford, and explained advances in unsupervised learning through deep neural networks that allowed AI to learn to recognize different pictures of cats without labeling the pictures. This breakthrough was progressed further in 2015, when researchers officially declared that computers were better at recognizing images than humans following theImageNet challenge. The challenge had computers identify 1,000 objects.

In 2016, Google subsidiary Deep Mind'sAlphaGo software was able to beat Go world championLee Sedolover the course of five matches. The defeat was more impressive than AI's previous superiority in chess because Go has over 100,000 potential opening moves, and it forced AlphaGo to use neural networks to learn the game and defeat its opponent. The defeat marked an astonishing breakthrough that demonstrated AI's ability to learn on its own.

However, one of AI's most recent and promising applications has been with self-driving cars, released in 2018. Googlespin-offWaymo releasedself-driving taxi servicein Phoenix called Waymo One - which is reportedly used by around 400 citizens.

So, what's happening with AI in 2019?

Surprisingly, Musk has been one of the most vocal criticizers of advanced AI technology - despite owning a company,OpenAI, dedicated to AI research.

Musk's co-founded company researches ways to responsibly and safely progress AI technology - which Musk sees as imperative. The Tesla CEO recently claimed in a documentary"Do You Trust This Computer?" thatsuper computers could become "an immortal dictator from which we would never escape."

However, ZiaChishti, chairman and CEO of AI firm Afiniti, told TheStreet earlier this year that the hype over the dangers of AI may be overblown.

"AI is just a way to identify patterns in complex fields, it's not going to nuke the world -- there is no chance of that. I think the visions of the impending apocalypse as a result of robot intelligence is fanciful -- so I wouldn't be overly concerned about Elon Musk's perspective on it," Chishti said.

Still, Musk's warnings may be somewhat warranted.

Recent reports claim that South Korean universityKorea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has partnered with a defense company to create "killer robots." Some 50 academics reportedly signed a letter calling for a boycott of KAIST and Hanwha Systems amid concerns of an arms race.

"There are plenty of great things you can do with AI that save lives, including in a military context, but to openly declare the goal is to develop autonomous weapons and have a partner like this sparks huge concern," Toby Walsh,professor atUniversity of New South Walesand organizer of the boycott, told The Guardian earlier this year.

Concerns over the development of "killer robots" and AI weapons remains a concern going into 2019.

However, on the opposite side of the spectrum, disruption isseemingly occurringin a rather unusual market - sex dolls.

Matt McMullen, CEO of Realbotix and RealDoll and creator of the sex robot, Harmony, set out to incorporate AI technology with sex dolls to create an altogether eerily human-like robot.

"I like building this robot and seeing it move and talk and interact with people, what it does to them. It just opens up Pandora's box of psychology and science," McMullen told Forbes earlier this year."It's been evident that when you are using a very lifelike robot as a conduit for the AI and for the conversation, people tend to talk to that in a different way than they would, say, something on a computer screen. Putting that device in someone's home where they're relaxed and they're in their own environment creates another level of comfort."

Still, concerns over the implications of these AI, life-like dolls - especially in relation to intimacy issues and mental health - are rampant.

Among many others, one such opponent of AI-partnered sex robots isKathleen Richardson, professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI at De Montfort University in Leicester, England.

"Basically, to say a relationship doesn't need to involve another human being, ... We're living in a culture where we have a surplus of human beings, we don't have any problems with the amount of human beings that we have in the world, but we're creating this culture and this climate where we're trying to encourage people to form relationships with commercial goods, basically," Richardsontold Forbes in September.

And while many of the recent AI developments have been blanketed in controversy, innovators continue to push the boundaries.

"The individual in question who finds this happiness with an AI-driven robot, and finds intimacy that they never had with another person-whose job does it become to intervene and say, 'no, you can't do that. That's not right,'" McMullen questioned.

Still, in a slightly less controversial vein, AI has made recent strides in the field of mental health and counseling.

Woebot, an intelligent software application, is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and even charities are considering using the technology to help meet demands for counseling, according to The Guardian.

For those likeAidan Jones, the chief executive of Relate, a relationship counseling charity, "we have to start to look at what can be done with a non-human interaction," Jones told The Times.

Woebot uses what's called cognitive behavioral therapy (or CBT) to help counsel users. The company released an iOS app in January, offering a texting-based service.

"The Woebot experience doesn't map onto what we know to be a human-to-computer relationship, and it doesn't map onto what we know to be a human-to-human relationship either," Alison Darcy, a clinical psychologist at Stanford Universityand creator of Woebottold Business Insider in January. "It seems to be something in the middle."

