2nd AI POLICY CONFERENCE

September 14 & 15, 2021  |  Online

WHO SHOULD JOIN?

GOVERNMENT

Whether a creator or user of AI technologies, this was a unique opportunity to have a seat at the table and actively participate in shaping AI policy, alongside key regulators from Switzerland and abroad.

"Nestlé is a global company, so we want to operate using the same standard in all the markets where we are, but if we make the regulation more complex we are limiting the opportunity to innovate" - David Campos Pavon, Nestlé.

WHO SHOULD JOIN?

GOVERNMENT

A powerful opportunity to align with all stakeholders and listen to their concerns and challenges first hand. As well as to set common ground and define the next steps for action.

 

WHO SHOULD JOIN?

ACADEMIA

With 2 academic paper sessions - led by ETH Zürich - we provide a forum for cutting edge research in AI Governance.

"The ubiquity of AI, and the scale of Big Data already means that we have a complex governance challenge. How do you trace lines of responsibility and liability through a system that has a learning component that is adapting?" - Ron Chrisley, Stanford University.

WHO SHOULD JOIN?

STUDENTS

A unique opportunity to learn directly from the experts, share your views and concerns, and actively take part in shaping AI policy.

WHO SHOULD JOIN?

GENERAL PUBLIC

Our AI Policy Conference is an unbiased platform to learn about the current state of AI regulation. A safe space for you to be heard and highlight your concerns to key decission-makers, as well as challenge both regulators and businesses.

Technological developments in artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming society as well as the theory and practice of government interventions. 

Wide application of AI technologies has enormous benefits, but it also presents unprecedented challenges in terms of privacy, cybersecurity, consumer rights and ethics. As societal expectations evolve, lack of clear global rules & slow pace of policy developments in this area present a major challenge to businesses and consumers worldwide. 

In collaboration with

RegHorizon and ETH Zurich's Center for Law and Economics have partnered since 2019 to create an unbiased platform for a timely multi-stakeholder discussion among policy makers, academia, business and society focussing on challenges that AI technologies pose and exploring relevant policy solutions to address them. 

The 2nd AI Policy Conference continues the multistakeholder dialogue started last year with leading experts to explore the use of public policy and societal engagement to capture the benefits of artificial intelligence, minimize its risks and enhance its adoption.

The Conference offers a unique opportunity for a truly multi-stakeholder exchange among high level policymakers, business leaders, civil society, and academia to discuss and co-create the future of AI policies.

THE CONFERENCE IN A NUTSHELL

An unbiased platform for a truly multi-stakeholder exchange among policy makers, business, civil society and academia.

50+ confirmed speakers:
International Business Leaders, Government Representatives & Academics;

6 panels & 2 key notes;

5 guiding questions;

academic research tracks,
led by ETH Zürich.

 

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

  • Policymakers: Swiss Government,  Swiss Parliament, European Commission, European Parliament, US Government, OECD, Council of Europe
  • Academia & Professional Organizations: Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETHZ and EPFL), Hertie School of  Governance, University of Hong Kong, University of Durham, International Standards Organisation, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Swiss Association of Engineering Sciences (SATW),British Standards Institution (BSI)
  • Business: Mastercard,  ZestMoney, PwC, FIPRA, IBM, Mindsmiths
  • Civil Society & IGOs: GenevaMacroLabs, Mozilla Foundation, ILO, Algorithm Watch, UNESCO, Swiss Digital Initiative, Youth IGF, DiploFoundation

 

Keith E. Sonderling

Keith E. Sonderling

Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, US Government

Paul Nemitz

Paul Nemitz

Principal Adviser on Justice Policy, EU Commission

Dragoş Tudorache

Dragoş Tudorache

Committee Chair of Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (AIDA), European Parliament

READ FULL BIO

Dr. Joanna Bryson

Dr. Joanna Bryson

Professor of Ethics and Technology, Hertie School of Governance

Robert Madelin

Robert Madelin

Chairman, FIPRA (Ex DG Connect & Ex DG SANCO, EU Commission)

Dr. Ekkehard Ernst

Dr. Ekkehard Ernst

President at Geneva Macro Labs & Future of Work and AI specialist at ILO

Jan Kleijssen

Jan Kleijssen

Director for Information and Action Against Crime, Council of Europe

Dr. Jovan Kurbalija

Dr. Jovan Kurbalija

Executive Director of DiploFoundation and Head of the Geneva Internet Platform

Sanja Fabrio

Sanja Fabrio

Co-Founder and Managing Director of RegHorizon

Prof. Dr. Elliott Ash

Prof. Dr. Elliott Ash

Assistant Professor (Chair of Law, Economics, and Data Science) ETH Zurich

 Aileen Nielsen

Aileen Nielsen

Fellow Law and Tech ETH Zurich & Former Chair, NYC Bar Science and Law Committee

Ayisha Piotti

Ayisha Piotti

Co-Founder & Managing Partner of RegHorizon

Gerhard Andrey

Gerhard Andrey

National Councillor GREENS & Entrepreneur

Dr. Leila Delarive

Dr. Leila Delarive

Chairwoman, Empowerment Foundation

Prateek Sibal

Prateek Sibal

Programme Specialist, Digital Innovation and Transformation, Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO

