European Hub for Contemporary China - EuroHub4Sino’s Post

New #policypaper under the European Hub for Contemporary China - EuroHub4Sino framework by our Centre's Prof. Viktoriya Voytsekhovska is finally out! Read the paper below and stay tuned for more upcoming publications! 👏 👏 👏

I am delighted to give you an update on the upcoming inaugural INDIRE conference. The INDIRE family and friends around the world continue to contribute and confirm their attendance to the conference. As of today, 26 scientific articles were accepted. We are processing now invitations to international delegates. Most importantly, the schedule has been updated and provides more details on the activities from June 29 to July 6. The conference now is filled to capacity. Very exciting cross-fertilization of areas where different groups are brought together to the same table. Checkout the schedule. As I get more confirmations and details, I will continue to improve the information on the website schedule such as adding titles of papers to be submitted and authors, guest speakers, keynote speakers. Three areas remain in development: AI and governance, governance in digital economy, and aerospace. https://lnkd.in/e2N9CtcT

The World’s Top 50 Science and Technology Hubs . In 2023, the world experienced another wave of science and technology (S&T) innovation, from the introduction of the first over-the-counter birth control pill in the U.S. to the stunning growth of ChatGPT and artificial intelligence. This map explores the world’s top 50 science and technology hubs leading these innovations based on data from the Global Innovation Index 2023. Hubs were ranked by their combined share of international patent applications and scientific publications.

Getting ready to go to Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) to present at the 20th Technology, Knowledge, and Society Conference (https://lnkd.in/gFnHSU_R). This paper is the next step on my ongoing search for the application of AI with a netgain when it comes to the environmental impacts of business processes. The specific focus on operations and supply chains is a particularly important one, and I hope to bring back good feedback to help sharpen the work of a recently assigned research team I am leading at the KPU Melville School of Business. I will have more about this soon.

✨New CSET Report✨ The Chinese Academy of Sciences is key to Beijing’s tech ambitions and is among the top S&T institutions in the world. In our new report, Cole McFaul, Hanna Dohmen, Sam Bresnick, and Emily Weinstein examine CAS’s efforts in research, policymaking, and more. They provide an in-depth look into CAS and its various functions within China’s S&T ecosystem. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eX5NdbwK

🚨 New Report! 🚨 Excited to share the publication of my latest with Hanna Dohmen, Sam Bresnick, and Emily Weinstein, "Fueling China’s Innovation: The Chinese Academy of Sciences and Its Role in the PRC’s S&T Ecosystem." The Chinese Academy of Sciences is among the most consequential S&T organizations in the world. The institution plays a crucial role in the PRC’s tech ambitions—understanding CAS is key to understanding China’s S&T ecosystem. We focus on CAS’s core functions: advancing S&T research, fostering commercialization of critical and emerging technologies, and S&T policymaking. Key Findings:  1. CAS is the top producer of highly-cited STEM research in the world and is a hub of top-tier S&T talent. The organization is far and away the largest producer of STEM research in China. 2. CAS provides funding, expertise, and R&D resources to support the growth of PRC tech companies. Notable spinoff companies include iFlyTech, BGI, ZTE, Lenovo, Cambricon and Sugon. 3. CAS is a powerful bureaucratic actor deeply involved in S&T policymaking in China. CAS has shaped major S&T policy initiatives, including the 863 Program, the 973 Program, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China For more, check out the full report. I’d love to hear your thoughts! Thanks! https://lnkd.in/gUdqYcTv

Today in Committee-world... The Lords Science and Technology Committee will be taking evidence from Ilan Gur and Matt Clifford, the Chair and CEO of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA). This is the first time, to our knowledge, that they've appeared before a select committee since ARIA was set up. ARIA has been set up as a new funding agency for research in the UK, with the aim to make a series of high-risk, but potentially high-reward, research investments. It was inspired by DARPA in the US, which famously contributed to high-profile inventions such as... um... the internet which you're using to read this. Since it was set up, it's allocated much of its £800m in funding to seven main research areas, which vary from smarter robot bodies and research into AI safety to genetically engineered plants, detecting climate tipping points, and even research into climate engineering. (Which is of particular personal interest to me because that's what my thesis was on.) I think there are lots of fascinating questions about how ARIA is operating now that it's been running for a year or so and has selected some projects and started to allocate research funding. There is a lot of interest in this portfolio approach to research projects - a bit like how a venture capitalist might invest in ten risky ideas and hope that one of them would 'come off' - but what does it mean for an idea to be successful when considering the very lofty ambitions that ARIA's projects have set for themselves? Where does it sit in the UK's R&D and innovation landscape in general - how do they ensure there's no overlap with more mainstream efforts funded by UKRI? If one of the projects shows signs of success, is there a way of following up on that to ensure the potential can be fully realised in the UK? In particular, there is a fascination with DARPA, and rightly so, given its track record. But there are some obvious advantages that DARPA has - a much bigger budget of billions of dollars a year, and the incredible procurement power of the US Department of Defense, which will often buy up large amounts of a product and support its development from the early days of invention. We are also interested in the process of mission selection. One of the interesting things about DARPA and military R&D - much like the Apollo project - is that you are constantly trying to solve *practical* problems: how can I get my computers to talk to each other? (internet) How can we develop new forms of power generation suitable for use in space where weight is at a premium? (early solar panels) How can we locate soldiers and units on the battlefield in real time? (GPS). ARIA is obviously very different and reflects broader differences between the US and UK tech/innovation ecosystems. The question is, given those differences... can it succeed? You'll be able to find more information, including a link on how to watch, here: https://lnkd.in/ebi_G3E2

Science and technology are an ever-increasing part of our lives, with large benefits and some compelling issues. This post explores some of those issues. I welcome your comments.

How is #generativeAI reshaping the future of Federal agencies? Discover the answers in ATARC (Advanced Technology Academic Research Center)'s latest white paper and stay ahead of the curve by exploring the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Read the full report now: https://ow.ly/mrsc50TKOhp

In our latest article, Caroline Wagner and I discuss the trap of over-securitizing science. https://lnkd.in/d8upt4WY