This event is part of the Project for Peaceful Competition.
Hosted by CIGI, this event takes place over two sessions:
- November 15, 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. EST
- November 16, 6:00 p.m.–9:30 p.m. EST
The digital data-driven world is characterized by a particular set of drivers, many of which differ in crucial ways from those of the past. Firms in the new technologies/digital space face high upfront costs and, as a result, a high risk of failure. But once success is achieved, it is sweet: marginal costs of reproduction are zero or near zero, and if protected by any form of intellectual property rights, profits are economic rent. There is a first-mover advantage that is accentuated if product or industry standards are developed concomitantly.
Success in such a world is underwritten by economies of agglomeration and geopolitical strategy. In the high-tech sector, “clustering” — be it of firms, talent, finance or support services — coupled with an active national strategy to nurture and build out the sector, are key to understanding the winners and “the ‘collective’ character of innovation.”
These characteristic features have implications for economic and social policy domestically and internationally, for these issues are the impetus behind creating the Project for Peaceful Competition. This conference, organized over two half-days to accommodate the North American to East Asian time zones, explores key issues in the governance of a digital data-driven economy and society, with an emphasis on how international cooperation (or the lack thereof) may backstop national policies (or render them less effective). A new era of geopolitics and geoeconomics is upon us.
Participants:
- Susan Ariel Aaronson, CIGI Senior Fellow; Research Professor and Director of Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub, George Washington University
- Dan Ciuriak, CIGI Senior Fellow; Director and Principal, Ciuriak Consulting Inc.
- Dieter Ernst, CIGI Senior Fellow; Adjunct Senior Fellow, East-West Center, Washington, DC
- Bob Fay, Managing Director of Digital Economy, CIGI, Waterloo
- Henry Gao, Associate Professor of Law, Singapore Management University
- Melissa Hathaway, President, Hathaway Global Strategies
- Alex He, CIGI Research Fellow
- C. Randall Henning, Professor of International Economic Relations, School of International Service, American University
- Mark Kruger, CIGI Senior Fellow; Opinion Editor and Senior Fellow, Yicai Global
- Ronaldo Lemos, Director, Institute for Technology and Society of Rio de Janeiro
- Oliver Letwin, visiting professor, King’s College London Policy Institute, and chair of the Project for Peaceful Competition
- Douglas Lippoldt, Former Chief Trade Economist, HSBC Global Research
- Danielle Luo, Senior Analyst, International Public Affairs, CPP Investments
- Akshay Mathur, CIGI Senior Fellow; Director, Observer Research Foundation, Mumbai
- Rohinton P. Medhora, President, CIGI
- Panthea Pourmalek, Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs student, University of British Columbia
- Caetano Penna, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Global Challenges, Utrecht University
- Christian Perrone, Public Policy Consultant and head of the Rights and Technology and GovTech teams, ITS Rio
- Kevin Rudd, President, Asia Society Policy Institute
- Samir Saran, President, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi
- Vikram Sinha, Head, Data Governance Network, IDFC Institute, Mumbai
- Yves Tiberghien, Professor of Political Science, Director Emeritus of the Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia
- Heidi Tworek, CIGI Senior Fellow; Associate Professor of Public Policy and Global Affairs and History, University of British Columbia
- John Zysman, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley
