Season’s Greetings from I-DAIR

Dear partners and friends of I-DAIR,

We have experienced an exceptional year at I-DAIR from all points of view, with a significant event being the appointment in July of our founder and first CEO, Amb. Amandeep Gill, as United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology. This represented the recognition of his efforts in creating I-DAIR, as well as building up the entire team that has now taken up the torch and continues to dedicate itself to our original vision of implementing effective research collaboration in Digital Health (DH) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) between different countries, particularly those in the Global South.

I-DAIR has grown and is now recognised as one of the first organisations fully dedicated to DH and AI for collaborative research. This recognition allowed us to present I-DAIR to the UN and the international community in New York during the United Nations General Assembly, at a UN event chaired by the President of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Abdulla Shahid and co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of Switzerland and Singapore to the United Nations in New York.

This recognition also culminated in the signing of an MoU with the WHO. This MoU formalised our shared vision and collaboration. Currently, we are working jointly with the WHO to define and create a competency framework as well as capacity development in DH. With our partner, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada, we will contribute to their efforts to promote responsible AI for medical and clinical research in the Global South, by overseeing some of the projects that have been recently awarded to other partners and implementing a strategy, methodology and tools, as well as making available the necessary resource repositories. Another major project milestone was the launch of the Mental Health and Wellbeing edition from our Global Research Map (GRM), following the 2021 release focusing on Digital Health and AI.

I-DAIR has also assembled its inaugural board, composed of well known and respected personalities in global health, public health and digital health. Our board, chaired by Dr. Christoph Benn, is actively working on expanding our outreach and making our expertise known to various partners.

We have had the opportunity to participate in several prestigious events to engage stakeholders and showcase our vision and work; notably the World Health Summit in Berlin, the Global Technology Summit in New Delhi, the Francophonie Summit in Djerba, the UNGA Science Summit in New York, and the Global Digital Health Forum in Washington DC. Another major achievement is our invitation by India’s G20 Presidency to participate in the health working group and to cooperate on the development of the Digital Health work stream.

We look forward to continuing to work together in 2023 and to sharing exciting news about I-DAIR after the new year. Until then, we wish you a wonderful holiday season and a splendid start to 2023.

I-DAIR CEO a.i.
Dr. Mehdi Snène