Foresight Synergy Network (FSN)

Foresight Synergy Network Workshop

Part 2: Impact of Advanced Information & Communications Technologies on the

Governance of the State

Monday March 25, 2019

11:30 – 15:00

University of Ottawa

Telfer School of Management

Desmarais Building Room 7170

55 Laurier Ave E

Abstract

At the 1^st Workshop on this topic, held March 18^th, participants asked to continue with a follow-on Workshop to further the development of scenarios, hence this date and time as the earliest available and current with the recent discussion.  For further information see Workshop Notice below for March 18^th.

As noted in the previous Workshop, democracy is under threat.  Fake news and alternative facts are increasingly penetrating the public commons.  Autocratic states are using advanced ICTs to monitor citizens in unprecedented ways.  Cyberspace is becoming an environment for nefarious actions by both state and non-state actors seeking many conflicting objectives ranging from eavesdropping and espionage to influencing public processes such as elections.

This workshop will further develop the prescient views from participants as to this unfolding drama that is sweeping the world.  We look out in three timeframes between now and 2100.

Note that anyone interested in Foresight can join in this 2^nd workshop without a requirement to have been at the 1^st event as this gathering is simply continuing with using Foresight to develop scenarios in timeframes that have not been addressed yet.

There will be a plenary session with each group presenting its views as per the format prescribed for the Workshop.  A follow-up Workshop will be held within a month or so to review and refine the scenarios with a view to crafting a document for wider circulation.

The Workshop will be facilitated by Stephen Fanjoy and Peter MacKinnon, as in the last event.

Please note, feel free to bring a brown bag lunch.

Update: Here are the slides:

PKM AI Summary Presentation for March 18th Workshop – as presented1

Impact of Advanced Information & Communications Technologies on the Governance of the State v2

Foresight Synergy Network Workshop

Impact of Advanced Information & Communications Technologies 

On the Governance of the State

Monday March 18, 2019

12:00 – 17:00

Abstract

Democracy is under threat.  Fake news and alternative facts are increasingly penetrating the public commons.  Autocratic states are using advanced ICTs to monitor citizens in unprecedented ways.  Cyberspace is becoming an environment for nefarious actions by both state and non-state actors seeking many conflicting objectives ranging from eavesdropping and espionage to influencing public processes such as elections.

This workshop seeks to capture prescient views from participants as to this unfolding drama that is sweeping the world.  We will look out in three timeframes between now and 2100.

This workshop is a consequence of two past Foresight seminars, namely Technology & Democracy November 23^rd and The History & Foreseeable Future of Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities & Threats on December 14^th, which both raised issues that led to staging this Workshop.

The workshop will begin with a brief overview of the issue to be addressed.  This will be followed by a discussion about the structure and procedures for the Workshop such as working groups and selection of rapporteurs for a plenary session.

As the workshop will be based on a Foresight Methodology perspective, challenge questions will be posed along with suggested axes for developing a quadrant-type synthesis of working group views.  Following working group deliberations there will be a plenary session with each group presenting its views as per the format prescribed for the Workshop.  A follow-up Workshop will be held within a month or so to review and refine the scenarios with a view to crafting a document for wider circulation.

The Workshop will be facilitated by Stephen Fanjoy and Peter MacKinnon, the Nov and Dec speakers noted above.

Bios

Stephen Fanjoy is a management consultant, director, and interim executive to start-up entrepreneurs, specializing in business software, including significant experience in novel cybersecurity, medical device and data science solutions.

Steve has over two decades of experience in enterprise software, including executive and senior management roles in strategy, product management, marketing, analyst relations, business development, and mergers and acquisitions. He is an honours graduate of the Dalhousie University School of Business and a Certified Management Consultant (CMC). https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenfanjoy/

Peter MacKinnon has a background as a scientist, business manager, entrepreneur, domestic and international bureaucrat, executive, diplomat, management advisor, and academic; including affiliation with both Telfer and the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa.

Update: Here is the presentation Technology and Democracy 2018.11.23

The next FSN meeting is Friday Nov. 23 [DMS 4165  at 12:30], where Stephan Fanjoy will be presenting a talk on following topic:

Technology and Democracy: Self-correcting or Collision Course?

Communication and information technology has always played a role in politics, from the era of the first printed words, to religious texts, the Gutenberg press, newspapers, the telegraph, radio, television and, of course now, the internet. Until very recently, the normative view was that these technologies were a constructive, humanistic force that generally helped to achieve, among other things, more just, functional, rational and accountable political governance. This view was held no more firmly than in democratic states, especially during the Cold War era through to the early years of mass internet adoption. But almost all technologies have dual uses and, compared to authoritarian governance, democracy is a historically young, incomplete, and fragile human institution.The technology developments of the last half decade and a critical appreciation of the information operations, propaganda, and psychology of the last century suggest much future uncertainty about the role that technology may continue to play in advancing democracy. This overview will raise many questions, answer too few, but should stimulate much discussion and thought.

 

Stephen Fanjoy is a management consultant, director, and interim executive to startup entrepreneurs, specializing in business software, including significant experience in novel cybersecurity, medical device and data science solutions. To-date, Stephen has played a leading role in securing over $10 million in angel and non-dilutive startup financing and over $50 million in premium-valuation founder exits. Stephen has over two decades of experience in enterprise software, including executive and senior management roles in strategy, product management, marketing, analyst relations, business development, and mergers and acquisitions at SHL VISION* Solutions (acquired by Autodesk), Oracle, and  Watchfire (acquired by IBM). Stephen was also a founding Director of the Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organizations (OBIO), former Co-Chair of the Ottawa Life Sciences Cluster, Chair of the Ottawa eBusiness Cluster and Director of the Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Ontario. Stephen is an honours graduate of the Dalhousie University School of Business and a Certified Management Consultant (CMC). https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenfanjoy/