Editor’s Note:
During the 2021-2023 school years, 13 students from SIGS had opportunities to work with 10 UN organizations through participation in conferences, internships, or projects.
During these experiences, our students not only get the chance to gain global competence but also contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
What’s it like to work on the international stage? In this installation of our SIGSers Go Global Series, Chen Qiqi shares her experiences working as an Information Technology and Digitalization Expert at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
“Every position is a result of a matching process. It's like two magnets being attracted to each other due to a common point. In my case, the ‘magnetic field’ of UNIDO was artificial intelligence (AI),” said Data Science and Information Technology master’s student Chen Qiqi.
Chen Qiqi
Qiqi currently works as a Junior Information Technology and Digitalization Partner Expert at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). UNIDO is headquartered in Vienna and the position is part of a cooperative project between Tsinghua University and UNIDO, where relevant talent in the field is sent to UNIDO for one year.
As part of her master’s degree program, Qiqi’s research focuses on AI, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Large Language Models (LLMs). Over the past three years, under the guidance of her advisor, Professor Li Yang, she has made some achievements in her research field, such as publishing journal papers and obtaining invention patents. However, Qiqi wanted to find more opportunities to apply her knowledge and gain new skills.
Chen Qiqi participating in UN Day activities as a UN volunteer (third from right)
This isn’t the first time that Qiqi has worked at an UN-related organization. Previously, she served for one year as a volunteer at the United Nations Resident Coordinator's Office (UNRCO) in China. “Although I had previously done some internships with international organizations online, this was my first experience working in an international organization's offline work environment,” said Qiqi.
Her position at UNIDO allows her to use her academic knowledge to promote digital transformation at the organization. “UNIDO is exploring the use of artificial intelligence and large models in various systems to improve work efficiency, thereby advancing UNIDO's progress in supporting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Digital transformation, innovation, and artificial intelligence are among its key initiatives.”
The promotion of digital transformation involves work on individual artificial intelligence projects, which involves feasibility analysis, implementation, and assessment. “I’ve recently worked on a project in collaboration with Google involving a language model for the HR team's Q&A system, making it easier for internal personnel to search for results in extensive and complex documents.” Qiqi has also worked on an SDGs classification project for all UNIDO project documents, making it easier for all stakeholders to understand the SDGs category corresponding to each project, resulting in easier searching and more efficient project evaluation.
“This experience has allowed me to apply my academic background in AI and large language models to real-world projects and collaborate in a global work environment,” reflected Qiqi. Qiqi is still currently working at UNIDO and will complete the one-year term of this position after graduation.
Compiled by Zhu Lijing, Zhao Mengyuan, Ye Sijia & Alena Shish
Photos provided by Chen Qiqi
Edited by Alena Shish & Yuan Yang
