Science Diplomacy in Times of Global Crises – Symposium
September 15 | 10 am
Please RSVP here
This is the second day of our two-day event “Science Diplomacy in Times of Global Crises”. On this page you will find general information on the event and the program for the two panel sessions on Friday, September 15th, 2023. The panel sessions have been registered as an official side event of the Science Summit at the 78th United Nations General Assembly taking place on September 12th-29th, 2023.
Outcome Document (added after the event): Conclusions_Recommendations
About the Event
Science diplomacy is an often-promulgated concept in light of tackling global challenges in an increasingly interconnected and competitive world order. Science diplomacy is believed to foster peace and understanding between nations and has often been utilized to argue for more cooperation and openness among adverse states. Can science diplomacy keep up with its promise in an ever-more fragmented multipolar world? Does the concept and its basic tenets need to be revised or has science diplomacy never been more valid and important?
This event explores science diplomacy in current global affairs from at least two perspectives in times of multiple crises: the need for openness and collaboration in tackling global challenges and the need for safe-guarding indisputable values, principles and interests. The first perspective will be addressed with a focus on Artificial Intelligence (Session 1: “Open science diplomacy for an ethical and trustworthy global AI”), the second perspective will be covered by attending to the risks of foreign interference, intellectual property right, misinformation and manipulation in international science cooperation (Session 2: “Science diplomacy in a fragmented, multipolar world”). Both sessions will take place on Friday morning, September 15th.
Program for Friday, 15 September 2023
Session I: Open science diplomacy for an ethical and trustworthy global AI (10 am)
Rumman Chowdhury, PhD, Responsible AI Fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center
USG Amandeep Gill, UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology
Yacine Jernite, PhD, Leader of the Machine Learning and Society Team, Hugging Face
Prof. Dr. Judith Simon, Professor for Ethics in Information Technology
Moderator: Dr. Katja Mayer, University of Vienna
Session II: Science diplomacy in a fragmented, multipolar world (11.15 am)
Mag. Martina Hartl, Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research, Member of the ERA Subgroup “Global approach to R&I cooperation” and member of the Steering Team on the EU Science Diplomacy Agenda
Peter B. Kaufman, Senior Program Officer, MIT Open Learning
Derya Buyuktanir Karacan, PhD, George Washington University & EURAXESS North America
Isabella Tomas, MA, Consul and Co-Director of Open Austria San Francisco
Moderator: Dr. Klaus Schuch, Director of the Center for Social Innovation at University of Vienna (ZSI)
Final Reflecting Remarks (12.15 pm)
Mag. Friedrich Faulhammer, Rector of the University for Continuing Education Krems (UWK)
Closing Remarks (12.30 pm)
Dr. Susanne Keppler-Schlesinger, Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York
Light Lunch (12.45 pm)