Technology transformation for Public Good - Role of AI/Automation to address societal challenges (CIMR Debates in Public Policy)
When:
—
Venue:
Online
No booking required
Join us on 9th December for our event 'Technology Transformation for Public Good - Role of AI/Automation to address societal challenges', part of the CIMR debates in Public Policy series.
This one-hour lunchtime online discussion will allow you to debate on the opportunities and on the role of the Government, think tanks and start-ups to promote technological transformation for public good, and look at how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Smart Automation would be able to tackle societal challenges.
In this talk we will aim to provide initial answers to important questions such as:
- Which new role would / should have the government thanks to technology transformation (E.g. wholesaler vs retailer of public services) to ensure tackling societal challenges
- What specific AI / Automation technology nowadays can help feasibly on public sector challenges (beyond achieving operative costs saving)?
- How to ensure two potential divergent objectives such as inclusive income growth (widespread allocation of benefits across society) and widespread adoption of technologies?
This event is organised by Riccardo Zecchinelli with the participation of Harry Rhys Davies (AI Programme Lead at TechNation), Mark Hodgson (Chief Business Officer at Cervest), Julia Beresford (Deputy Director, Policy, Strategy and Planning, Cabinet Office) and Lara Hayes (Senior Implementation Advisor, Government Automation Taskforce).
Please sign up by 5pm on Tuesday 8th December. You will be sent the link to join on the morning of the event.
Biographies:
Riccardo Zecchinelli – Senior Economist at the UK Cabinet Office
In over 10 years of experience of working across academia, ministries and economic regulators in the UK, Italy and Spain, Riccardo Zecchinelli has gained in-depth experience in business and micro-economic analysis and has become an expert on technology and innovation policies and on public program appraisal and evaluation.
Now, as Senior Economist in the Chief Economist’s team at the Cabinet Office, Riccardo contributes to supporting the Prime Minister private office and the effective running of the UK government. In particular, he contributes to the cross-governmental analysis on public sector productivity and the analysis for the new born cross-governmental body Government Automation Taskforce which aims to promote widespread adoption of automation and AI technologies across the Public Sector.
Harry Rhys Davies – AI Programme Lead at TechNation
Harry Davies is Applied AI Programme Lead at Tech Nation, which is a Government-backed programme to support the UK's most exciting AI/ML scaleups through peer-to-peer learning and hearing from later-stage founders. 51 AI companies have been through this programme since its inception in 2019. Tech Nation is a growth platform for scaleup entrepreneurs and their teams where over 600 companies that have raised over $10 billion have now been through their growth programmes, including Skyscanner, Zoopla, Monzo, Darktrace, and others. Harry was previously Head of Investment at Wayra UK.
Mark Hodgson – Chief Business Officer at Cervest
Mark is Chief Business Officer at Cervest, a venture capital backed Climate Intelligence platform that uses AI and machine learning to help organisations easily understand, measure and predict physical climate risk on all their assets. Mark has also led several international commercial operations for global technology companies including Microsoft and Google.
Julia Beresford - Deputy Director, Government Automation Taskforce
Julia has recently joined the Government Automation Taskforce as a Deputy Director. Her career background includes roles in software development, project management, operations and delivering transformational change (organisational, cultural and technological) in both the private and public sector. She joined the Civil Service in 2015 working at the Ministry of Justice where she performed a number of roles including Head of Tech Project Delivery and Head of Digital and Technology Customer Services.
Lara Hayes - Senior Implementation Advisor, Government Automation Taskforce
Lara has worked within the Government Automation Taskforce for eight months, but has been in the Cabinet Office for six years. Prior to joining the Civil Service, she worked for a public sector consultancy. A qualified project manager by background, Lara is leading a cross departmental project to look at automation in the correspondence process. She has previously led a number of cross departmental technical and modernisation projects. Lara has a masters in Political Economy, where her dissertation focused on automation and labour markets.
Contact name:
Isobel Edwards