IP Osgoode conference focuses on a collective vision for the future of AI data governance in Canada
TORONTO, March 13, 2019 – Last year, IP Osgoode, along with its collaborators, kicked off its Bracing for Impact: The AI Challenge conference series with a full-day conference on the legal and ethical issues related to Artificial Intelligence. Building on its success, IP Osgoode will now host a second conference focused on AI and big data at the Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, on Thursday March 21. This second conference will explore Canada’s data policy and governance strategies, with a focus on intellectual property and ownership implications, as well as Smart Cities and an examination of big data in the healthcare industry.
Featured speakers include Dave Green (Assistant General Counsel, Microsoft), Catherine Lacavera (Vice President of Litigation, Employment, and Regulatory Investigation, Google) and Professor Kang Lee (Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in developmental neuroscience at the University of Toronto) who will deliver a keynote lecture entitled “Affective Artificial Intelligence & Law: Opportunities, Applications, and Challenges.” The conference also features prominent legal scholars, AI experts, government policymakers and industry leaders from Canada and around the world.
“With the huge success of last year’s conference, we are looking to keep the momentum going,” said Professor Pina D’Agostino, Founder & Director of IP Osgoode. “We will explore recent developments in several key areas, including both data policy and governance. During the conference, world leaders with diverse areas of expertise will revisit current legal policies and brainstorm new ideas that can help shape the next decade of AI innovation in Canada. This conference will bridge the gap between different disciplines and fields and drive the conversation forward about how governments should prepare for and react to the impacts that AI will have on Canadian society.”
D’Agostino noted that the Bracing for Impact: The AI Challenge conference series is aligned with the federal and provincial governments’ commitment to fund a Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy for research and talent that will cement the country’s position as a world leader in AI. The strategy, originally announced in 2017, will serve to attract and retain top academic talent in Canada, increase the number of post-graduate trainees and researchers studying artificial intelligence, and promote collaboration between Canada’s main centres of expertise in Montreal, Toronto-Waterloo and Edmonton.
The conference is supported by Microsoft Canada, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Naschitz Brandes Amir, York University’s Artificial Intelligence and Society Task Force and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
To register and for more information about Bracing for Impact: The AI Challenge – Part II: Data, Policy & Innovation, please visit the conference website.
About IP Osgoode
Conceptualized & founded in 2008 by Professor Pina D’Agostino, IP Osgoode, the Intellectual Property (IP) Law and Technology Program at Osgoode Hall Law School, is an independent and authoritative voice which explores legal governance issues at the intersection of intellectual property and technology. IP Osgoode cultivates interdisciplinary, comparative and transnational research, collaboration, policy-thinking and practice on the basis of a tight connection between teaching, research and clinical action. IP Osgoode has put Osgoode and York University on the map in the global IP debate. We aim to influence the IP debate in Canada and internationally by educating our students and collaborating with the IP community in Canada and worldwide. Together, we have built an innovative program that is cutting-edge and completely unique to Osgoode.
About Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University has a proud history of 130 years of leadership and innovation in legal education and legal scholarship. A total of about 900 students are enrolled in Osgoode’s three-year Juris Doctor (JD) Program as well as joint and combined programs. The school’s Graduate Program in Law is also the largest in the country and one of the most highly regarded in North America. In addition, Osgoode Professional Development, which operates out of Osgoode’s facility in downtown Toronto, offers both degree and non-degree programming for Canadian and international lawyers, non-law professionals, firms and organizations. Osgoode has an internationally renowned faculty of 60 full-time professors, and more than 100 adjunct professors. Our respected community of more than 18,000 alumni are leaders in the legal profession and in many other fields in Canada and across the globe.
About York University
York University champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. York students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. York U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, York is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.
York U’s fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario’s Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.
Media Contacts:
Virginia Corner, Communications Manager, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, 416-736-5820, vcorner@osgoode.yorku.ca
Gloria Suhasini, York University Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 22094, suhasini@yorku.ca
