A Discussion with Denmark’s Deputy Tech Ambassador
Thursday June 18, 11:00AM – Noon EDT
Denmark is determined to ensure that its values influence the new global digital economy. In 2017, it created a new form of foreign policy, techplomacy, to respond to technological disruption, the rising international influence of the internet behemoths, and the need to create a new foreign policy in the wake of these changes. Denmark is also the first country to put in place a tech ambassador. The Tech Ambassador has offices in Silicon Valley, USA, Beijing, China and Copenhagen, Denmark.
For this webinar, on Thursday June 18 at 11:00AM – Noon EDT, we will explore these changes and the role of Denmark’s tech ambassador. We are honored to have as our Guest, Mikael Ekman, Denmark’s Deputy Tech Ambassador and Acting Tech Ambassador. We will begin with a moderated discussion and then move on to your questions.
Speakers:
– Mikael Ekman, Denmark’s Deputy Tech Ambassador
When: Thursday June 18, 11:00AM – Noon EDT
Where: Zoom.us
Recording Here
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Can Internationally Accepted Principles yield Trustworthy Trustworthy AI?
Thursday June 4 at 11:00AM – Noon EDT
When you use spell-check, shop on Amazon, or find a movie on Netflix, you are using AI. While AI may improve our quality and standard of living, use of poorly designed AI may undermine human autonomy, reduce employment, and yield discriminatory outcomes. To forestall such potential negative spillovers, in 2019, the 37 members of the OECD (and 7 non-members) approved Principles on Artificial Intelligence, the first internationally accepted principles for AI. The principles include recommendations for policymakers and all stakeholders.
The OECD is not the only body working on such principles. The members of the G-7 are also working on mutually agreed principles to govern trustworthy explainable AI.
For this webinar, on Thursday June 4 at 11:00AM – Noon EDT, we will explore these principles, focusing in particular on those at the OECD, which our speakers helped design. We will discuss whether these principles can help all stakeholders. Moreover, we will examine whether such principles should evolve into an internationally shared rules-based system, given the wide diversity in national capacity to produce and govern AI. We will begin with a moderated discussion and then move on to your questions. Please join us. Please note some of our speakers have changed.
Speakers:
– Ryan Budish, Assistant Research Director, Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University
– Adam Murray, U.S. diplomat in the Office of International Communications and Information Policy, Department of State.
– Nicolas Miailhe, Founder and President, The Future Society
– Carolyn Nguyen, Director of Technology Policy, Microsoft
When: Thursday June 4, 11:00AM – Noon EDT
Recording Here
Women and the Web
Thursday May 28 at 11AM EDT
While we can’t generalize, gender identity colors how many individuals experience the web. We write to invite you to our next webinar, where we will focus on women’s online experience. Our discussion will build on research done by the World Wide Web Foundation and US Agency for International Development, among others. The webinar, Women and the Web, will take place on Thursday May 28 at 11 AM EDT. We will discuss issues of access and participation, discrimination, bullying, other online issues, and potential remedies. We will begin with a moderated discussion and then move on to your questions. Please join us.
Speakers:
– Chenai Chair, Research Manager – Gender and Digital Rights, Web Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa
– Revi Stirling, Director, US AID, WomenConnect Challenge
Recording Here
How are governments encouraging competitiveness in AI?
Thursday May 21 at 11AM EDT
Some 32 governments have developed plans, incentives, and policies to stimulate national AI research and adoption. But there is no one-size-fits-all AI roadmap. While many governments aim to create an effective enabling and regulatory environment for AI, policymakers have different visions for their respective national AI futures. In this webinar, we’ll examine what a range of nations — including the US, Canada and the UK — are doing and what they could be doing. We will hear from three experts with different vantage points.
Speakers:
– Reema Patel, Head of Public Engagement at the Ada Lovelace Institute. The Ada Lovelace Institute (UK) is an independent research and deliberative body with a mission to ensure data and AI work for people and society.
– Dr. Melissa Flagg, Senior Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) and an Adjunct professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University.
–Niraj Bhargava, CEO NuEnergy AI, A Canadian ethical AI company.
Recording Here
What Can we Learn From Brazil and China’s Approach to Personal Data Protection?
Friday May 15 at 11AM (EDT)
Speakers:
– Luca Belli (Ph.D.) is Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) Law School, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he heads the CyberBRICS project.
– Min Jiang (Ph.D.) is Associate Professor of Communication at UNC Charlotte, a secretariat member of the annual international Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC) and Associate Editor at Sage journal Communication & The Public. She is the author of numerous articles including Chinese Social Media and Big Data.
For background, please see Luca Belli’s recent article, Data protection frameworks emerging in the BRICS countries and CyberBRICS’s Mapping of Data Protection Across BRICS Countries.
Recording Here
April 16, 2020 at 11AM (EDT)
Seminar 3: Why has data become a national security issue?
Speakers:
Carrie Cordero, Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow and General Counsel at the Center for a New American Security
Colonel Sarah Albrycht, Senior Military Fellow, CNAS and Colonel in the US Army. Colonel Abrycht’s views are her own, and do not reflect the official position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense or the U.S. government.
Susan Aaronson, Hub Director and Senior Fellow, CIGI.
moderator:
Aaron Shull, Managing Director and General Counsel at CIGI.
For a quick overview of their perspectives, see
Cordero – The National Security Imperative of Protecting User Data (CNAS, Apr. 24, 2019)
Albrycht – When the homefront becomes the (cyber) front line (Fifth Domain, Feb. 3, 2020)
Aaronson – Data Is Dangerous: Comparing the Risks That the United States, Canada and Germany See in Data Troves (CIGI, April 15, 2020)
Recording Here
April 9, 2020 11AM EDT
Seminar 2: Data Governance in Smart Cities
Speakers:
Professor Teresa Scassa, Canada Research Chair in Information Law, University of Ottawa Law School
Bianca Wylie, Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
They will address the following questions:
- What is a smart city?
- What kinds of rules must cities develop to determine what entities can own, utilize and monetize smart city data?
- Should cities adopt special rules and considerations for personal data and human behavioral data?
- Cities have bought into very complex data-driven systems, in the belief that data is “the solution.” Is it adding value and leading to more effective city management? What are the trade offs–e.g. energy efficiency vs. the loss of privacy
Recording Here
March 30, 2020 11AM EST
Seminar 1: E-Commerce at the WTO: What’s Going On?
Speaker: Victor do Prado, Director, Council and Trade Negotiations Committee Division, WTO
Recording Here
February 20, 2020
Senate AI Caucus and Tech Staff Committee, “AI Standards”
(Closed event)
January 31, 2020
Location: George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs, Commons Room, 1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052
Please save this date for a conference focusing on the role of data in development. Speakers will address how data can be used to stimulate development; how best to govern different types of data and data-driven services; and how global governance might support full and fair participation of lower income countries in the digital economy. In collaboration with Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and Center for Global Development.
The agenda, video recording, and speaker slides can be found here.
December 12, 2019
Data Protection on Both Sides of the Atlantic
Location: The Commons Room, George Washington University
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
We are going to show you how big tech companies treat customers differently depending on which side of the Atlantic you live on.
What kind of data do they collect and store? What rights do users have? Do we have access to our own data? Do we even know enough about our rights to take advantage of them?
American consumers are subject to more intrusive tracking, denied access to our data and kept in the dark compared to Europeans. Our study confirms the urgent need for comprehensive privacy protections in the U.S. Even with GDPR, tech companies are still trying to circumvent the law in the EU.
Join us for the launch of our groundbreaking report and a transatlantic panel discussion.
The TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue, the Heinrich Boell Foundation European Union, and the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub at GWU, cordially invite you to the launch of a report on EU vs. U.S. consumer experiences across three global online platforms. The report will be jointly published by the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue and the Heinrich Boell Foundation European Union.
November 21, 2019
Senate AI Caucus briefing on export controls and AI
(Private Event)
Thursday, 31 October 2019
Everything you always Wanted to Know About Digital Trade, but didn’t get a chance to Ask
Location: GWU, 1957 E Street, the Commons 12:00-1:30
Data has become the most traded good and/or service across borders. Digital trade is built on data and can be defined as goods and services delivered via the internet. The American economy is increasingly reliant on digital trade. But the US does not yet participate in any explicit binding digital trade agreements. Meanwhile, many countries including growing markets such as India have adopted policies that inhibit digital trade including requirements that data be stored locally or restricting services provided by foreign firms. Such policies not only affect U.S. Internet and technology firms, but the users and small businesses that rely on an open digital environment.
There have been lots of panels on digital trade, but this 1.5 hour event will provide an opportunity to better understand why data is governed in trade agreements, what are barriers to digital trade, and how digital trade rules may affect important policy objectives such as internet openness, the gig economy, innovation, and national security.
On October 31, the Hub, Institute for International Economic Policy, Computer and Communications Industry Associate (CCIA), and Internet Society hosted an event at the Elliott School of International Affairs to give an overview of why data is governed in trade agreements, barriers to digital trade, and how trade rules may affect important policy objectives, such as internet openness, the gig economy, innovation, and national security. Watch the live stream from the event.
Thursday, 17 October 2019
Book launch for Schism: China, America and the Fracturing of the Global Trading System
Location: Lindner Family Commons on the 6th floor at the Elliott School of International Affairs, located at 1957 E Street, NW
9:00-10:30AM
This event features a presentation given by author Paul Blustein, CIGI Senior Fellow and former reporter at the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal; panelists Ana Swanson, New York Times Trade Reporter, Steve Suranovic, Associate Economics Professor (GWU), and Scott Kennedy, Senior Advisor, Freeman Chair in China Studies Director; and will be moderated by Susan Aaronson, CIGI Senior Fellow, Research Professor and Director of the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub at GWU.
Paul Blustein discussed his new book, Schism, on October 17 at the Elliott School. Ana Swanson, New York Times trade reporter, Steve Suranovic, Associate Professor of Economics and International Affairs at GWU, and Scott Kennedy, Senior Advisor and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at CSIS, offered remarks on Blunstein’s book. Dr. Aaronson moderated the event. The book launch was co-sponsored by the Institute for International Economic Policy, Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), and the Hub.