Dr.des. Angela Müller

Dr.des. Angela Müller

Senior Policy & Advocacy Manager at AlgorithmWatch Switzerland / Team Lead Policy & Advocacy at AlgorithmWatch

Judith Bellaiche

Judith Bellaiche

Member of the National Council, Swiss Parliament, CEO at Swico

JoAnn Stonier

JoAnn Stonier

Chief Data Officer, Mastercard

Prof. Dr. Marc Gruber

Prof. Dr. Marc Gruber

Chair of Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialization, EPFL

Anand Rao

Anand Rao

Global AI Lead, PwC

Niniane Paeffgen

Niniane Paeffgen

Managing Director, Swiss Digital Initiative

Amb. Thomas Schneider

Amb. Thomas Schneider

Director of International Affairs at the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM)

Dr. Max Blumberg

Dr. Max Blumberg

People Analytics Consultant and Owner, Blumberg Partnership Ltd

Julia Reinhardt

Julia Reinhardt

Fellow in Residence, Mozilla Foundation, Privacy Professional

Karine Perset

Karine Perset

Head of unit, Artificial Intelligence Policy Observatory, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD

Dr. Carlos Ignacio Gutierrez

Dr. Carlos Ignacio Gutierrez

Governance of AI Fellow, University of Arizona, Vice Chair, AI & Autonomus Vehicles Policy Committee IEEE

Karen Silverman

Karen Silverman

CEO and Founder, The Cantellus Group, Member of AI Global Council, World Economic Forum

Prof. Stefan Bechtold

Prof. Stefan Bechtold

Professor of Intellectual Property, ETH Zurich

Dunsin Fatuase

Dunsin Fatuase

Country Manager, Coven Works, and Youth Internet Governance Forum (Youth IGF) Ambassador

Manuel Kugler

Manuel Kugler

Project Manager, Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)

Mislav Malenica

Mislav Malenica

CEO, Mindsmiths, President of the Croatian Artificial Intelligence Association (CroAI)

Hilary Sutcliffe

Hilary Sutcliffe

Director SocietyInside and TIGTech, UK

Dieter J. Tschan

Dieter J. Tschan

E-Government Representative for the Swiss Confederation at Digital Transformation Unit

Dr. Fadi Makki

Dr. Fadi Makki

Director, B4Development & Founder, Nudge Lebanon

Dr. Zhiyu Li

Dr. Zhiyu Li

Assistant Professor in Law and Policy, Durham University

Karine Caunes

Karine Caunes

CAIDP Global Program Director (Paris), Center for AI and Digital Policy, and Editor in Chief of the European Law Journal

Sachan Mrinmaya

Sachan Mrinmaya

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, ETH Zurich

Prof. Dr. Carmela Troncoso

Prof. Dr. Carmela Troncoso

Tenure Track Assistant Professor, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Prof. Dr. Karl Aberer

Prof. Dr. Karl Aberer

Professor, School of Computer and Communications Sciences, (EPFL), Co-Founder, LinkAlong,

Marta Janczarski

Marta Janczarski

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42 Project Editor for ISO/IEC 42001 AI Management System

Prof. Dr. Alexander Ilic

Prof. Dr. Alexander Ilic

Co-Founder & Executive Director, ETH AI Center

Dr. Katharina Hoene

Dr. Katharina Hoene

Researcher Diplomacy, International Relations, New Technology, DiploFoundation

Jean-Marc Leclerc

Jean-Marc Leclerc

Head of EU Affairs, IBM Government and Regulatory Affairs

Kristina Podnar

Kristina Podnar

Digital Policy Consultant, NativeTrust Consulting

Natasa Perucica

Natasa Perucica

Digital Policy Researcher

Dr. Natalia Lyarskaya

Dr. Natalia Lyarskaya

Chief Data Officer, ZestMoney

Peter Kimpian

Peter Kimpian

Programme manager, Data Protection Unit, Council of Europe

Shalini Trefzer

Shalini Trefzer

Data and AI specialist, Microsoft

Prof. Dr. Roger Wattenhofer

Prof. Dr. Roger Wattenhofer

Professor, IT and Electrical Engineering Department, ETH Zurich

Dr. Benjamin Minhao Chen

Dr. Benjamin Minhao Chen

Assistant Professor, University of Hong Kong, Research Affiliate, ETH Zurich Center for Law and Economics

