I-DAIR is an organization striving to improve access to cutting-edge research on digital health and artificial intelligence for clinical researchers, policymakers and patients worldwide, with particular attention to the Global South.

The International Digital Health and AI Research Collaborative (I-DAIR) is a Geneva-based organization enabling and improving access to inclusive, impactful, and responsible research into digital health and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for health.

The initiative builds on the outcome of the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation and other high-level reflections on minimizing harm and maximizing benefits from digital technologies for sustainable development.

With the exciting prospects of new digital health intervention and research acceleration by the use of AI and big data, there is a risk of a growing imbalance of knowledge power between the private and public sectors.

 As I-DAIR’s 2021 Global Research Map reveals, the divide between AI leaders based in a small number of countries and the rest of the world is also growing. The future could be so lopsided that governments, publicly-funded universities and the general public would lose all agency over the governance, R&D and use of AI.

We believe that I-DAIR meets an urgent need to level the playing field and take advantage of the digital revolution to support the collaborative development of health solutions that benefit all countries and communities.

The focus for I-DAIR has been on small States (population less than 10 million) of all income levels, which will reap more benefit from pooling data, talent and other resources, as well as low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where there is a combination of need and science and technology talent that can be leveraged for innovation with a global impact.

The activities are structured around three objectives that cover the full life cycle of research implementation.

• Strengthen Research Infrastructure and Capacity for Digital Health and AI research in LMICs
• Development and Curation of AI and Data Public Goods
• Enhance Governance Framework and Researcher Community in Digital Health and AI