Monday-Tuesday, 26-27 September 2019
Location: George Washington University
The digital Trade and Data Governance Hub is a co-sponsor of this conference. A major theme of the conference includes Data governance and open data. Director of the Hub, Susan Ariel Aaronson, will discuss how data governance may affect comparative advantage.
Thursday, 27 June 2019
Invitation only training
2nd Brownbag Seminar from GW’s Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub
The 2nd brownbag seminar by the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub will focus on smart manufacturing and the implications for trade.
Tuesday, 25 June 2019
Invitation only event
Brownbag Seminar from GW’s Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub
The brownbag seminar will be the first by the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub that was started by Susan Ariel Aaronson. The Hub’s mission is to educate both policy makers and journalists on issues of digital trade and data governance.
Thursday, 20 June 2019
12:00 PM – 1:15 PM
485 Russell Senate Office Building
What’s New in US Digital Trade Policy?
The U.S. is a leader of the internet economy and it has long led efforts to develop international principles, rules and agreements governing digital trade and e-commerce. However, the U.S. is currently not a party to any trade agreement with binding and explicit rules governing digital trade. The U.S. may be left behind as other nations such as Canada, Japan and the EU forge ahead with bilateral, regional, or plurilateral agreements containing comprehensive commitments on digital trade, e-commerce, and/or data.
For more information click here.
Wednesday, 5 June 2019
9:00 AM – 12:45 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
Privacy and Digital Rights for All: A Forum on the Need for Privacy and Data Protection Laws in the U.S.
With Public Citizen and the Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialogue, Elliott School of International Affairs
Innovations in Digital Trade Agreements
Wednesday, July 1, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
In recent months, policymakers have made digital trade negotiations a priority. Australia and Singapore negotiated a digital economy agreement; the US and Australia announced that they would update their FTA with an additional digital trade chapter; the US and Britain continued negotiations on a digital trade chapter; and Britain and Australia also announced an FTA with digital trade at its core. Many of these agreements focus on e-commerce and say little about new technological innovations or interoperability among regimes.
However, New Zealand, Singapore, and Chile recently agreed to a new, more comprehensive approach–a Digital Economy Partnership Agreement which is open to other nations to join. We will discuss these agreements and how they might be improved with 3 experts from Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
– Professor Patrick LeBlond, Associate Professor and CN-Paul M. Tellier Chair on Business and Public Policy, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, and Senior Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation. Article and Article
– Stephanie Honey, Honey Consulting and former trade negotiator for New Zealand. Article
– Dr. Joshua Meltzer, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, and former trade negotiator for Australia. Article
Where: Zoom.us
Recording Here
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A Discussion with Denmark’s Deputy Tech Ambassador
Thursday June 18, 11:00AM – Noon EDT
Denmark is determined to ensure that its values influence the new global digital economy. In 2017, it created a new form of foreign policy, techplomacy, to respond to technological disruption, the rising international influence of the internet behemoths, and the need to create a new foreign policy in the wake of these changes. Denmark is also the first country to put in place a tech ambassador. The Tech Ambassador has offices in Silicon Valley, USA, Beijing, China and Copenhagen, Denmark.
For this webinar, on Thursday June 18 at 11:00AM – Noon EDT, we will explore these changes and the role of Denmark’s tech ambassador. We are honored to have as our Guest, Mikael Ekman, Denmark’s Deputy Tech Ambassador and Acting Tech Ambassador. We will begin with a moderated discussion and then move on to your questions.
Speakers:
– Mikael Ekman, Denmark’s Deputy Tech Ambassador
When: Thursday June 18, 11:00AM – Noon EDT
Where: Zoom.us
Recording Here
Can Internationally Accepted Principles yield Trustworthy Trustworthy AI?
Thursday June 4 at 11:00AM – Noon EDT
When you use spell-check, shop on Amazon, or find a movie on Netflix, you are using AI. While AI may improve our quality and standard of living, use of poorly designed AI may undermine human autonomy, reduce employment, and yield discriminatory outcomes. To forestall such potential negative spillovers, in 2019, the 37 members of the OECD (and 7 non-members) approved Principles on Artificial Intelligence, the first internationally accepted principles for AI. The principles include recommendations for policymakers and all stakeholders.
The OECD is not the only body working on such principles. The members of the G-7 are also working on mutually agreed principles to govern trustworthy explainable AI.
For this webinar, on Thursday June 4 at 11:00AM – Noon EDT, we will explore these principles, focusing in particular on those at the OECD, which our speakers helped design. We will discuss whether these principles can help all stakeholders. Moreover, we will examine whether such principles should evolve into an internationally shared rules-based system, given the wide diversity in national capacity to produce and govern AI. We will begin with a moderated discussion and then move on to your questions. Please join us. Please note some of our speakers have changed.
Speakers:
– Ryan Budish, Assistant Research Director, Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University
– Adam Murray, U.S. diplomat in the Office of International Communications and Information Policy, Department of State.
