On October 18, 2020, the award ceremony of the 2nd IKCEST “The Belt and Road” International Big Data Competition and the 6th Baidu & Xi’an Jiaotong University Big Data Competition was held in Xi’an. After more than 90 days of fierce competition, 16 teams from all over the world stood out as this year’s winners.

The Third Session of the Second Advisory Committee of International Knowledge Centre for Engineering Sciences and Technology ("IKCEST") was held at the Chinese Academy of Engineering through a combination of online and offline methods on September 8, 2020. It was co-chaired by CAE Member Pan Yunhe, and CAE foreign Member Raj Reddy and attended by 11 advisors, including CAE Member Wu Cheng, CAE Member Li Guojie, CAE Member Li Bohu, Professor Han Qunli, Zhuang Yueting, Jin Hai, He Liang, Mr. Liu Xiaoyun, 12 representatives from the general and sub-platform and 3 staff from the Secretariat.

The Third Session of the Second Governing Board of International Knowledge Centre for Engineering Sciences and Technology ("IKCEST") was held on September 15, 2020 in Shanghai through a combination of online and offline methods. It was co-chaired by CAE Member Chen Zuoning, Chairman of the Second Governing Board of IKCEST, Vice President of CAE and Philippe Pypaert, Programme Specialist for Natural Sciences, UNESCO Beijing Office and attended by CAE Member Zhong Zhihua (Director of IKCEST), Vice President of CAE, CAE Member Pan Yunhe, CAE Member Gao Wen, CAE Member Wu Zhiqiang, Qin Changwei, Secretary-General of the National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO, and other Governing Board members made up of academicians and experts from America, Germany, India and South Africa, 3 staff from the Secretariat, and 3 representatives from the expert team.

Researchers at Hiroshima University have taught an AI to look at post-disaster aerial images and accurately determine how battered the buildings are -- a technology that crisis responders can use to map damage and identify extremely devastated areas where help is needed the most.

Mr. Amjad Abbashar, Chief of the UNDRR Africa Regional Office opened the webinar noting that, “UNDRR advocates for the empowerment of local governments and communities, as they are often the first line of response to disasters”. Through the Making Cities Resilient Campaign, UNDRR has been able to support the implementation of the Sendai Framework in coherence with the development agenda in collaboration with partners. “As we look beyond 2020, we seek to strengthen these partnerships to accelerate efforts towards the achievement of the 2030 targets”, Mr. Abbashar said. In addition, the Sendai Framework calls for a comprehensive approach to disaster risk reduction that is based on an all of society engagement that acknowledges the role of different stakeholders in the agenda.

Organized by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation of Thailand (MHESI), the International Knowledge Centre for Engineering Sciences and Technology under the Auspices of UNESCO（IKCEST）and the Thai Alumni Association of China’s Universities (TACU), the conference on new-energy vehicles investment opportunities in Thailand was held online on July 11, 2020. More than 3,000 audience from China and Thailand participated in the conference.

On the afternoon of July 9, 2020, Beijing time, the closed door meeting of Shanghai artificial intelligence strategy advisory expert committee with the theme of "AI2.0: Shanghai's Breakthrough and Contribution in the Post Epidemic Era" was successfully held.