Sessions

AGENDA

All sessions are in CET time zone and will appear in your local time.

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December 6, 2021 (4)December 7, 2021 (8)

10:45 AM - 10:55 AM

Introduction to Day 2 and Panel 2 (Parallel)

This short session distilled key insights from day 1 on values and introduce day 2 that focused on goals and tools. The item concluded with a brief introduction to panel 2 - developing emerging technology for critical missions. It took place in three concurrent thematic panels: on neurotechnology (2a), on carbon neutrality (2b) and on global health (2c). Calls for “goal-oriented” and transformative innovation display a new level of urgency to better connect emerging technologies to specific challenges and goals like the SDGs. ● How can policies and practices by government and other stakeholders help ensure that the development of novel technologies addresses the most important problems? ● How might governance and inclusive processes help meet this challenge?

Douglas Robinson

11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

2a) Harnessing Responsible Neurotechnology for Brain Health

Hundreds of millions of people suffer disorders of the brain and neural systems. Meanwhile, brain science and the associated ability to manipulate the brain and neural systems are deepening. Advances in so-called neurotechnology have the potential to enhance the treatment of brain disorders and build human capabilities, opening new ways to diagnose and treat brain disorders and improve health and well-being. But there are ethical, legal and social challenges associated with the advance of neurotechnology related to privacy, human enhancement, autonomy, and distributive justice. The OECD Council recently enacted the Recommendation on the Responsible Innovation in Neurotechnology to help guide the development of these technologies. ● What kinds of tools and policies are needed to help ensure that emerging neurotechnology advance the mission of brain health in an ethical fashion? ● How can the recently enacted OECD Recommendation best be implemented?

Hervé Chneiweiss

World Health Organisation (WHO)

Philipp Kellmeyer

University Medical Center Freiburg

Siobhan O'Sullivan

Royal College of Surgeons Ireland

Gabriel Villafuerte

11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

2b) Realising Net Carbon Neutrality: The Role of Carbon Management Technologies

Reaching net carbon neutrality is one of the central global challenges we face, and technological development will play a key role. A carbon transition will necessitate policies that promote sustainable management of the carbon stored in biomass, but not exclusively so: technology is increasingly making it possible to recycle industrial sources of carbon, thus making them renewable. The idea of “carbon management” may capture the different facets of the answer: reduce the demand for carbon; reuse and recycle the carbon in the bio- and technosphere; and remove carbon from the atmosphere. But a reliance on technologies for carbon capture and usage (CCU) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) may present barriers for other more radical transformations. ● What knowledge is necessary to better guide national and international policy communities as they manage emerging technology portfolios for carbon management? ● What can more holistic approaches to carbon management offer for developing technology pathways to net carbon neutrality? ● What policies could ensure that one technology is not a barrier for implementation of another?

International Energy Agency

Monica Gattinger

University of Ottawa

Harvard University

Hans-Jörn Weddige

11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

2c) Innovating Global Health: Collaborative Action Where Markets Fail

This panel discussed how new kinds of collaboration could bridge research, economic, and societal priorities to achieve a key societal mission: to strengthen health resilience. The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary and multisector collaboration to address unmet medical needs and emerging societal priorities. When markets and return of investment are limited, for example in novel antibiotics, pandemic vaccines, and some diagnostics, innovators find it difficult to secure funding, develop a sustainable pipeline, and to ensure financial returns. New business models are needed to strengthen health resilience. ● How can collaborative partnerships and novel business models between governments, public research institutes, industry, funders and philanthropy help overcome economic barriers to sustainable health innovation where traditional markets do not deliver? ● How can these mechanisms become more anticipatory of resilience challenges?

Francesca Colombo

Julie Gerberding

Access to Medicine Foundation

The Research Investment for Global Health Technology Fund (The RIGHT Fund)

Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)

Kevin Outterson

Boston University / CARB-X

12:25 PM - 12:40 PM

Panel 2. Rapporteur and Wrap-Up

Three rapporteurs highlight key points from discussions in Panels 2a, 2b and 2c.

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

Innovation Norway

David Winickoff

12:50 PM - 2:00 PM

Panel 3. Setting Goals and Agendas Through Foresight and Participatory Processes

In the face of pandemics, climate emergencies, and the digital transformation, it has never been more important to develop anticipatory capacities and strategic intelligence for setting goals agendas for science, technology and governance. The future of both technology and society carries great uncertainty, so tools like anticipatory technology assessment and foresight will be critical, especially if we seek to innovate towards key challenges. ● What are the current gaps and needs in capacity for strategic intelligence for emerging technologies? ● What kinds of diverse actors and practices will better foster this intelligence?

Duncan Cass-Beggs

Sebastian Pfotenhauer

Technical University of Munich

African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town

Aida Ponce Del Castillo

European Trade Union Institute (ETUI)

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology

Re-Imagine Europa

2:10 PM - 3:20 PM

Panel 4. Tools of Upstream Technology Governance: Soft Law, Standards, and Ethics-by-Design

Governance of emerging technologies too early in the development process can possibly be constraining; but governing too late can make technologies harder to govern as they become institutionalised. This panel explored a range of tools that seek to enable “innovating well” by working through tool and mechanisms of upstream governance. Communities of technological practice have become more creative in the embedding of social values, not just safety but also ethical considerations, into the development of emerging technology using techniques like soft law, private governance, standards and ethics-by-design. ● What are current trends and best practices for enacting agile and robust approaches to upstream governance that enable innovation but align technological development with societal goals? ● What are the advantages and disadvantages to different forms of upstream technology governance?

London School of Economics and Political Science

Boma Brown-West

Environmental Defense Fund

Sanofi / IFPMA Future Health Technologies and Bioethics Working Group

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Arizona State University

Stephan Naundorf

German Federal Chancellery

3:25 PM - 3:50 PM

Concluding Remarks and Next Steps

Françoise Roure