– Nicolas Miailhe, Founder and President, The Future Society
– Carolyn Nguyen, Director of Technology Policy, Microsoft
When: Thursday June 4, 11:00AM – Noon EDT
Recording Here
Women and the Web
Thursday May 28 at 11AM EDT
While we can’t generalize, gender identity colors how many individuals experience the web. We write to invite you to our next webinar, where we will focus on women’s online experience. Our discussion will build on research done by the World Wide Web Foundation and US Agency for International Development, among others. The webinar, Women and the Web, will take place on Thursday May 28 at 11 AM EDT. We will discuss issues of access and participation, discrimination, bullying, other online issues, and potential remedies. We will begin with a moderated discussion and then move on to your questions. Please join us.
Speakers:
– Chenai Chair, Research Manager – Gender and Digital Rights, Web Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa
– Revi Stirling, Director, US AID, WomenConnect Challenge
Recording Here
How are governments encouraging competitiveness in AI?
Thursday May 21 at 11AM EDT
Some 32 governments have developed plans, incentives, and policies to stimulate national AI research and adoption. But there is no one-size-fits-all AI roadmap. While many governments aim to create an effective enabling and regulatory environment for AI, policymakers have different visions for their respective national AI futures. In this webinar, we’ll examine what a range of nations — including the US, Canada and the UK — are doing and what they could be doing. We will hear from three experts with different vantage points.
Speakers:
– Reema Patel, Head of Public Engagement at the Ada Lovelace Institute. The Ada Lovelace Institute (UK) is an independent research and deliberative body with a mission to ensure data and AI work for people and society.
– Dr. Melissa Flagg, Senior Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) and an Adjunct professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University.
–Niraj Bhargava, CEO NuEnergy AI, A Canadian ethical AI company.
Recording Here
What Can we Learn From Brazil and China’s Approach to Personal Data Protection?
Friday May 15 at 11AM (EDT)
Speakers:
– Luca Belli (Ph.D.) is Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) Law School, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he heads the CyberBRICS project.
– Min Jiang (Ph.D.) is Associate Professor of Communication at UNC Charlotte, a secretariat member of the annual international Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC) and Associate Editor at Sage journal Communication & The Public. She is the author of numerous articles including Chinese Social Media and Big Data.
For background, please see Luca Belli’s recent article, Data protection frameworks emerging in the BRICS countries and CyberBRICS’s Mapping of Data Protection Across BRICS Countries.
Recording Here
April 16, 2020 at 11AM (EDT)
Seminar 3: Why has data become a national security issue?
Speakers:
Carrie Cordero, Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow and General Counsel at the Center for a New American Security
Colonel Sarah Albrycht, Senior Military Fellow, CNAS and Colonel in the US Army. Colonel Abrycht’s views are her own, and do not reflect the official position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense or the U.S. government.
Susan Aaronson, Hub Director and Senior Fellow, CIGI.
moderator:
Aaron Shull, Managing Director and General Counsel at CIGI.
For a quick overview of their perspectives, see
Cordero – The National Security Imperative of Protecting User Data (CNAS, Apr. 24, 2019)
Albrycht – When the homefront becomes the (cyber) front line (Fifth Domain, Feb. 3, 2020)
Aaronson – Data Is Dangerous: Comparing the Risks That the United States, Canada and Germany See in Data Troves (CIGI, April 15, 2020)
Recording Here
April 9, 2020 11AM EDT
Seminar 2: Data Governance in Smart Cities
Speakers:
Professor Teresa Scassa, Canada Research Chair in Information Law, University of Ottawa Law School
Bianca Wylie, Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
They will address the following questions:
- What is a smart city?
- What kinds of rules must cities develop to determine what entities can own, utilize and monetize smart city data?
- Should cities adopt special rules and considerations for personal data and human behavioral data?
- Cities have bought into very complex data-driven systems, in the belief that data is “the solution.” Is it adding value and leading to more effective city management? What are the trade offs–e.g. energy efficiency vs. the loss of privacy
Recording Here
March 30, 2020 11AM EST
Seminar 1: E-Commerce at the WTO: What’s Going On?
Speaker: Victor do Prado, Director, Council and Trade Negotiations Committee Division, WTO
Recording Here
February 20, 2020
Senate AI Caucus and Tech Staff Committee, “AI Standards”
(Closed event)
January 31, 2020
Location: George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs, Commons Room, 1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052
Please save this date for a conference focusing on the role of data in development. Speakers will address how data can be used to stimulate development; how best to govern different types of data and data-driven services; and how global governance might support full and fair participation of lower income countries in the digital economy. In collaboration with Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and Center for Global Development.
The agenda, video recording, and speaker slides can be found here.
December 12, 2019
Data Protection on Both Sides of the Atlantic
Location: The Commons Room, George Washington University
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
We are going to show you how big tech companies treat customers differently depending on which side of the Atlantic you live on.
What kind of data do they collect and store? What rights do users have? Do we have access to our own data? Do we even know enough about our rights to take advantage of them?
American consumers are subject to more intrusive tracking, denied access to our data and kept in the dark compared to Europeans. Our study confirms the urgent need for comprehensive privacy protections in the U.S. Even with GDPR, tech companies are still trying to circumvent the law in the EU.
Join us for the launch of our groundbreaking report and a transatlantic panel discussion.
The TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue, the Heinrich Boell Foundation European Union, and the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub at GWU, cordially invite you to the launch of a report on EU vs. U.S. consumer experiences across three global online platforms. The report will be jointly published by the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue and the Heinrich Boell Foundation European Union.