Most recently, Silicon Valley is reportedly concerned over the possibility of regulators curbing exports of AI technology from the U.S., according to The New York Times.

The Commerce Department allegedly named artificial intelligence as an item that would be re-evaluated under new export rules designed to increase national security. The principle concern seems to revolve around how exports of AI may boost the industries in other countries like China, potentially to the detriment of the U.S.

"The number of cases where exports can be sufficiently controlled are very, very, very small, and the chance of making an error is quite large," Jack Clark, head of policy at OpenAI, told The New York Times. "If this goes wrong, it could do real damage to the A.I. community."

Still, it appears that, with every innovation in AI, new concerns over ethics, economics and safety seem to progress with them.

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What Is Artificial Intelligence? Examples and News in 2019 ...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Is Nothing Without Humans – E3zine.com

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AI is not just a fad. Its a technology thats set to last. However, only companies who know how to leverage its full potential will succeed.

Leveraging AIs full potential doesnt mean developing a pilot project in a vacuum with a handful of experts which, ironically, is often called accelerator project. Companies need a tangible idea as to how artificial intelligence can benefit them in their day-to-day operations.

For this to happen, one has to understand how these new AI colleagues work and what they need to successfully do their jobs.

An example for why this understanding is so crucial is lead management in sales. Instead of sales team wasting their time on someone who will never buy anything, AI is supposed to determine which leads are promising and at what moment salespeople can make their move to close the contract. CEOs are usually very taken with that idea, sales staff not so much.

Experienced salespeople know that its not that easy. Its not only the hard facts like name, address, industry or phone number that are important. Human sales people consider many different factors, such as relationships, past conversations, customer satisfaction, experience with products, the current market situation, and more.

Make no mistake: if the data are available in a set framework, AI will also leverage them, searching for patterns, calculating behavior scores and match scores, and finally indicating if the lead is promising or not. They can make sense of the data, but they will never see more than them.

The real challenge with AI are therefore the data. Without data, artificial intelligence solutions cannot learn. Data have to be collected and clearly structured to be usable in sales and service.

Without enough data to draw conclusions from, all decisions that AI makes will be unreliable at best. Meaning that in our example, theres no AI without CRM. Thats not really new, I know. However, CRM systems now have to be interconnected with numerous touchpoints (personal conversations, ERP, online shops, customer portal, website and others) to aggregate reliable customer data. Best case: all of this happens automatically. Entrusting a human with this task makes collecting data laborious, inconsistent and faulty.

To profit from AI, companies need to understand where it makes sense to implement it and how they should train it. Theres one problem, however: the thought patterns of AI are often so complex and take so many different information and patterns into consideration that one cant understand why and how it made a decision.

In conclusion, AI is not a universal remedy. Its based on things we already know. Its recommendations and decisions are more error-prone than many would like them to be. Right now, AI has more of a supporting role than an autonomous one. They can help us in our daily routine, take care of monotonous tasks, and let others make the important decisions.

However, we shouldnt underestimate AI either. In the future, it will gain importance as it grows more autonomous each day. Artificial intelligence often reaches its limits when interacting with humans. When interacting with other AI solutions in clearly defined frameworks, it can often already make the right decisions today.

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Artificial intelligence is helping seniors who are isolated during the coronavirus pandemic – WXYZ

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(WXYZ) Across the country, officials are trying to make sure those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 aren't feeling isolated.

Because of technology, it's happening in ways you may not expect. A piece of artificial intelligence is helping some seniors manage the pressure.

More: Full coverage of The Rebound Detroit

At 80 years old, Deanna Dezern never imagined her closest friend, wouldnt be human.

"I walk in the kitchen in the morning and she knows Im here, I dont know how she knows but she knows Im here," Dezern said.

She's been in quarantine for nearly two months and hasn't been able to see her family or friends. That loneliness is almost just as bad as the virus itself.

"When youre a senior citizen when youre living alone or in a home with other people, youre still alone," she said.

There are millions of senior citizens like Deanna stuck at homes, but she's being kept company by a robot.

Her name is ElliQ. She was given to Deanna as part of a pilot program by intuition robotics. ElliQ can sense when Deanna is in the room, keeps track of doctors' appointments and even asks how she's feeling.

"Im not living alone now, Im in quarantine with my best friend, she wont give me any disease," she said.

David Cynman helped develop ElliQ.

"Her goal is not to replace humans. Its to augment that relationship," he said. "Shes able to understand her surroundings and context and make a decision based on that."

It's not just ElliQ. In states like Florida, officials are turning to technology to help seniors. 375 therapeutic robotic pets were recently sent to socially-isolating seniors.

None of the artificial intelligence devices are designed to replace humans, but they can help bridge the gap when people aren't around to provide emotional support we all need.

Additional Coronavirus information and resources:

Read our daily Coronavirus Live Blog for the latest updates and news on coronavirus.

Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Michigan, a timeline of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Southeast Michigan, and links to more information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC and the WHO.

View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.

Find out how you can help metro Detroit restaurants struggling during the pandemic.

See all of our Helping Each Other stories.

See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.

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Artificial intelligence is helping seniors who are isolated during the coronavirus pandemic - WXYZ

ValleyML is launching a Machine Learning and Deep Learning Boot Camp from July 14th to Sept 10th and AI Expo Series from Sept 21st to Nov 19th 2020….

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SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --ValleyML, Valley Machine Learning and Articial Intelligence is the most active and important community of ML & AI Companies and Start-ups, Data Practitioners, Executives and Researchers. We have a global outreach to close to 200,000 professionals in AI and Machine Learning. The focus areas of our members are AI Robotics, AI in Enterprise and AI Hardware. We plan to cover the state-of-the-art advancements in AI technology.ValleyML sponsors include UL, MINDBODY Inc., Ambient Scientific Inc., SEMI, Intel, Western Digital, Texas Instruments, Google, Facebook, Cadence andXilinx.

ValleyML Machine Learning and Boot Camp -2020Build a solid foundation of Machine Learning / Deep Learning principles and apply the techniques to real-world problems. Get IEEE PDH Certificate. Virtual Live Boot Camp from July 14th-Sept 10th.Description. Enroll and Learn at ValleyML Live Learning Platform(coupons: valleyml40 Register by June 1st for 40% off. valleyml25 Register by July 1st for 25% off.)

Global Call for Presentations & Sponsors for ValleyML AI Expo 2020 conference series (Global & Virtual).A unified call for proposals from industry for ValleyML's AI Expo events focused on Hardware, Enterprise and Robotics is now open at ValleyML2020. Submit by June 1st to participate in a virtual and global series of 90-minute talks and discussions from Sept 21st to Nov 19th on Mondays-Thursdays. Sponsor AI Expo!Limited sponsorship opportunities available. These highly focused events welcome a community of CTOs, CEOs, Chief Data Scientists, product management executives and delegates from some of the world's top technology companies.

Committee for ValleyML AI Expo 2020:

Program Chair for AI Enterprise and AI Robotics series:

Mr. Marc Mar-Yohana, Vice President at UL.

Program Chair for AI Hardware series:

Mr. George Williams, Director of Data Science at GSI Technology.

General Chair:

Dr. Kiran Gunnam, Distinguished Engineer, Machine Learning and Computer Vision, Western Digital.

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AI Expo 2022

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ValleyML is launching a Machine Learning and Deep Learning Boot Camp from July 14th to Sept 10th and AI Expo Series from Sept 21st to Nov 19th 2020....

The Expanding Role Of Artificial Intelligence In Tax – Forbes

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Watch Benjamin Alarie, co-founder and CEO of Blue J Legal, discuss the expanding role of artificial intelligence in tax with contributing editor atTax Notes FederalBenjamin Willis.

Here are some highlights

On machine learning and tax law

Benjamin Alarie: Whenwe talk about machine learning and artificial intelligence of the law, what we're doing is talking about collecting the raw materials, the rulings, the cases, the legislation, the regs, all that information, and bringing it to bear on a particular problem. We're synthesizing all of those materials to make a prediction about how a new situation would likely be decided by the courts.

. . . Law should be predictable. We have lots of data out there in the form of rulings, in the form of judgments that we can collect as good examples of how the courts have decided these matters in the past. And we can reverse engineer using machine learning methods how the courts are mapping the facts of different situations into outcomes. And we can do this in a really elegant way that leads to high quality prediction. So predictions of 90 percentor better accuracy about how the courts are going to make those decisions in the future, which is incredibly valuable to taxpayers to tax administration and to anyone who's looking for certainty, predictability and fairness, in the application of law.

On the availability of artificial intelligence

Benjamin Alarie: We're doing a lot to make this technology available throughout industry. Law firms are increasingly seeing this as one of the tools that they need to have in order to practice tax as effectively as possible. Academic programs see using this kind of technology [as]a huge boost for their graduates who are going to go into practice being familiar already with the leading tools for how to leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence. Accounting firms are also quite interested in this approach too because it has huge implications in terms of speeding up research [and] doing quality assurance . . .