Aleksandr Tiulkanov

Aleksandr Tiulkanov

Special Adviser on Digital Development, Council of Europe

Emelie Bratt

Emelie Bratt

Lead Standards Development Manager, BSI Group

Prof. Ryan Cotterell

Prof. Ryan Cotterell

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, ETH Zurich

PRESENTERS ACADEMIC WORKSHOPS

Prof. Dr. Katja Langenbucher

Prof. Dr. Katja Langenbucher

Prof. at Goethe University’s House of Finance, Frankfurt; Affiliated at Leibniz Institute SAFE, Frankfurt; Affiliated Prof at SciencesPo, Paris; Long-term visiting Prof at Fordham Law School, NYC

Ben Green

Ben Green

Postdoctoral Scholar, Michigan Society of Fellows; Assistant Professor, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy; University of Michigan

Matteo Courthoud

Matteo Courthoud

Economics PhD Student, University of Zurich

Raphaela Andres

Raphaela Andres

ZEW Mannheim (Researcher) and Télécom Paris-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (PhD student)

Jakob Merane

Jakob Merane

Researcher at ETH Zurich

Karel Kubicek

Karel Kubicek

PhD candidate, ETH Zurich (D-INFK)

Niklas Eder

Niklas Eder

Humboldt University and University of Leipzig

Natalia Menéndez González

Natalia Menéndez González

PhD candidate, European University Institute

Dr. Benjamin Minhao Chen

Dr. Benjamin Minhao Chen

Assistant Professor, University of Hong Kong, Research Affiliate, ETH Zurich Center for Law and Economics

Tobias Wekhof

Tobias Wekhof

PhD Candidate in Economics, ETH Zurich

 AGENDA 

All times CET (Central European Time)
Tuesday, September 14, 2021

10:00 – 10:45 Welcome & Opening: Ayisha Piotti and Sanja Fabrio (RegHorizon)
Prof. Stefan Bechtold (ETH Zurich)
10:45 – 12:00

Panel 1

How can we ensure that underrepresented stakeholders, including the Global South, Youth, and Civil Society in general, engage in the AI policy debate?

Moderator: Natasa Perucica (Diplo Foundation)

Prateek Sibal (UNESCO)
Manuel Kugler (SATW)
Dunsin Fatuase (Youth IGF)
Leila Delarive (Empowerment Foundation)
Max Blumberg (Blumberg Partnership Ltd & USC)

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch Break
13:00 - 14:30

Academic Research Spotlights, Part 1

13:00 Karl Aberer, EPFL - Social Networks and Trust in AI
13:30 Ryan Cotterell, ETHZ - Using AI to Address Social Biases
14:00 Carmela Troncoso, EPFL - Synthetic Data - Anonymisation Groundhog Day

14:30 - 15:00 Coffee Break
15:00 - 17:00

Panel 2

Global regulatory developments and outlook

Moderator: Ayisha Piotti (RegHorizon)

Key-note Speech

Commissioner Keith E. Sonderling, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Can AI Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion? A Comparative View from the United States

Panel discussion

What are the implications and limitations of global AI regulatory initiatives from a business and civil society perspective? What is on the horizon globally from a regulatory perspective?

Commissioner Keith E. Sonderling (EEOC, USA)
Dragos Tudorache (European Parliament, Chair of AIDA)
Jan Kleijssen (Council of Europe)
Judith Bellaiche (Swiss Parliament)
Jean-Marc Leclerc (IBM Policy Lab)
Ekkehard Ernst (ILO / EU STOA)
Angela Müller (Algorithm Watch)

17:00 - 17:15 Coffee Break
17:15 - 18:45

Panel 3

How can we use soft law as a policy option to increase the effectiveness and credibility of AI governance while fostering the acceptance of AI technologies?

