New Podcast Episode – ELSI Dialogues: Artificial Intelligence in South-Eastern Asia – The Indonesian National Artificial Intelligence Strategy on Ethics and Policy

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“AI systems need to be human centric, they should serve humanity and the common good”

Episode 26 takes you to a webinar on developing strategies for a trustworthy AI explored at the example of South-eastern Asia. After a quick introduction on how the European Union approaches this challenge, Thilma Komaling, one of the authors of Indonesia’s strategy on Artificial Intelligence, takes you her home country where AI-assisted tools already help to improve broad access to health care.

Thilma shares her more than 20 years of experience in policy development here in this webinar organised by the BBMRI-ERIC ELSI team. ELSI specialises in addressing ethical, legal and societal implications of biobanking and the responsible use of sensitive data and new technologies.

The transformative potential of AI will not stop at national borders and so we can all profit from exchanging our experiences to use this technology for the best of society. Together with Thilma, Ilaria Colussi, one of BBMRI-ERIC’s legal experts, explores the common ground between the EU’s and Indonesia’s approach to a trustworthy AI.

“We need something very close to to the heart of the people of Indonesia, because this is something that needs to be originally from Indonesia. What we believe and what we want to carry forward as a nation.”

Indondesia explores a strategy that builds on the country’s core values to find a human-centered approach to responsibly integrate this highly transformative technology into the daily live. One example is Halodoc, an AI-assisted app, that allows Indonesia’s citizens access to health-related advise and information even in the remotest areas of the large, archipelagic country with its hundreds of languages.

BBMRI-ERIC Podcast

“One Health is fundamentally about cooperation.” (Prof. Jabob Zinsstag)

On 24 March 2026, three expert speakers joined us for a new ELSI Dialogues webinar to discuss the role biobanks can play in realising the One Health strategy. Josephine Uldry, Jakob Zinsstag and Adam Strobeyko discussed One Health from philosophical, societal, legal and practical perspectives, highlighting the complexity of the topic.

This webinar opens with a short introduction by Josephine Uldry (Swiss Biobanking), outlining the means for the biobanking community to support a One Health approach in research. Prof. Jakob Zinsstag (Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute), a pioneer of the One Health concept, shares insights from his extensive field experience in implementing this approach in diverse contexts and communities, illustrating how One Health approaches can improve epidemiology and public health policy in practice. Dr Adam Strobeyko (Swiss Biobanking and Global Health Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute) discusses the legal dimensions of pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response the efforts to integrate One Health into international frameworks and practical implications for biobanks.

About One Health

The goal of One Health is to balance and optimise the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment. This view moves away from an anthropocentric approach centred around humans and recognises how tightly these realms and their health are interwoven. This is a crucial step towards a healthier future as it is especially important for tackling emerging zoonotic diseases (infectious diseases transmitted from non-human animals to humans), antimicrobial resistance, food safety risks, environmental pollution and global health security.

Biobanks at the centre of One Health

Biobanking across human and non-human domains can play a key role in operationalising the One Health approach. They can support the collection, storage and sharing of human, animal, plant and environmental samples and data as indispensable resources for surveillance, research and policymaking.

BBMRI-ERIC and One Health

Our recently published 10-Year Roadmap (2025-2035) and our current Work Programme (2025-2027) are guided by the One Health approach as clear direction for our strategic development and actions. Follow our news on the website and on our socials for more info and future updates on the topic.

🔗 Watch the video recording here.