Data for Policy 2020 Programme Launch and Registration Extended to 4th September

Sep 11, 2023

We are pleased to launch the Programme for Data for Policy 2020  – the full Programme can be viewed on our website here

The registration deadline has been extended to Friday, 4th September 2020  – book now to secure a place!

Moving to an online format for the first time, this year’s conference continues the multi-disciplinary, cross-sectoral, global conversation on the theories, applications and implications of data science innovation in governance and the public sector. The conference provides an unmissable opportunity for networking as leading international scholars, policy makers, international institutions and private sector organisations from across the world are participating. Data for Policy 2020 truly is a one of a kind, unmissable event.

Featured participants include: 

  • Jeffrey Schlagenhauf, Deputy Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
  • Sir Peter Gluckmann, Former Chief Scientific Advisor, New Zealand
  • Zuena Aziz, Chief Co-ordinator for Sustainable Development Goals Affairs in the Prime Minister’s Office, Bangladesh
  • Samia Melhem, Global Lead on Digital Capabilities, Digital Development Practice, World Bank
  • Masaru Yarime, Associate Professor, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong; UCL STEaPP, UK; and The University of Tokyo, Japan.
  • Torbjörn  Fredriksson, Head of ICT Analysis Section of the Division on Technology and Logistics, UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
  • Barbara Ubaldi, Head of Reform of the Public Sector Division, OECD
  • Stefaan Verhulst, Co-Founder of the Government Laboratory (GovLab), New York University
  • Christoph  Lütge, Professor, Institute of Ethics and AI, ITM, Munich
  • Helen Margetts, Director of the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford; The Alan Turing Institute
  • C. Leigh Anderson, Marc Lindenberg Professor for Humanitarian Action, International Development, and Global Citizenship, University of Washington

Keynote Speakers: 

  • Professor David Hand, Imperial College
  • Professor Alessandro Vespignani, Northeastern University
  • Professor Yi Zeng, Beijing Academy

Special sessions include: 

  • “Data Governance in the Public Interest” – comprising individual presentations and a Special Panel  “Brave New Worlds? Ethics in Theory and Practice in Public Data Provision” – organised by LSE and the Ada Lovelace Institute
  • “Data, analytics and digital transformation in the private sector” – a panel discussion organised by the UCL School of Management
  • “‘For good measure’: The challenges of quantifying complex problems for policymaking” – individual presentations and a special session on “The co-production of value from data by users and producers” – organised by Leiden University
  • “Data Quality and Development Policy” – individual presentations – organised by the University of Washington
  • “Data Governance for Innovation for Sustainable Smart Cities: Opportunities and Challenges in Public Policy and Institutional Design” – two sessions of individual presentations – organised by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
  • “Opportunities and Challenges for Data-Driven Research in Response to the COVID-19 Crisis” – presentations and discussion – organised by the Alan Turing Institute
  • “Data technologies and governance frameworks used for gathering, storing, managing, processing, analyzing and sharing data in the public administrations” – individual presentations – organised by Lisbon Council and the GovLab, NYU

Organisations represented include: 

Aapti Institute, India | Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation | Monash University, Australia | The Center for Economic Research and Teaching, Mexico | Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, UK | Hong Kong University of Science and Technology | Information and Training Outreach Centre for Africa | International Digital Accountability Council, USA | Qatar Computing Research Institute | Simon Fraser University, Canada | The Chinese University of Hong Kong | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem | United Nations University Institute in Macau | University College Dublin | Unicamp, Brazil | The Alan Turing Institute, UK | University of Oxford | University of the Aegean | University of Tokyo | World Wide Web Foundation, Indonesia | UK Statistics Authority | Ministry of Justice, UK | Sharif Governance Think Tank, Iran | Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Germany | Leiden University, Netherlands | Lapin Limited, Jersey | KIMEP University, Kazakhstan | National Institute for Economic and Social Research, UK | Ada Lovelace Institute, UK | Future of Privacy Forum, USA | University of Cambridge | European Commission | Office for National Statistics, UK | Quinten, France

Data for Policy is committed to increasing diversity in its delegate community and we are therefore delighted to offer  Data for Policy Ambassador  scholarships to suitable candidates. We particularly welcome applications from groups which are currently underrepresented in our community, in particular those from developing nations, who will extend our geographic diversity. For further details, and how to apply, please visit our website: Data for Policy Ambassador scholarships – deadline for application is 21st August

We are recruiting event assistant and social media/blog volunteers to assist with the running of the Conference. Please see our website for how to apply: Data for Policy Event Assistants  and Data for Policy Social Media/Blog Assistants – deadline for application is 21st August

Reflections from past conferences:

“Data for Policy provides a unique opportunity to have a dialogue across many disciplinary boundaries, it’s a forum in which we can ask questions and move collectively towards solutions, we can share methods. I think it’s invaluable.”

Professor Anthony Finkelstein, Chief Scientific Advisor for National Security to the UK Government – Data for Policy 2016

“This is the beginning of the dialogue that really needs to happen between policy makers and data scientists, so that they don’t find themselves warring with each other, but instead try to cooperate and move together to protect both the subjects of Big Data analysis and the ability to use this data to better inform policy and government.”

Professor Jim Waldo, Chief Technology Officer, Harvard University – Data for Policy 2016

“It’s fantastic to come here and take the temperature of what’s going on in this field and hopefully out of this we can begin to look ahead and see where the new connections are going to be made between ideas and data science.”

David Mair, Head of Unit at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission –  Data for Policy 2016

“It is the first time I have had the opportunity to take part in this type of discussion – getting a sense of where political thinking is and where academic thinking is. Forums like this can provide the thought leadership that is necessary in this area.”

John Sheridan, Head of Legislation Services, UK National Archives – Data for Policy 2015

Supporting Institutions:

Data for Policy Team

@dataforpolicy | cambridge.org/dap | @data_and_policy