Moderator: Sanja Fabrio (RegHorizon)

Amb. Thomas Schneider (OFCOM, Swiss Govt.)
Robert Madelin (FIPRA, ex EC, DG CONNECT & DG SANCO)
Gerhard Andrey (Swiss Parliament)
Marta Janczarski (ISO/IEC 42001 AI Management System)
Carlos Ignacio Gutierrez (IEEE & ASC)
Karen Silverman (The Cantellus Group & WEF)
Zhiyu Li (Uni of Durham, Department of Chinese Law)

18:45 - 19:30 Meet & Mingle Apero
18:45 - 20:15

Academic Paper Workshop, Part 1

Doctrinal Track

18:45 Katja Langenbucher (AI as a product)
19:15 Ben Green (The Limits of Human Oversight)

Empirical Track

18:45 Matteo Courthoud (Algorithmic Collusion Detection)
19:15 Raphaela Andres (The Effect of Hate Speech Regulation on German Twitter, with Olga Slivko)
19:45 Jakob Merane and  Karel Kubicek (Checking Websites’ GDPR  Compliance for Marketing Emails)

 

All times CET (Central European Time)
Wednesday, September 15, 2021

  9:00 – 10:00

Academic Papers Workshop, Part 2

Doctrinal Track

9:00 Niklas Eder (Beyond Automation: The Effects and Legitimacy of Ubiquitous Personalization)
9:30 Natalia Menendez (In search of a legal framework to tackle the bias problem of Facial Recognition Technology)

Empirical Track

9:00 Ben Chen (Having Your Day in Robot Court, with Alexander Stremitzer and Kevin Tobia)
9:30 Tobias Wekhof (The Narrative of the Energy Efficiency Gap, with Sébastien Houde)

10:00 – 10:15 Introduction to Day 2 (and recap of Day 1
10:15 – 11:30

Panel 4

How can new technologies and innovative tools strengthen policy solutions?

Moderator: Katharina Hoene (DiploFoundation)

Aleksandr Tiulkanov (Council of Europe)
Karine Perset (OECD)
Joanna Bryson (Hertie School of Governance)
Marc Gruber (EPFL)
Benjamin Minhao Chen (Hong Kong University)
Fadi Makki (Nudge Lebanon & B4Development)

11:30 - 11:45 Coffee Break
11:45 - 13:15

Academic Research Spotlight Part 2

11:45 Mrinmaya Sachan, ETHZ - AI for Education
12:15 Roger Wattenhofer, ETHZ - AI vs Politicians for Democracy
12:45 Elliott Ash, ETHZ - AI for Better Justice

13:15 - 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:15

Panel 5

How can data policy increase trust in AI applications?

Moderator: Kristina Podnar

Dieter Tschan (Swiss Govt.)
Peter Kimpian (Council of Europe)
Jovan Kurbalija (Diplo)
JoAnn Stonier (Mastercard)
Natalia Lyarskaya (ZestMoney)
Hilary Sutcliffe (TigTech)

15:15 - 15:30 Coffee Break
15:30 - 16:15

Keynote Speech
Paul Nemitz, European Commission

Democracy and the Rule of Law in the Age of AI

16:15 - 17:45

Panel 6

How can SMEs and startups prepare for AI technologies, innovate responsibly, and engage in policy dialogue?

Moderator: Shalini Trefzer (Microsoft)

Eva Kaili (European Parliament, Chair of STOA)
Anand Rao (PWC)
Mislav Malenica (Mindsmiths)
Julia Reinhardt (Mozilla Foundation)
Niniane Paeffgen (Swiss Digital Initiative)
Alexander Ilic (ETH AI Center)

17:45 - 18:00 Closing Words
18:00 - 19:00 Meet & Mingle continued

 

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GUIDING QUESTIONS 

The conference will explore those key questions:

  • What are the implications and limitations of global AI regulatory initiatives (including the draft EU AI Act) from a business and civil society perspective? What is on the horizon globally from a regulatory perspective?
  • How can we ensure that underrepresented stakeholders, including the Global South, Youth, and Civil Society in general, engage in the AI policy debate?
  • How can we use soft law as a policy option to increase the effectiveness and credibility of AI governance while fostering acceptance of AI technologies?
  • How can new technologies and innovative tools strengthen policy solutions?
  • How can data policy increase trust in AI applications?
  • How can SMEs and startups prepare for AI technologies, innovate responsibly, and engage in policy dialogue?

The two-day program will combine keynote speeches, panel discussions (followed by Q&A), latest research spotlights and academic papers review sessions.

TARGET AUDIENCES

  • Policy makers and governments
  • Business leaders from multinationals, SMEs and startups.
  • Representatives of international organizations and civil society.
  • Academics, experts and thought leaders.

KEY BENEFITS FOR THE PARTICIPANTS

  • Take part in an unbiased forum for the exchange of experiences and best practices in regulatory risk management. 
  • Develop insights into the likely near and far future for European and global AI regulations allowing you to predict, plan and optimize your stakeholder outreach and reach your strategic business objectives
  • Hear and share best practices in developing digital business strategy respecting societal concerns and governance approach.
  • Engage with key experts on how to address business risk and build trust in the digital age. 
  • Contribute to a follow-up publication prepared by a world-class university with key conference take-aways helping define the path to an appropriate AI regulatory environment.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH