Corona Virus Media Watch launched by UNESCO’s International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence in Slovenia

31 March 2020

The global COVID-19 outbreak has been described as a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO) following almost 125,000 cases that have been reported to WHO, from 118 countries and territories. World leaders including UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay have called for solidarity and action to address emerging challenges due to the spread of COVID-19.

Information about possible measures for containment and mitigation within the emerging national context is important for people to make informed and safe choices in protecting themselves and their communities. The right to health could be upheld only if information accessibility is ensured, preferably by access to information laws and their implementation based on international standards. Furthermore, people are better able to take preventive measures if they have access to information about the pandemic in their own language and situated within their local context.

Therefore, the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) in Slovenia, a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO, has launched a Corona Virus Media Watch that provides global and national news updates based on a selection of media entities with open online news. The tool may be useful for policymakers, media and the public to observe the emerging trends related to COVID-19 in their country and the world.

In addition, UNESCO is monitoring the effect on learning caused by school closures due to COVID-19 and UNESCO has published a curated list of freely accessible learning applications and platforms for use by parents, teachers and learners, as well as school systems.

For more information on COVID-19, please consult the World Health Organization.

Disclaimer: The Corona Virus Media Watch, including the information sources it relies on and the map based visual representation are wholly developed by the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI), Slovenia, a category 2 institute under the auspices of UNESCO. This news release by UNESCO does not constitute endorsement of the online tool or the map used in it.

For more information on Corona Virus Media Watch, please contact:

Marko Grobelnik ([email protected]),
M. Besher Massri ([email protected]),
Gasper Hrastelj ([email protected]).

For details on UNESCO’s work with IRCAI, please contact Bhanu Neupane ([email protected])

Permanent link: http://en.unesco.kz/corona-virus-media-watch-launched-by-unesco-s-international-research-centre-on-artificial