Mind Foundry has been working alongside Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance and the Aioi R&D Lab - Oxford to create AI-powered insurance solutions whose societal benefits align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2015, all United Nations member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, providing “a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future”. Central to this blueprint are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals combine to represent an urgent call for action by all developed and developing countries in a global partnership.
There are 17 SDGs, and they range from eradicating poverty and reducing inequalities to climate action and clean water and sanitation. Together, they signify a commitment from member states to make the world a fairer, cleaner, and safer place for all of Earth’s inhabitants, both on land and below the water.
The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals
Mind Foundry’s mission is to create a future where humans and AI work together to solve the world’s most important problems. We work towards this goal by designing AI systems that build and assure human-machine teaming in the most challenging environments. By its very nature, this mission and the work to achieve it are fully aligned with the 17 SDGs. Our recent work in partnership with the Aioi R&D Lab - Oxford provides a perfect example of putting this work into practice.
The Aioi R&D Lab - Oxford is a joint venture between Mind Foundry, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance (ANDI) and Aioi Nissay Dowa Europe (AND-E) that aims to solve global-scale societal issues through the creation of products and services powered by AI technologies. Lab projects are guided and supported by an advisory board of world-leading experts and Oxford professors with expertise spanning AI and Machine Learning, Biodiversity, Civil Infrastructure, and Complexity. To build a sustainable future, it is clear that innovation at the Lab should align with global priorities like the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Lab was established with the recognition that the world is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and this rapid rate of change presents both opportunities and challenges. These challenges include how we prepare for a future shaped by automation, climate change, and ageing populations. Using technology to create products and services that create value and common good throughout society is what ANDI refers to as ‘Creating Shared Value by Digital Transformation (CSV by DX)’ and signifies the recognition that, to solve the global problems of today and tomorrow, we need to leverage the very latest technology to give us the best chance of success.
As the world continues to change dramatically and rapidly, resilience has become an essential asset, not just to protect businesses but to ensure society continues to function safely and securely. Building resilience through more intelligent, data-driven decision-making and anticipating and preparing for future uncertainty are fundamental tenets of Mind Foundry’s technology.
One of the key challenges in building a resilient future is strengthening supply chains against disruptions. A current project in the Lab, developed in collaboration with Prof. J. Doyne Farmer, a pioneer in complexity economics, and his company Macrocosm, employs complexity economics to anticipate and mitigate these risks using AI-powered models. This involves building a model of supply chain disruptions so that, for example, if a tsunami occurs, we can anticipate not just which companies are directly affected by the tsunami, but also which companies will be impacted by the tsunami's aftermath.
From an insurance perspective, it enables companies to improve their pricing, but it also benefits the general public because it allows us to consider changing our supply chains to make them more robust, identifying weak links and how we can fix them to make them more resilient to disasters.
Professor Doyne Farmer is a member of the Lab’s advisory board and a world leader in the field of complexity economics. He outlines, “There are many ways this project aligns with the UN SDG goals. For example, by ensuring we have clean and affordable energy (Goal 7), because energy is a key part of the supply chain. Without energy, everything goes down. Also, making sure that we have a robust economy and that we can have sustainable economic growth (Goal 8). It helps us think about sustainable cities (Goal 11). It helps us think about inequality and the side effects of different insurance policies (Goal 10).”
Hear Doyne Farmer define the term “Complexity economics.” 👇
The Lab has also undertaken projects to improve road safety and promote wellbeing, such as identifying potential indicators of cognitive decline in ageing drivers using AI-driven insights from telematics data. Not only does this mean insurers can communicate to drivers that they may be exhibiting signs of decline, but it also means that elderly drivers with safe driving behaviour can continue to access insurance products that historically would be prohibitively expensive. In a world with ageing populations, this work aligns with the SDGs by contributing to healthier lives and a fairer insurance industry, and can be scaled up by improving public transportation, safety, and efficiency in urban environments.
Another example is using AI to assess bridge health at scale, helping governments prioritise maintenance and extend infrastructure lifespan efficiently. Mind Foundry’s bridge inspection tool, Windward Inspect, is transforming bridge inspections by combining state-of-the-art AI and Machine Learning, image correlation, and mobile-based inspection tools to create a seamless, efficient workflow for bridge inspection and maintenance. This doesn’t just make life easier for bridge owners, but it also benefits wider society because urban planning leverages simulations and data to optimise city development, balancing housing, green space, and pollution control for climate resilience. It is this societal benefit that aligns Windward Inspect and Lab infrastructure projects with the UN SDGs.
Separately, in an adjacent project, the Lab is mapping and modelling nature-related risks and benefits across different landscapes. This initiative is undertaken in partnership with Baroness Kathy Willis’s company, NatCap (Natural Capital Research). Baroness Willis, a Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Oxford, has played a pivotal role in advising this project and helping to identify these risks, outlining how “These risks are a result of climate, but they also have huge impacts on both the social livelihoods and the businesses in those areas. Different levels of risk result in the question of how to mitigate those risks and the insurance aspects of this mitigation. And because we're dealing with nature, we're dealing with people, we're dealing with climate, it absolutely aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Hear Baroness Kathy Willis define the term “Nature Risk.”👇
Aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is crucial for creating a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable future. By harnessing the power of AI and innovative insurance solutions, we can address global challenges more effectively. Driving positive change across industries and societies, AI and complexity economics help us better understand ourselves. We need to model ourselves to anticipate where we will go if we take a certain action, and the new ideas from the Lab can play a key role in guiding us into the future.
By fostering a collaborative partnership between Mind Foundry’s cutting-edge AI and ANDI’s insurance expertise, the Lab is demonstrating the benefits of working with businesses to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and create a better future across all levels of society.
Watch the full video AI, Insurance & the UN SDGs: Building a Sustainable Future 👇
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