Welcome

09:00 – 09:15

Opening of the ICCP Technology Foresight Forum 2012 by:

Mr Jørgen Abild Andersen, Chair of the OECD Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy and Director General Telecom of the Danish Business Authority (bio)

Welcome speech by:

Mr. Andrew Wyckoff, Director, OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (bio)

Session 1:  The power of big data analytics

09:15 – 10:45

“Big data” is characterised by at least one of the following three attributes, commonly referred to as the three Vs:

      i) Volume: data volume which challenges the capacities of traditional IT systems,

     ii) Velocity: speed at which data is collected, accessed and analysed – ideally in real-time,

    iii) Variety: different types of data (including structured and unstructured data) that are combined.

What seems to be key for big data, irrespective of its volume, velocity, and variety, is a fourth V:

    iv) Value, referring to the increasing social and economic value that comes with use of data.

Big data analytics are the set of techniques and technologies needed for harnessing that value. These techniques and technologies have in common that they help extract information (meaning) out of data while coping with the significant volume, velocity, and variety that data sets may have.

Panellists introduced big data analytics, and current or potential practices. They discussed questions such as:

• How powerful are big data analytics today? And what applications are they capable of enabling?
• What are the main enablers for big data analytics?
• What are the prospects of big data analytics becoming mainstream?
• What are available technical means to restrict the use of big data analytics?

Keynote and moderator: 

• Mr. Kenneth Cukier, journalist, the economist (presentation/bio)

Panellists:

• Harnessing data generated by machine-to-machine communication and the Internet of things:
  Mr. Usman Haque, founder of Pachube.com (presentation/bio)
   
  
• Towards standards for enhancing data operability:
  Mr. Laurent Liscia, Executive Director, OASIS (bio)
   
• The protection of digital identities in the context of big data analytics:
  Mr. Harry Halpin, Technology and Society Domain, W3C (presentation/bio)

10:45 – 11:00     Coffee break

Session 2:  Opportunities and challenges for society

11:00 – 12:30

The use of big data analytics promises a wide number of social and economic benefits across society. However, it also raises concerns as it may put at risk fundamental values and thus warrant review of current policy frameworks, most prominently those aimed at ensuring the protection of privacy. But the potential implications for policy also spill over into many other domains; including among others skills and employment and the protection of intellectual property rights.

Panellists discussed opportunities and challenges for society that are emerging through big data analytics taking into account the i) economic; ii) social; and iii) international dimension. Questions  discussed included, but were not limited to:

• What are the benefits promised by big data analytics?
• What are the risks to fundamental values posed by big data analytics?
• What are the potential implications of big data analytics on equity and social cohesion?
• Does society have the necessary level of skills and awareness to embrace big data analytics?
• Are current policy frameworks suited to the use of big data analytics in an era in which data is open, re-used, and re-combined in order to bring significant benefits?

Moderator: 

• Ms. Katarina de Brisis, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs, Norway (bio)

Panellists:

• The role of cloud computing for big data analytics:
  Mr. Stephen McGibbon, Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft Europe, Middle East & Africa (bio)
   
• The socio-economic impact of “big data” and recent market trends:
  Mr. Matteo Pacca, Associate Director, McKinsey & Company (presentation/bio)
   
• Challenges to sharing of knowledge derived from big data:
  Mr. Rufus Pollock, Co-Founder and Director, the Open Knowledge Foundation and Associate of the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law at the University of Cambridge (presentation/bio)
   
• Implications of data analytics on fundamental values such as privacy and freedom:
  Mr. Omer Tene, Managing Director of Tene & Associates, Associate Professor at the College of Management School of Law, Rishon Le Zion (presentation/bio)
   
• Implications of big data deployment on employment and wealth distribution:
  Mr. Dominique Turcq, Founder and Director, Boostzone Institute (bio)

12:30 – 14:00     Lunch break

Session 3:  Big data analytics in science and research

14.00 – 15.00

Data analysis has always been fundamental to science and research, from the use of paper in the 9th Century that ushered in the Golden Age of Islamic Science, to the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, to the rise of computers over the last 60 years. The introduction of new instruments and methods based on big data analytics may represent another fundamental transformation in science and research, prompting some to suggest the arrival of a “4th Paradigm: data intensive scientific discovery”. This could have major implications for how discovery occurs in all scientific fields. For example, some have challenged the usefulness of models in an age of massive datasets, arguing that with large enough data sets, machines could now detect complex patterns and relationships that were invisible to researchers. The data deluge, it is argued, makes the scientific method obsolete, because correlations are enough.

This session discussed the role and impact of big data analytics in science and research, focussing in particular on areas such as environment, life science, and health care. Questions discussed included, but were not limited to:

• How important and feasible are data openness and interoperability for science and research, and in particular in medicine and health care?
• Are current IPR regimes suited to the new paradigm of “data intensive scientific discovery”?
• To what degree do we really need scientific methods in the era of big data analytics? And what is the new role of scientists, if there is any?  

Moderator:

• Mr. Richard Johnson, BIAC Chair to the Biotechnology Committee; BIAC Vice Chair to the Technology Committee; Senior Partner, Arnold & Porter (presentation/bio)

Panellists:

• Big data in new energy technology development:
  Mr. Yoshiaki Tojo, Director-General, New Energy & Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) (bio)
   
• Deploying big data analytics in life science:
  Mr. Pierre Delort, President of the French national association of CIOs (Association Nationale des DSI) (presentation/bio)
   
• Opening science and research data in the health sector:
  Mr. Hwang Seung-Ku, Director of Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) (bio)

Session 4:  Big data analytics in marketing

15.00 – 16.00

Marketing is probably one of the oldest application areas of data analytics. With customer relationship management (CRM), for example, companies already introduced a wide number of analytic techniques and technologies to improve their interactions with customers in order to increase sale figures. Big data analytics, however, elevate CRM to another level as it allows for more accurate profiling through a series of new big data sources (e.g. fidelity card, click-stream, and location data). These new data sources provide new insights about customers and consumers that they may even not be aware of. The benefits of using big data analytics are not limited to targeted advertisement, but also include the creation of new or improved products (customer-driven product design). As customer data become more and more valuable, however, sales points develop into a strategic point of control, and intermediaries owning these points of control can gain a strategic dominant position.

This session looked at the increasing benefits and challenges of using new customer data. Questions discussed included, but were not limited to:

• How has big data analytics changed traditional CRM?
• How can we draw the boundaries between, on the one hand, ‘improving customer relationships’, and, on the other hand, ‘unfair consumer manipulation’?
• Can big data lead to dominant market positions?  

Moderator: 

• Ms. Anna Fielder, Consumer rights advocate and campaigner, Privacy International; Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council (CSISAC) (bio)

Panellists:

• The benefits of big data in e-commerce:
  Ms. Paula Bruening, Vice President, Global Policy, The Centre for Information Policy Leadership (bio)
   
• Harnessing the value of consumer data across the economy:
  Mr. Jakob Haesler, Chief Executive Officer, tinyclues (bio)
   
• Competition in the big data era:
  Mr. Jonathan Murray, EVP Business Transformation & Chief Technology Officer, Warner Music Group (bio)

16.00 – 16.15     Coffee break

Session 5: Big data analytics for public service delivery

16:15 – 17:15

The public sector is an important source and user of data that can bring large benefits across the economy. For the public sector, the potential benefits associated with an improved access and re-use of public sector data (i.e. public sector information, PSI) include: i) improving transparency in the public sector; ii) improving the delivery of public services, e.g. making them more efficient, innovative or more personalised; and iii) facilitating more timely public policy and decision making. Evidence, however, suggests that the public sector is not fully exploiting the benefits of big data. In some areas, such as those related to the provision of statistics for policy making, this may raise issues about the possible new role of national statistical agencies (NSA) in a time where new providers of statistics proliferate, many of which are private businesses providing close to real-time data.

This session looked at issues related to big data in the public sector and the role of the public sector in a data-driven economy. Questions discussed included, but were not limited to:

• Is the public sector ready for big data?
• What are the major barriers to the provision and use of big data to improve the delivery of public services?
• Could the proliferation of private providers of statistics lead to a shift in power between the private and the public sector in informing public debates?

Moderator:

• Mr. Antti Eskola, Commercial Counsellor at Ministry of Employment and the Economy, Finland (bio)

Panellists:

• Big data for development aid agencies:
  Mr. Emmanuel Letouzé, Development Economist, Global Pulse, United Nations (presentation/bio)
   
• Big data for supporting public services:
  Mr. Michail Skaliotis, Head of Unit - Innovation and information society, Eurostat (bio)
   
• Opportunities from public sector information:
  Mr. Adam McGreggor, Technologist and Strategist, Rewired State (bio)

Conclusion

17.15 – 18.00

Conclusion of the ICCP Technology Foresight Forum 2012

Chair:

Mr Jørgen Abild Andersen, Chair of the OECD ICCP and Director General Telecom of the Danish Business Authority (bio)

Brief summary by:

• Mr. Kenneth Cukier, journalist, The Economist (bio)

Concluding statements by:

• Ms. Jennifer Stoddart, Commissioner, The Federal Privacy Commissioner of Canada (bio)
   
• Mr. Joseph Alhadeff, Vice President for Global Public Policy and Chief Privacy Officer, Oracle (BIAC) (bio)
   
• Mr. Roland Schneider, Senior Policy Adviser, Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) (bio)
   
• Mr. Robin Wilton, Technology Outreach Director for Identity and Privacy, Internet Society (Internet Technical Advisory Committee, ITAC) (bio)
   
• Mr. Suso Baleato, Senior Policy Adviser, (CSISAC) (bio)

18.00     Cocktail in the Roger Ockrent room, Château de la Muette (sponsored by the Internet Technical Advisory Committee)