November 21, 2019
Senate AI Caucus briefing on export controls and AI
(Private Event)
Thursday, 31 October 2019
Everything you always Wanted to Know About Digital Trade, but didn’t get a chance to Ask
Location: GWU, 1957 E Street, the Commons 12:00-1:30
Data has become the most traded good and/or service across borders. Digital trade is built on data and can be defined as goods and services delivered via the internet. The American economy is increasingly reliant on digital trade. But the US does not yet participate in any explicit binding digital trade agreements. Meanwhile, many countries including growing markets such as India have adopted policies that inhibit digital trade including requirements that data be stored locally or restricting services provided by foreign firms. Such policies not only affect U.S. Internet and technology firms, but the users and small businesses that rely on an open digital environment.
There have been lots of panels on digital trade, but this 1.5 hour event will provide an opportunity to better understand why data is governed in trade agreements, what are barriers to digital trade, and how digital trade rules may affect important policy objectives such as internet openness, the gig economy, innovation, and national security.
On October 31, the Hub, Institute for International Economic Policy, Computer and Communications Industry Associate (CCIA), and Internet Society hosted an event at the Elliott School of International Affairs to give an overview of why data is governed in trade agreements, barriers to digital trade, and how trade rules may affect important policy objectives, such as internet openness, the gig economy, innovation, and national security. Watch the live stream from the event.
Thursday, 17 October 2019
Book launch for Schism: China, America and the Fracturing of the Global Trading System
Location: Lindner Family Commons on the 6th floor at the Elliott School of International Affairs, located at 1957 E Street, NW
9:00-10:30AM
This event features a presentation given by author Paul Blustein, CIGI Senior Fellow and former reporter at the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal; panelists Ana Swanson, New York Times Trade Reporter, Steve Suranovic, Associate Economics Professor (GWU), and Scott Kennedy, Senior Advisor, Freeman Chair in China Studies Director; and will be moderated by Susan Aaronson, CIGI Senior Fellow, Research Professor and Director of the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub at GWU.
Paul Blustein discussed his new book, Schism, on October 17 at the Elliott School. Ana Swanson, New York Times trade reporter, Steve Suranovic, Associate Professor of Economics and International Affairs at GWU, and Scott Kennedy, Senior Advisor and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at CSIS, offered remarks on Blunstein’s book. Dr. Aaronson moderated the event. The book launch was co-sponsored by the Institute for International Economic Policy, Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), and the Hub.
Monday-Tuesday, 26-27 September 2019
Location: George Washington University
The digital Trade and Data Governance Hub is a co-sponsor of this conference. A major theme of the conference includes Data governance and open data. Director of the Hub, Susan Ariel Aaronson, will discuss how data governance may affect comparative advantage.
Thursday, 27 June 2019
Invitation only training
2nd Brownbag Seminar from GW’s Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub
The 2nd brownbag seminar by the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub will focus on smart manufacturing and the implications for trade.
Tuesday, 25 June 2019
Invitation only event
Brownbag Seminar from GW’s Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub
The brownbag seminar will be the first by the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub that was started by Susan Ariel Aaronson. The Hub’s mission is to educate both policy makers and journalists on issues of digital trade and data governance.
Thursday, 20 June 2019
12:00 PM – 1:15 PM
485 Russell Senate Office Building
What’s New in US Digital Trade Policy?
The U.S. is a leader of the internet economy and it has long led efforts to develop international principles, rules and agreements governing digital trade and e-commerce. However, the U.S. is currently not a party to any trade agreement with binding and explicit rules governing digital trade. The U.S. may be left behind as other nations such as Canada, Japan and the EU forge ahead with bilateral, regional, or plurilateral agreements containing comprehensive commitments on digital trade, e-commerce, and/or data.
For more information click here.
Wednesday, 5 June 2019
9:00 AM – 12:45 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
Privacy and Digital Rights for All: A Forum on the Need for Privacy and Data Protection Laws in the U.S.
With Public Citizen and the Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialogue, Elliott School of International Affairs
Webinar: What are our Rights and Responsibility Over Data?
Time: January 22, 2021, 11:00AM EST
This webinar will be a debate between two experts on data. They will present different views about the rights and responsibilities of individuals, firms, and policymakers towards the data they create, hold, control, utilize, share, nd/or monetize. Our first speaker, Martin Tisne, Managing director of Luminate, will discuss his vision of collective rights and responsibilities. Tisne is the author of The Data Delusion, Protecting Individual Data is not Enough when the Harm is Collective, which inspired this webinar. Our second speaker, Janet Haven, Executive Director of Data & Society will discuss her perspective on our respective rights and responsibilities.
Speakers:
Martin Tisne, Managing Director, Luminate
Janet Haven, Executive Director, Data and Society
Listen to the recording here.
Webinar: What Are We Talking About When We Talk About Digital Protectionism?
Time: Wednesday, March 24th 11:00AM – 12:00PM EST
We would like to create a broader understanding of how some nations, other than the US, define digital protectionism. Hence we have invited trade negotiators from Canada, Chile, and the UK to define digital protectionism and discuss related questions. We will ask how these policymakers will decide who is injured by digital protectionism, how to remedy these harms, how to address such barriers in trade agreements (e.g. bans, exceptions, sanctions?), and what are the barriers they expect to see in the future?
Our Speakers will be:
- Nick Russell, Deputy Director – Digital Trade Team, UK Department of Digital, Culture, Ministry, and Sport
- Nicholas Schubert, Head – Department of Digital Economy, Undersecretariat for International Economic Affairs of Chile
- Darren Smith, Director – Services Trade Policy Division, Global Affairs Canada
Moderated by:
- Susan Ariel Aaronson, Research Professor and Director, Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub, George Washington University
Webinar: Is the WTO the best place to govern data?
Time: December 18, 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM EST
A growing number of governments use trade agreements to govern cross-border data flows. However, data is different from other goods and services long governed by such agreements. Data may not always be “traded” and many nations don’t yet know how to govern various types of data (personal, public, proprietary etc..or the mixing of data).
Meanwhile, a growing number of governments around the world are adopting national (or subnational) laws, regulations, directives, and orders to govern data. Some of these requirements, with or without intent, impede the free flow of data across borders. Such restrictions on international data flows can make the trading of goods and services across borders costlier, if not impossible.
In 2019, 74 (now 86) WTO members agreed to negotiate rules to govern trade-related aspects of e-commerce at the WTO. The negotiators have made progress on a wide variety of issues. Given different approaches to data governance, digital prowess, and understanding of how data is changing the economy, is the WTO the right regime to govern cross-border data flows? Or do we need a new distinct international regime built around the various types of data, such as an International Data Standards Board?
speakers:
- Kristina Irion, Assistant Professor, Institute for Information Law, University of Amsterdam
- Patrick Leblond, CN-Paul M. Tellier Chair on Business and Public Policy, University of Ottawa; Senior Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Rachael Stelly, Policy Counsel, International Trade, Computer and Communications Industry Association
- Lee Tuthill, WTO Secretariat
Moderator: Susan Ariel Aaronson, Research Professor and Director, Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub, George Washington University
Innovations in Digital Trade: The Sequel
Thursday July 16, 11:00AM – Noon EDT
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– Sabina Ciofu, Head of EU and Trade Policy, techUK
– Sam duPont, Deputy Director, Digital Innovation and Democracy Initiative, German Marshall Fund (former Director, Digital Trade, Office of the US Trade Representative
– Nigel Cory, Associate Director, Trade Policy, Information and Technology Innovation Foundation (and former Australian trade official).
Where: Zoom.us
Innovations in Digital Trade Agreements
Wednesday, July 1, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
In recent months, policymakers have made digital trade negotiations a priority. Australia and Singapore negotiated a digital economy agreement; the US and Australia announced that they would update their FTA with an additional digital trade chapter; the US and Britain continued negotiations on a digital trade chapter; and Britain and Australia also announced an FTA with digital trade at its core. Many of these agreements focus on e-commerce and say little about new technological innovations or interoperability among regimes.
However, New Zealand, Singapore, and Chile recently agreed to a new, more comprehensive approach–a Digital Economy Partnership Agreement which is open to other nations to join. We will discuss these agreements and how they might be improved with 3 experts from Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
– Professor Patrick LeBlond, Associate Professor and CN-Paul M. Tellier Chair on Business and Public Policy, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, and Senior Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation. Article and Article
– Stephanie Honey, Honey Consulting and former trade negotiator for New Zealand. Article
– Dr. Joshua Meltzer, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, and former trade negotiator for Australia. Article
Where: Zoom.us
Recording Here
A Discussion with Denmark’s Deputy Tech Ambassador
Thursday June 18, 11:00AM – Noon EDT
Denmark is determined to ensure that its values influence the new global digital economy. In 2017, it created a new form of foreign policy, techplomacy, to respond to technological disruption, the rising international influence of the internet behemoths, and the need to create a new foreign policy in the wake of these changes. Denmark is also the first country to put in place a tech ambassador. The Tech Ambassador has offices in Silicon Valley, USA, Beijing, China and Copenhagen, Denmark.
For this webinar, on Thursday June 18 at 11:00AM – Noon EDT, we will explore these changes and the role of Denmark’s tech ambassador. We are honored to have as our Guest, Mikael Ekman, Denmark’s Deputy Tech Ambassador and Acting Tech Ambassador. We will begin with a moderated discussion and then move on to your questions.
Speakers:
– Mikael Ekman, Denmark’s Deputy Tech Ambassador
When: Thursday June 18, 11:00AM – Noon EDT
Where: Zoom.us
Recording Here
Can Internationally Accepted Principles yield Trustworthy Trustworthy AI?
Thursday June 4 at 11:00AM – Noon EDT
When you use spell-check, shop on Amazon, or find a movie on Netflix, you are using AI. While AI may improve our quality and standard of living, use of poorly designed AI may undermine human autonomy, reduce employment, and yield discriminatory outcomes. To forestall such potential negative spillovers, in 2019, the 37 members of the OECD (and 7 non-members) approved Principles on Artificial Intelligence, the first internationally accepted principles for AI. The principles include recommendations for policymakers and all stakeholders.
The OECD is not the only body working on such principles. The members of the G-7 are also working on mutually agreed principles to govern trustworthy explainable AI.
For this webinar, on Thursday June 4 at 11:00AM – Noon EDT, we will explore these principles, focusing in particular on those at the OECD, which our speakers helped design. We will discuss whether these principles can help all stakeholders. Moreover, we will examine whether such principles should evolve into an internationally shared rules-based system, given the wide diversity in national capacity to produce and govern AI. We will begin with a moderated discussion and then move on to your questions. Please join us. Please note some of our speakers have changed.
Speakers:
– Ryan Budish, Assistant Research Director, Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University
– Adam Murray, U.S. diplomat in the Office of International Communications and Information Policy, Department of State.
– Nicolas Miailhe, Founder and President, The Future Society
– Carolyn Nguyen, Director of Technology Policy, Microsoft
When: Thursday June 4, 11:00AM – Noon EDT
Recording Here
Women and the Web
Thursday May 28 at 11AM EDT
While we can’t generalize, gender identity colors how many individuals experience the web. We write to invite you to our next webinar, where we will focus on women’s online experience. Our discussion will build on research done by the World Wide Web Foundation and US Agency for International Development, among others. The webinar, Women and the Web, will take place on Thursday May 28 at 11 AM EDT. We will discuss issues of access and participation, discrimination, bullying, other online issues, and potential remedies. We will begin with a moderated discussion and then move on to your questions. Please join us.
Speakers:
– Chenai Chair, Research Manager – Gender and Digital Rights, Web Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa
– Revi Stirling, Director, US AID, WomenConnect Challenge
Recording Here
How are governments encouraging competitiveness in AI?
Thursday May 21 at 11AM EDT
Some 32 governments have developed plans, incentives, and policies to stimulate national AI research and adoption. But there is no one-size-fits-all AI roadmap. While many governments aim to create an effective enabling and regulatory environment for AI, policymakers have different visions for their respective national AI futures. In this webinar, we’ll examine what a range of nations — including the US, Canada and the UK — are doing and what they could be doing. We will hear from three experts with different vantage points.
Speakers:
– Reema Patel, Head of Public Engagement at the Ada Lovelace Institute. The Ada Lovelace Institute (UK) is an independent research and deliberative body with a mission to ensure data and AI work for people and society.
– Dr. Melissa Flagg, Senior Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) and an Adjunct professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University.
–Niraj Bhargava, CEO NuEnergy AI, A Canadian ethical AI company.
Recording Here
What Can we Learn From Brazil and China’s Approach to Personal Data Protection?
Friday May 15 at 11AM (EDT)
Speakers:
– Luca Belli (Ph.D.) is Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) Law School, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he heads the CyberBRICS project.
– Min Jiang (Ph.D.) is Associate Professor of Communication at UNC Charlotte, a secretariat member of the annual international Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC) and Associate Editor at Sage journal Communication & The Public. She is the author of numerous articles including Chinese Social Media and Big Data.
For background, please see Luca Belli’s recent article, Data protection frameworks emerging in the BRICS countries and CyberBRICS’s Mapping of Data Protection Across BRICS Countries.
Recording Here
April 16, 2020 at 11AM (EDT)
Seminar 3: Why has data become a national security issue?
Speakers:
Carrie Cordero, Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow and General Counsel at the Center for a New American Security
Colonel Sarah Albrycht, Senior Military Fellow, CNAS and Colonel in the US Army. Colonel Abrycht’s views are her own, and do not reflect the official position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense or the U.S. government.
Susan Aaronson, Hub Director and Senior Fellow, CIGI.
moderator:
Aaron Shull, Managing Director and General Counsel at CIGI.
For a quick overview of their perspectives, see
Cordero – The National Security Imperative of Protecting User Data (CNAS, Apr. 24, 2019)
Albrycht – When the homefront becomes the (cyber) front line (Fifth Domain, Feb. 3, 2020)
Aaronson – Data Is Dangerous: Comparing the Risks That the United States, Canada and Germany See in Data Troves (CIGI, April 15, 2020)
Recording Here
April 9, 2020 11AM EDT
Seminar 2: Data Governance in Smart Cities
Speakers:
Professor Teresa Scassa, Canada Research Chair in Information Law, University of Ottawa Law School
Bianca Wylie, Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
They will address the following questions:
- What is a smart city?
- What kinds of rules must cities develop to determine what entities can own, utilize and monetize smart city data?
- Should cities adopt special rules and considerations for personal data and human behavioral data?
- Cities have bought into very complex data-driven systems, in the belief that data is “the solution.” Is it adding value and leading to more effective city management? What are the trade offs–e.g. energy efficiency vs. the loss of privacy
Recording Here
March 30, 2020 11AM EST
Seminar 1: E-Commerce at the WTO: What’s Going On?
Speaker: Victor do Prado, Director, Council and Trade Negotiations Committee Division, WTO
Recording Here
February 20, 2020
Senate AI Caucus and Tech Staff Committee, “AI Standards”
(Closed event)
January 31, 2020
Location: George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs, Commons Room, 1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052
Please save this date for a conference focusing on the role of data in development. Speakers will address how data can be used to stimulate development; how best to govern different types of data and data-driven services; and how global governance might support full and fair participation of lower income countries in the digital economy. In collaboration with Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and Center for Global Development.
The agenda, video recording, and speaker slides can be found here.
December 12, 2019
Data Protection on Both Sides of the Atlantic
Location: The Commons Room, George Washington University
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
We are going to show you how big tech companies treat customers differently depending on which side of the Atlantic you live on.
What kind of data do they collect and store? What rights do users have? Do we have access to our own data? Do we even know enough about our rights to take advantage of them?
American consumers are subject to more intrusive tracking, denied access to our data and kept in the dark compared to Europeans. Our study confirms the urgent need for comprehensive privacy protections in the U.S. Even with GDPR, tech companies are still trying to circumvent the law in the EU.
Join us for the launch of our groundbreaking report and a transatlantic panel discussion.
The TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue, the Heinrich Boell Foundation European Union, and the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub at GWU, cordially invite you to the launch of a report on EU vs. U.S. consumer experiences across three global online platforms. The report will be jointly published by the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue and the Heinrich Boell Foundation European Union.
November 21, 2019
Senate AI Caucus briefing on export controls and AI
(Private Event)
Thursday, 31 October 2019
Everything you always Wanted to Know About Digital Trade, but didn’t get a chance to Ask
Location: GWU, 1957 E Street, the Commons 12:00-1:30
Data has become the most traded good and/or service across borders. Digital trade is built on data and can be defined as goods and services delivered via the internet. The American economy is increasingly reliant on digital trade. But the US does not yet participate in any explicit binding digital trade agreements. Meanwhile, many countries including growing markets such as India have adopted policies that inhibit digital trade including requirements that data be stored locally or restricting services provided by foreign firms. Such policies not only affect U.S. Internet and technology firms, but the users and small businesses that rely on an open digital environment.
There have been lots of panels on digital trade, but this 1.5 hour event will provide an opportunity to better understand why data is governed in trade agreements, what are barriers to digital trade, and how digital trade rules may affect important policy objectives such as internet openness, the gig economy, innovation, and national security.
On October 31, the Hub, Institute for International Economic Policy, Computer and Communications Industry Associate (CCIA), and Internet Society hosted an event at the Elliott School of International Affairs to give an overview of why data is governed in trade agreements, barriers to digital trade, and how trade rules may affect important policy objectives, such as internet openness, the gig economy, innovation, and national security. Watch the live stream from the event.
Thursday, 17 October 2019
Book launch for Schism: China, America and the Fracturing of the Global Trading System
Location: Lindner Family Commons on the 6th floor at the Elliott School of International Affairs, located at 1957 E Street, NW
9:00-10:30AM
This event features a presentation given by author Paul Blustein, CIGI Senior Fellow and former reporter at the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal; panelists Ana Swanson, New York Times Trade Reporter, Steve Suranovic, Associate Economics Professor (GWU), and Scott Kennedy, Senior Advisor, Freeman Chair in China Studies Director; and will be moderated by Susan Aaronson, CIGI Senior Fellow, Research Professor and Director of the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub at GWU.
Paul Blustein discussed his new book, Schism, on October 17 at the Elliott School. Ana Swanson, New York Times trade reporter, Steve Suranovic, Associate Professor of Economics and International Affairs at GWU, and Scott Kennedy, Senior Advisor and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at CSIS, offered remarks on Blunstein’s book. Dr. Aaronson moderated the event. The book launch was co-sponsored by the Institute for International Economic Policy, Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), and the Hub.
Monday-Tuesday, 26-27 September 2019
Location: George Washington University
The digital Trade and Data Governance Hub is a co-sponsor of this conference. A major theme of the conference includes Data governance and open data. Director of the Hub, Susan Ariel Aaronson, will discuss how data governance may affect comparative advantage.
Thursday, 27 June 2019
Invitation only training
2nd Brownbag Seminar from GW’s Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub
The 2nd brownbag seminar by the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub will focus on smart manufacturing and the implications for trade.
Tuesday, 25 June 2019
Invitation only event
Brownbag Seminar from GW’s Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub
The brownbag seminar will be the first by the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub that was started by Susan Ariel Aaronson. The Hub’s mission is to educate both policy makers and journalists on issues of digital trade and data governance.
Thursday, 20 June 2019
12:00 PM – 1:15 PM
485 Russell Senate Office Building
What’s New in US Digital Trade Policy?
The U.S. is a leader of the internet economy and it has long led efforts to develop international principles, rules and agreements governing digital trade and e-commerce. However, the U.S. is currently not a party to any trade agreement with binding and explicit rules governing digital trade. The U.S. may be left behind as other nations such as Canada, Japan and the EU forge ahead with bilateral, regional, or plurilateral agreements containing comprehensive commitments on digital trade, e-commerce, and/or data.
For more information click here.
Wednesday, 5 June 2019
9:00 AM – 12:45 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
Privacy and Digital Rights for All: A Forum on the Need for Privacy and Data Protection Laws in the U.S.
With Public Citizen and the Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialogue, Elliott School of International Affairs