Las Vegas, NV – April 9-10, 2025 – As global leaders gathered this week for Google Cloud Next ‘25 in Las Vegas, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) unveiled bold ambitions for harnessing artificial intelligence and digital innovation to accelerate sustainable industrial development. Jason Slater, Chief Digital and Innovation Officer at UNIDO, addressed the audience in the featured session on “Protecting Our Resources and Investing in Tomorrow with Data and AI,” emphasizing the growing potential of AI to drive climate resilience in sectors critical to global sustainability.
In his remarks, Slater outlined how AI-powered solutions are transforming agriculture, with a particular focus on the coffee supply chain—a vital industry for millions of farmers, particularly in Africa. With over 3 billion cups of coffee consumed daily, and millions of smallholder farmers dependent on coffee as their primary income source, the sector faces significant challenges related to deforestation, climate change, and ethical supply chains.
UNIDO, in partnership with Google Cloud, NGIS, Illy, Lavazza, and the International Coffee Organization, is developing an innovative geospatial solution to create a deforestation-free coffee supply chain. By integrating satellite imagery, machine learning, and advanced data analytics, the solution is mapping farm boundaries, ensuring compliance with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), monitoring deforestation in real-time, and empowering farmers with actionable insights to enhance productivity while protecting vital forests.
The session also highlighted ScaleX, UNIDO’s structured innovation programme, which accelerates high-impact, scalable solutions aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “We believe in the power of solutions—real-world pilots that don’t just showcase what’s possible, but prove what works” said Mr. Slater. Furthermore, he stated, “By demonstrating impact at the local level first, we create scalable, sustainable models that can transform industries and communities around the world,”
In addition to these groundbreaking discussions, UNIDO continues to foster collaborative partnerships with key industry leaders to build scalable AI solutions across various sectors. As part of this effort, Mr. Slater held partnership meetings with Nvidia, focused on establishing a long-term partnership to support the launch and operationalization of Africa’s first AI factory—starting in South Africa, with planned expansion to Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria. The discussions centered on co-developing AI and digital use cases that tackle critical challenges in climate, smart agriculture, renewable energy, and digital manufacturing.
UNIDO also advanced key discussions with Google Cloud, Deloitte, Daston, Slalom, Abacus and Carahsoft, laying the groundwork for strategic collaborations. He extended an invitation to all to contribute to the UNIDO Solutions Platform (USP), participate in AIM Global, and present impactful solutions at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and UN Global Digital Compact (GDC). The envisioned partnerships aims to democratize access to advanced AI infrastructure and scale inclusive, sustainable innovations across the continent.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Global Alliance on AI for Industry and Manufacturing, aim-global@unido.org
