Big data is on the rise and governments have fallen behind in setting global standards on its collection, storage and usage. Instead, governments are playing catch-up with harnessing the technology that controls data. This was the backdrop to a Chatham House webinar held on 15 February 2021, where several high-profile panellists explored how governments and businesses should negotiate this new era of international data diplomacy. They discussed how current governance trends on personal data prot...
Post-pandemic, should we move away from resource extraction and accelerate moves to a circular economy? What new economic policy theories and approaches should we entertain? And how might these innovations more effectively address pre-coronavirus issues such as social and economic inequality? A Chatham House webinar considered all these questions on 18 November 2020. Following the presentations and inspired by our recent policy brief, I asked the question: ‘What does the panel think of Ursula vo...
Is it possible for politics and science to influence one another yet remain separate? To what extent should scientists be made accountable for the research that informs policy? What is the appropriate apparatus to mediate these issues? And what is the role of the media in shaping the public’s understanding and expectations of the links between science and policymaking? These were a few of the questions tackled in a Chatham House webinar on 11 September 2020, featuring Sir David King, former Chie...
‘Digital technology is shaping history. But there is also the sense that it is running away with us. Where will it take us? Will our dignity and rights be enhanced or diminished? Will our societies become more equal or less equal? Will we become more, or less, secure and safe? The answers to these questions depend on our ability to work together across disciplines and actors, across nations and political divides.’ – António Guterres Published in June 2020, the UN Secretary-General’s ...