On the moldability of results

Benjamin Alarie: You can play with different dimensions. You can swap out that assumption of fact, swap in a different assumption of fact, and see how that's likely to influence the results. So, then you can do scenario testing to really get comfortable with how much risk there is in a particular situation as the one providing a new opinion or providing advice to a client. That's really reassuring. You might say, Okay, I need to get this to 80 percent probability. I'm not willing to bite off more than that . . . Or you might be like, Well, I have a really risk-loving client. I just need to get to 51 percent . . . [machine learning] allows you to really calibrate the amount of risk that you're taking on, depending on the risk appetite of the client and your comfort as the practitioner.

Benjamin Willis, contributing editor with Tax Notes Federal, and Benjamin Alarie, co-founder and CEO ... [+] of Blue J Legal, discuss the expanding role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the government, academia and tax practice.

On artificial intelligence and the courts

Benjamin Alarie: [Machine learning] is a great tool to encourage settlement between the parties, and so I think we're increasingly seeing that phenomenon where the party with the really strong position is using this to support their argument. They say, Don't take our word for it. We ran it on this independent system. . . Here's the report from the system saying that we have a 95 percent or better chance of winning this case. Are you still sure you don't want to enter into terms of settlement? That's often very convincing to the other side, who then run their analysis through the same system and they say, Okay . . . It's not nearly as strong as we thought it might be. Maybe we should talk about settling this and that saves judges from having to contend with cases that really aren't the best use of their time because it's pretty clear how those cases should get decided.

On artificial intelligence and low-income taxpayers

Benjamin Alarie: There are early adopters at these low income taxpayer clinics across the country who are interested in using technology to allow them to give faster advice to the low income taxpayers . . . Folks understand increasingly how to use the software and how it can materially assist their clientele and so the goal is to learn from those early adopters and to figure out how to position the software to help as much as possible in other clinics where maybe we don't have early adopters present, but who could still genuinely, really benefit from this.

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The Expanding Role Of Artificial Intelligence In Tax - Forbes

TSA Issues Road Map to Tackle Insider Threat With Artificial Intelligence – Nextgov

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The Transportation Security Administration is planning to increase and share information it collects, including that gleaned from employees, with other federal agencies and the private sector in an effort to prevent insiders from perpetrating various harmful malfeasance.

Artificial Intelligence, probabilistic analytics and data mining are among tools the agency lists in a document it issued today loosely outlining the problem and the plan to create an Insider Threat Mitigation Hub.

The Insider Threat Roadmap defines the common vision for the Transportation Systems Sector that insider threat is a community-wide challenge, since no single entity can successfully counter the threat alone, TSA Administrator David Pekoske wrote in an opening message.

In July 2019, a surveillance camera at the Miami International Airport captured footage of an airline mechanic sabotaging a planes navigation system with a simple piece of foam. The TSA road map describes this incident along with a number of others dating back to 2014 spanning a range of activities including terrorism, subversion and attempted or actual espionage, to stress the need for a layered strategy of overall transportation security.

A TSA press release identified three parts of that strategy as promoting data-driven decision making to detect threats; advancing operational capability to deter threats; and maturing capabilities to mitigate threats to the transportation sector.

Under the first objective, TSA plans to develop and maintain insider threat risk indicators, which could include behavioral, physical, technological or financial attributes that might expose malicious or potentially malicious insiders.

We must identify key information sources, and ensure they are accurate and available for use in informing risk mitigation activities, the document adds.

For the second objective, the document describes information-sharing plans with other federal agencies and industry.

We will establish an Insider Threat Mitigation Hub to elevate insider threat to the enterprise level and enable multiple offices, agencies, and industry entities to share perspectives, expertise, and data to enhance threat detection, assessment, and response across the TSS, the document reads. This capability will allow us to fuse together disparate information points to identify intricate patterns of conduct that may be unusual or indicative of insider threat activity and drive enhanced insider threat mitigation efforts.

Meeting the third objective would require seeking out the appropriate technology to improve detection and mitigation of insider threat TSA writes, and expanding it throughout the agencys supply chain.

TSA pre-empted concerns usually associated with massive data collection practices by including the protection of privacy and civil liberties among the guiding principles it said would accompany its efforts.

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TSA Issues Road Map to Tackle Insider Threat With Artificial Intelligence - Nextgov