The Singapore Management University (SMU) School of Law has been awarded a major S$4.5 million international grant from Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to carry out a five-year Research Programme on the Governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Use. The research will comprise three integrated streams: AI and Society, AI and Industry, and AI and Commercialization. The project will build critical interdisciplinary capacity in the area that will help build bridges between the academy, industry and government. It will be carried out by a new research centre to be housed in the SMU School of Law and to be formally launched later this year.
Led by Goh Yihan, Dean of the SMU School of Law, the new initiative will engage actively with researchers in the field of AI and data use all over the world, including Dr. Ian Kerr and Dr. Florian Martin-Bariteau who have committed to be part of the project.
“In the early stages of developing our research programme,” explained Dean Goh, “we identified the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Law, Technology and Society as an obvious partner for the project. Dr. Kerr has already played a crucial role in helping us refine our research priorities, and we are excited to recruit the CLTS Director, Dr. Florian Martin Bariteau, to add his expertise as well.”
Excited to represent University of Ottawa in this global initiative, Kerr exclaimed that “Dean Goh has put together an impressive international team that has very beautifully curated a project that will surely deliver results of international import. We are happy the University of Ottawa has been recognized as a leader on the world stage in all of this, and we are excited to make a contribution.”
A world renowned leading expert on the law, ethics and policy of robotics and artificial intelligence, Dr. Ian Kerr is a Full Professor in the Common Law Section and a Faculty member of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Ethics, Law and Technology.
Dr. Florian Martin-Bariteau is an Assistant Professor in the Common Law Section and the Director of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa. He is an up-and-coming emerging expert, at the forefront of law and policy of blockchain and automated distributed technologies in Canada.
The new research hub will also establish institutional partnerships with academia and industry, which will provide international connections and expertise. As such, the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa have committed to work with the new Centre, alongside some of other prominent research centres members of the Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers, such as the Berkman Klein Centre for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and the Digital Asia Hub.
“This is a great opportunity for CLTS!” said Dr. Martin-Bariteau. “We already have excellent partnerships across North America, Europe and the Middle East. Expanding to Asia is a strategic and good move for us, as these issues become more and more global in nature.”
“This is an exciting time for law research at the University of Ottawa,” said Adam Dodek, Dean of the Common Law Section at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law. “SMU will have an excellent opportunity to learn from what we have learned in establishing a globally-minded law and technology research centre. And we stand to learn many new things too, not only by expanding into Asia, but by watching this new research centre grow and respond to today’s challenges. This new partnership further establishes uOttawa’s commitment to global leadership in law and technology. With representatives like Ian Kerr and Florian Martin-Bariteau leading the way, it’s clear we have a lot to offer to the world.”
Congratulations to Professors Kerr and Martin-Bariteau!