With the release of our new 2020 Government AI Readiness Index report which measures governments' capacity to implement AI into their public services, Oxford Insights in partnership with the IDRC will be hosting a four-part ‘AI around the globe’ webinar series. Each session will have a regional focus discussing the overall findings of our index, trends, and future trajectory of the region.

The sessions will last approximately 60 minutes and will occur over the course of two weeks. The schedule is as follows:

Week 1:

Session 1: the Middle East and Europe

Date: 13/10/2020

Time: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM BST

Panel Speakers:

Jamie Berryhill is an Innovation Specialist at the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI). His work includes surfacing and tracking innovation trends and conducting research on the intersection of innovation and digital government. Recently, he co-authored a primer for public sector AI and case studies for public servants.

Colin van Noordt is a PhD Researcher at the Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance at Tallinn University of Technology and External Expert for the European Commission's AI Watch team and in other digital government research projects.

Dr. Inga Ulnicane has more than 10 years of international and interdisciplinary experience of teaching, research and engagement in particular in the field of science, technology and innovation policy and governance. Her recent work focuses on governance of Artificial Intelligence, dual use research, research infrastructure, and Responsible Research and Innovation and ethics in the EU-funded Human Brain Project.

Session 2: Asia & the Pacific

Date: 15/10/2020

Time: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM BST

Panel Speakers:

Malavika Jayaram is the inaugural Executive Director of the Digital Asia Hub. She is a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, where she was previously a Fellow in residence. A technology lawyer for over 15 years, she practised law at Allen & Overy, and was Vice President and Technology Counsel at Citigroup, both in London. She was on the Executive Committee of the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems, and was a member of the High-level Expert Advisory Group for the OECD’s “Going Digital” project. A graduate of Northwestern University, she taught India’s first course on information technology and law in 1997. She was a Visiting Scholar at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, and has had fellowships at the University of Sydney and the Institute for Technology & Society, Brazil. In 2019, Malavika joined the faculty of the SMU School of Law, Singapore, as Practice Assistant Professor and Lee Kong Chian Fellow.

Toby Walsh is a leading researcher in Artificial Intelligence. He is a Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence at UNSW, and leads the Algorithmic Decision Theory group at Data61. He was named by the Australian newspaper as a "rock star" of Australia's digital revolution. He has been elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and of the European Association for Artificial Intelligence. He has won the prestigious Humboldt research award as well as the NSW Premier's Prize for Excellence in Engineering and ICT, and the ACP Research Excellence award. He has previously held research positions in England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland and Sweden. He has played a leading role at the UN and elsewhere on the campaign to ban lethal autonomous weapons (aka "killer robots").

Anshul Sonak is a Senior Director of Intel's Global AI and Digital Readiness programme. He is recognised as a trusted advisor to governments, civil society, and academia for building new transformational models and UNDP Asia’s first Youth CoLab Champion.

Week 2:

Session 3: Africa

This webinar is in partnership with the AI4D webinar series.

Date: 20/10/2020

Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM BST

Panel Speakers:

Alex Comninos is a Researcher focusing on Africa’s readiness to beneficially use artificial intelligence. He has published research on various topics including artificial intelligence, human rights and the internet, internet governance, cybersecurity, intermediary liability, mobile banking, and African political economy.

Angelos Munezero is the Director-General of Innovation & Business Development at the Ministry of ICT and Innovation Rwanda.

Alfred Mashishi is the Chief Director of Forecasting and Modelling at the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, South Africa.

Session 4: Americas

Date: 22/10/2020

Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM BST



Panel Speakers:

María Isabel Mejía Jaramillo is a Senior Executive in Digital Government, in the Digital Innovation Directorate of the Latin American Development Bank - CAF - from where she promotes the digital transformation of the State in Latin American countries.

She has also founded several technology-based enterprises such as; Info Projects, CityScan and PROA IA, which develop innovative projects and solutions for the digital transformation of organisations.

Fabrizio Scrollini is the Lead Researcher of the Open Data Latin America Initiative, working on data and public policy issues in Latin America. He also serves as the Chairman of DATA - an Uruguayan NGO working on Transparency and Open Data.

Rachel Dockery is a Senior Research Fellow in cybersecurity and privacy law at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. She is particularly interested in the intersection of law and technology, information privacy and security in a digital age of big data and AI, and global data governance trends.

Svetlana Matt is a legislative director at the US House of representatives. She focuses on tech and telecom policy. She previously worked as a legal consultant at the World Bank.

Please register your interest here for the webinar session you would like to attend.