In cooperation with the International Development Research Centre
Redefining development in the new world disorder: Harnessing AI and innovative finance to reach the Sustainable Development Goals
PROGRAM
8:30 am.: Welcome and land acknowledgement
Speakers: Ted Jackson, Chair, G78 and Julie Delahanty, President, IDRC
Indigenous Welcome: Elder Verna McGregor
9:00 a.m.: Opening Keynote Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World
SPEAKER: DANI RODRIK, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (BY VIDEO LINK)
Moderator: Manfred Bienefeld (Group of 78).
Fighting climate change, saving democracy, and eradicating poverty are urgent global challenges, yet the world’s leaders continue to pursue outdated policies that focus on one while worsening the trade-offs between each of them. Dani Rodrik’s recent book, Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World, shows how the nations of the world can achieve all three objectives. He provides a bold new vision of globalization, one in which we accelerate the green transition to achieve a sustainable planet, shore up the middle class to restore democracy’s foundations, and hasten economic revitalization in the developing world to put an end to poverty. Is a pluralist, less globalized world order now more possible, where nation-states can fashion their own social contracts and economic strategies tailored to their own needs?
10:15 a.m.: Health break
10:30 a.m.: Panel 1 Technology: Opportunities and Threats
SPEAKERS: Sathy Rajasekharan (IDRC) and Rafal Rohozinski (CIGI).
Moderator: Leah Darbyson (G78)
What benefits will digital (particularly AI) and other technologies offer, and at what costs? What can be expected from AI in the health, education and productive sectors, and to advance peace and justice? What are the risks in each case and how can they be mitigated? What are the implications for the ownership and control of intellectual property? And for income and wealth inequality?
12:00 p.m.: Lunch Keynote: Outcomes and Implications of Financing for Development Conference in Seville
SPEAKER: JOSE ANTONIO OCAMPO, Professor, School of International and Public Affairs, co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) and Member of the Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University (BY VIDEO LINK).
Moderator: Laura Macdonald (Carleton University)
The speaker will give a perspective on the outcome of the high-level conference on Financing for Development in Seville in July – what were the major achievements and shortcomings? In particular, was the developing country debt issue adequately dealt with? What happened to the proposal to mobilize Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) for development? What other reforms of the financial architecture are needed?
1:00 pm: Panel 2 Financing Development
SPEAKERS: Susan Spronk (University of Ottawa) and Senator Rosa Galvez (Parliament of Canada).
Moderator: Lauchlan Munro (University of Ottawa)
What are the implications of the massive cutbacks in Official Development Assistance and multilateral cooperation? Are there alternative sources of international financing for development, what are their advantages and disadvantages? What is the scope for international tax cooperation? What scope and potential for greater domestic resource mobilization?
2:00 – 2:30 pm: Health break
2:30 pm. Panel 3: Beyond Agenda 2030.
SPEAKERS: Adam Sneyd (Guelph University) and Ruby Dagher (University of Ottawa).
Moderator: David Peck (Social-change consultant, & Teacher, Humber College, Toronto)
Goals for sustainable development and climate emissions reduction are utterly off-track. Can and should the SDGs and climate goals be rescued? If so, what
urgent actions are necessary to deliver meaningful progress for people and the planet, and just and sustainable peace, by 2030?
3:30 p.m.: NPSIA Report – Moving the Needle: Re-imagining Canada’s Development and Humanitarian Engagement
SPEAKER: Valerie Percival (NPSIA, Carleton University}
Moderator: Stephen Brown (University of Ottawa)
4:30 p.m. Conference Wrap-up and Recommendations for Action
SPEAKERS: Richard Harmston (Group of 78), Chief Rapporteur, and Student Rapporteurs
Moderator: Ted Jackson (Group of 78)
5:00 p.m. Conference concludes