While promising considerable advances, autonomous and quantum technologies present significant challenges for our societies. In light of those challenges, the University of Ottawa Research Chair in Technology and Society develops public policy proposals anchored in rigorous research, and deploys awareness and outreach activities with industry, public decision-makers and civil society. The Chair proposes a research program in technology law, ethics and policy around the security, regulation and governance of automated and quantum technologies, from an interdisciplinary perspective, and building on a global, multijural and multilingual network of experts.
The Chair’s research program examines the interface of law, technology and society, and further question the emergence of algorithmic law. The ubiquity of algorithms offers opportunities for research on the societal impacts of these technologies and on how legal systems can protect citizens in an effective and coherent manner. This is not so much about banning as it is about supporting inclusive and responsible innovation. The Chair's work looks at the regulation of AI and blockchain, including automated decisions, cryptocurrencies and smart contracts. The research focuses on the use of automated technologies as tools for decision-making, governance and regulation, and their effects on democratic freedoms, access to law and justice. On these issues of regulation and governance for and by algorithms, the University Research Chair in Technology and Society hosts or participates in the following projects:
- AI + Society Initiative
- Blockchain Legal Lab
- SSHRC Partnership Empowering Judicial Actors through Cyberjustice and Artificial Intelligence
Economic, social and political powers now reside in data. The algorithm society has developed on a data economy, and a global infrastructure for collecting, analysing and transmitting data. The Chair’s research program examines issues of information security and privacy in the age of automated decisions, connected cities and objects, and digital health – and with the advance of quantum technologies. The rise of artificial intelligence and robotics, which present risks to privacy, health and computer security, and the latest scandals, have shown that the security of our societies must be based on transparency and responsibility. The Chair's research program is thus interested in the protection of whistleblowers and acts of hacktivism - attacks pursuing a socially accepted cause - which evolve in legally and morally ambiguous spaces. On these issues of regulation and governance of information security, the Research Chair in Technology and Society hosts or participates in the following projects
- Secrets & Whistleblowers
- Quantum & Society
- SSHRC Partnership “Human-centric Cybersecurity”
Finally, in collaboration with the Pol Comm Tech Lab, the Chair also promotes a research program focuses on citizenship in the digital age, digital literacy and the influence of academic actors on public policy, notably through:
- Connected Canada
- Global Journalism Innovation Lab
