News & Events

ICCP Technology Foresight Forum - "Cloud Computing: The Next Computing Paradigm?"

28-Oct-2009

First launched in 2005, Technology Foresight Forums are an annual event organised by the OECD Committee for Information, Computer, and Communications Policy to help identify opportunities and challenges for the Internet Economy posed by technical developments.  Foresight forums represent a collaborative effort of policy makers from member and non-member governments, business, civil society, and the Internet technical community.  Past forum topics include RFID, Participative Web, and Next Generation Networks.

Report on Applications of Complexity Science for Public Policy: New Tools for Finding Unanticipated Consequencesand Unrealized Opportunities

15-Oct-2009

Policymakers increasingly encounter problems that involve systems composed of very large numbers of diverse interacting parts, prone to surprising, large-scale, seemingly uncontrollable, behaviours. These are what scientists call complex systems. An exciting new field, complexity science has emerged, devoted to understanding, predicting, and influencing the behaviours of complex systems. This report explores the proposition that the insights achieved through scientific analysis can be used to design and implement better governmental policies, programmes, regulations, and infrastructures.

OECD conference on Consumer Protection in the Internet Economy, Washington D.C., 8–10 December 2009

from 08-Dec-2009 to 10-Dec-2009

The economic crisis has hit the retail sector hard but has actually boosted e-commerce, with more people shopping online, according to a new OECD report. The industry would grow faster still if business and governments did more to tackle the growing challenges of protecting consumers’ rights and privacy and fighting fraud, according to the OECD.

OECD Workshop on Transforming Innovation to Address Social Challenges

from 09-Nov-2009 to 10-Nov-2009

While the contribution of innovation to economic growth is well established,  there is growing awareness that innovation can be used to address social challenges from urban poverty,  education, to environmental sustainability that have resisted conventional market and government approaches to solving them.   For further information, please contact: mario.cervantes@oecd.org.

“Green ICT” side-event at UN Climate Change talks in Barcelona

on 05-Nov-2009

Innovation in ICTs is key to achieving ambitious CO2 emissions reductions. At the UN Climate Change talks in Barcelona - four weeks ahead of COP15 - the OECD, ITU, GeSI and international partners discussed how ICTs can help combat global warming.

OECD events at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

from 14-Nov-2009 to 18-Nov-2009

The OECD is organizing several events at the IGF in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, including workshops on 'Global ICT services sourcing post-crisis', on 'Expanding access to the Internet and broadband for development' and on 'Using ICTs and the Internet to meet environmental challenges', as well as an open forum on 'The importance of Internet Access and Openness for a sustainable economic recovery'.

OECD-UK Conference on Innovation for Economic Growth and Sustainability

from 12-Nov-2009 to 13-Nov-2009

Sustainability and Green Growth are high on the political agenda in the run up to the UN Conference on Climate Change in December 2009. But it is businesses which face some of the greatest challenges, and perhaps opportunities, from the move towards a green economy. How can firms incorporate sustainability into their strategies, and what effect will this have on their performance? Will this effect vary between sectors? Can governments effectively create demand for innovation and sustainable demand through regulation and public procurement?

OECD workshop on demand-led innovation policies

from 14-Sep-2009 to 15-Sep-2009

A key finding from this workshop was that governments need to align technology-push instruments like grants and incentives for R&D with demand-pull policy instruments such as public procurement and regulations. The discussions and expert presentations provided further insights and examples as to how countries are attempting to implement this in practice.

Workshop on Policy Coherence in the Application of Information and Communication Technologies for Development

from 10-Sep-2009 to 11-Sep-2009

Information communication technologies (ICTs) are crucial to reducing poverty, improving access to health and education services and creating new sources of income and employment for the poor. But there are substantial discrepancies in access to ICTs between, but also within, countries, depending on key factors such as gender, rural coverage, skills and educational levels. This workshop, organised jointly by the World Bank/infoDev and the OECD, aimed to share best practices in coherent approaches to meeting development objectives laid out by Ministers.

OECD Workshop on Demand-Led Innovation Policies

from 14-Sep-2009 to 15-Sep-2009

The OECD Workshop on Demand-led Innovation Policies will be held on 14-15 September 2009 at the OECD Headquarters in Paris.

The aim of this workshop  is thus to exchange views and draw lessons from a range of demand-side innovation policies, including public procurement, regulations, standards and lead markets.

APEC-OECD Joint Symposium on Initiatives among Member Economies Promoting Safer Internet Environment for Children

on 15-Apr-2009

The Internet is an extraordinary tool for children’s education and development. However, children also face a variety of risks online such as exposure to harmful content, cyberbullying, breach of privacy, etc. The joint APEC-OECD Symposium aimed at sharing experience with regards to initiatives to protect children online including government measures, public-private partnerships and regional/international co-operation.