Events

The implementation and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has shown the critical role of data and technology to advance sustainable and inclusive development. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the importance of leveraging data and digital technologies to ensure a rapid, agile, and effective response to both the pandemic as it unfolds and the economic recovery in its aftermath. Data plays a catalytic role in informing targeted decision-making at the national and supranational levels while technology can be harnessed to realize new and innovative ways to implement tangible solutions on the ground.

Under the overarching theme of harnessing data and technology for development, this cross-sectorial dialogue will feature two complementary discussions. The first panel will focus on data for development, presenting the World Bank SDG Atlas and its innovative data visualizations, and discussing the role of data in leading a resilient recovery and achieving the SDGs. The second panel will focus on technology for development, presenting EPFL’s Tech4Dev initiative and showcasing best practices in technology transfer that can be adopted by multiple stakeholders in international development.

While the SwissCovid proximity tracing app was designed as decentralized and privacy-preserving, adoption rates have been low, and non-users have cited privacy and data protection as the top reason for not adopting. Similar results have been seen in other countries. Given the potential benefits of such an app, and users willingness to use apps with less privacy and arguably less social benefits, this suggests a need for a better understanding of privacy along with a greater focus on generating digital trust in society.

IHEID’s Centre for Trade and Economic Integration and the Global Health Centre invite you to join them for a panel discussion on the privacy features of the proximity tracing apps, the implications of such tech for global health, and general privacy and online trust, with a view to the lessons learned, and what can be done better.

For more information please click below.

Tuesday, February 16th, 15h00-16h00 (CET), online

With the massive use of Fake News and the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the general public is aware that AI can harm democratic processes. But on its bright side, can machine learning help us to better understand and improve democracy?

Applied Machine Learning Days at EPFL in 2021 will consists of monthly thematically focussed conferences on machine learning and artificial intelligence with top speakers from around the world. The AI & Democracy track explores the challenges and opportunities that lie at the intersection of politics, law, and machine learning – beyond Fake News and Cambridge Analytica. Open Government Initiatives have opened access to vast amounts of data that political scientists, lawmakers, legal experts, journalists, and data scientists exploit to gain insights into political and legal processes.

For more information please click below.

Monday, January 25th 2021, 09h00-17h00, online

IEEE International Symposium on Hardware Oriented Security and Trust (HOST) is the premier symposium that facilitates the rapid growth of hardware-based security research and development. Since 2008, HOST has served as the globally recognized event for researchers and practitioners to advance knowledge and technologies related to hardware security and assurance.

For more information click below.

The second wave of the COVID 19 pandemic is surging in the world.  Many countries had high expectations from digital contact tracing as a means to improve the efficiency of the manual tracing. In this webinar renowned international experts present their research results and views on solutions for digital contact tracing. We critically discuss the deployed solutions with respect to their security, privacy and effectiveness. In particular, we discuss the risks and threats of using solutions that are provided by giant data collectors. The event is supported by the Collaborative Research Center CROSSING (funded by the German Research Foundation DFG).

Participation is free of charge. In order to register and to see the full agenda please click below.

December 1st 2020, 13h-18h30, online

Today, a global digital society is emerging through the transfer of data abroad on a massive scale. Some states, however, seem to be returning to national isolationism, encouraging local storage solutions so as to be less dependent on foreign infrastructures and platforms. Switzerland is debating the adoption of a ‘Swiss Cloud’ for certain categories of data, while our neighbors are considering a European strategy. In addition to the geopolitical dimension, this massive transfer of data in Switzerland and abroad raises questions concerning protection of our privacy and control over our data. This conference will examine the role of multilateralism in the search for global responses.

The Digital Transformation Office of the University of Geneva invites you to join its e-conference on “Control over our data: what role for international Geneva on data governance?” on Wednesday 18th of November.

For more information please click below.

Following the postponement of conference, the new dates have been confirmed: 16-17th of November 2020. Wide application of AI technologies has enormous benefits, but it also presents unprecedented challenges in terms of privacy, cybersecurity, consumer rights and ethics. As societal expectations evolve, lack of clear global rules & slow pace of policy developments in this area presents a major challenge to businesses worldwide. RegHorizon’s AI Policy Conference is organized in collaboration with the ETHZ and will focus mainly on the role policy frameworks can play for AI’s future development. For more information please click below.

November 16th & 17th, 2020, 14h-19h online

The Cyber-Defense Campus is pleased to announce its next Cyber-Defence Campus conference which will take place on November 3rd & 4th 2020 at the EPFL SwissTech Convention Center. The two-day conference will explore the trade-off between the need for massive data collection to produce relevant intelligence for cyber-defence (Nov 3: Cyber Threat & Technology Intelligence) and the imperative need to preserve the privacy of citizens (Nov 4: Privacy-Enhancing Technologies).

For more information please click below.

The Swiss Finance Institute at EPFL is pleased to invite you to the upcoming Swissquote Conference 2020 on Finance and Technology. The conference is organized by the Swissquote Chair in Quantitative Finance and the Swiss Finance Institute@EPFL. Due to the exceptional circumstances caused by COVID-19, this conference will be held online. Please note that registration for this event is mandatory.

Friday, October 30, 2020, 10:30-12:00.

In order to register and to see the program click below.

The 3rd edition of the Crypto Valley Conference will be held on On June 11-12 in Rotkreuz, Switzerland, with two days of in-depth discussions on the current state and future of blockchain technology.

More information will follow shortly. To access the event’s website, click below.

On January 25-29, 2020 EPFL’s Swiss Tech Center will host the fourth iteration of the Applied Machine Learning Days. The best people in the field will talk about a variety of issues on the application of machine learning and AI – from technical to social to economical. The conference includes a track on AI & trust co-organized by C4DT, which will take place on Tuesday the 28th of January.