All member nations of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted on Thursday a historical text that defines the common values and principles needed to ensure the healthy development of artificial intelligence (AI). AI is present in everyday life, from booking flights and applying for loans to steering driverless cars. It is also used in specialized fields, such as cancer screening, or to help create inclusive environments for the disabled. According to UNESCO, AI is also supporting the decision-making of governments and the private sector, as well as helping combat global problems such as climate change and

A sweet potato (kamote) ice cream plant will soon be launched in Leyte through the assistance of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Secretary Fortunato de la Peña said on Friday. In a taped report, he said this will be funded by the DOST in Region VIII and will be located at the Philippine Root Crops Research and Training Center in Baybay, Leyte. “The Center is now producing ice cream using sweet potato, locally known as kamote in various flavors: cheesy macapuno, jackfruit, mint-chocolate, double dutch, and coffee-choco swirl,” he said. De la Peña added that the facility currently

The Department of Agriculture (DA) in Region 13 (Caraga) has indemnified 467 affected families when the African swine fever (ASF) hit the region this year. A total of PHP6.3 million indemnification fund was released to the families this year that covered around 1,270 hogs hit by the ASF. In a phone interview Friday afternoon, Emmylou Presilda of the Information Office of DA-13 said the releases this year were part of the quick response indemnification fund of the agriculture department for the affected hog raisers in the region. “We concluded our 2021 releases this November through a series of distributions conducted

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III pitched before foreign investors Friday the Philippines’ “game-changing undertakings” to ensure a strong, inclusive, and resilient recovery from the pandemic as he urged them to take part in these initiatives to help achieve a ‘sustainable and better future” for the Filipino people. These game changers include a fast-tracked digitalization program across the Philippine bureaucracy, the timely passage of the corporate tax reform law, the establishment of a national identification system, measures to improve the ease of doing business, the sustained modernization of the country’s infrastructure, and ambitious climate adaptation and mitigation projects, he said. Dominguez