Ozcan Saritas

Will new technologies divide or unite people and society? What mechanisms should be used to balance society’s interests and progress so that innovation does not dehumanize humans? How should interaction between humans and AI be structured? Is all technology good for people? TheXXIII Yasin (April) International Academic Conference of HSE University discusses these questions and more.

On December 4, the International Advisory Board of the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge of HSE University met for its annual meeting. It was an anniversary event, as was the X Foresight Conference that preceded it. Largely thanks to the online format, the assembled board was the most representative of the field in its history. Experts from 20 international partner centres assessed ISSEK’s activities over the past year and proposed a wide range of topics for new research.

At the twelfth BRICS summit held on November 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping spoke via videoconference about the importance of the BRICS Energy Research Cooperation Platform. Researchers from HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge and the Institute for Economics and Regulation of Natural Monopolies are involved in the work of the Platform.

Jonathan Calof has been cooperating with HSE since 2009. In an interview with HSE News Service he talks about how his involvement with HSE began, what projects he has been part of, and how he has organized his online work during the recent lockdown.

On December 4, a forum on developments in science, technology and innovation (STI) was held in Pretoria, South Africa. There, a 10-year development plan was presented, based on an S&T forecast commissioned by the South African government and developed by the HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge.

Researchers at the ISSEK HSE Laboratory for Economics of Innovation Vitaliy Roud and Ekaterina Dyachenko share with some observations from fields of three science conference where were discussed current trends and new measurement tools of science, technology and innovation.

In 2018 the Department of Science and Technology of the Republic of South Africa commissioned a national Foresight study to the ISSEK Foresight Centre. Preliminary findings will be discussed at a workshop in Pretoria on October, 18–19. Ozcan Saritas, Leading Researcher at the Foresight Centre and Deputy Head of the Research Laboratory for Science and Technology Studies, will take part in this event.

On August 28-29, 2018, the 4th Asia-Pacific Futurists Network Conference was held in Bangkok. On August 30, among the associated events of the conference, the opening ceremony of the Innovation Foresight Institute took place, founded at the initiative of the National Innovation Agency of Thailand. Deputy Head of the ISSEK Research Laboratory for Science and Technology Studies Ozcan Saritas attended these events.

The Organising Committee of the Enlightener 2018 Award has published a long list of 24 books, each of which has a chance to become the best popular science book of the new season. Among other titles, the long list includes 'Atlas of Future Technologies' which presents results of the Global Technology Trends Monitoring study. This ongoing project is being implemented by the HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge (ISSEK) for more than five years. The award winners will be announced in the early October.

On June 4–5, 2018, the main European foresight conference — FTA2018 conference was held in Brussels. Future in the making #foresight4EU. It was organised by the European Commission Joint Research Centre, which has a long history of partnership with the HSE ISSEK Foresight Centre. The staff of the centre Alexander Sokolov, Alexander Chulok, Sergey Shashnov, Ozcan Saritas and Maxim Kotsemir took part in the event.

English language Master’s Programme 'Governance of Science, Technology and Innovation' of the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge opens new 5th enrolment. 18 April there was the first meeting with the interested candidates. Future innovators, high-tech startup creators and policy makers in S&T took part in the interactive foresight session — in a very uncommon format for the Open Doors Day. Such communication was of great value for all the participants, and made some of them come again — with the applications for admission.

HSE ICEF student Alexander Lee delivered a presentation titled ‘The Economy for Future Development’ during the session ‘Youth 2030. The image of the future’ at the XIX World Festival of Youth and Students, which took place in Russia from October 14-22. The presentation was based on creative work and discussions held over the course of one week among a group of international students led by experts from ISSEK and Yuri Simachev, Director for Economic Policy. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, took part in the event.

Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and HSE graduate highlighted the key values of the future economy, while speaking at the panel discussion ‘Global Trends: Challenges and Windows of Opportunity’, which was held as part of HSE’s programme at the XIX World Festival of Youth and Students.

In 2017 a leading international journal in the field, Scientometrics, published six papers by staff members of the HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge describing application of various sociology of science and Foresight techniques for the purposes of studying driving forces and directions of scientific development.

The graduation ceremony of the Master’s Programme Governance of Science, Technology and Innovation was held on June 30. 42 students graduated this year, including 12 from Europe, Africa and Asia.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) was held on 1—3 June 2017. This year the Higher School of Economics took part in the business, discussion, and exhibition programmes. HSE had its own stand featuring an interactive presentation “What’s going to happen to humankind in 25 years’ time?”, based on the results of the HSE ISSEK “Monitoring Global Technology Trends” study.

In their new book, Foresight for Science, Technology and Innovation (Springer, 2016), Ian Miles, Ozcan Saritas and Alexander Sokolov introduce the term ForSTI to describe future-oriented analyses, informed by participative processes (to assess evidence, articulate possibilities, and propose actions), that are designed  to feed into STI decision-making. The future considered is usually a long-term one; the issues examined go beyond the purely technical ones; the stakeholders involved reflect the wide spectrum of experience and knowledge relevant to these issues, and the actors whose mobilisation may be required to effect change. The book was presented during recent conference Foresight and STI conference at HSE.

Science, technology and innovation policy is a field that requires special skills and knowledge. The MA programme in Governance of Science, Technology and Innovation trains professionals for management and policy making in this area of work. On June 28, the first cohort graduated from the programme. Before the ceremony, Rae Kwon Chung, Principal Advisor on Climate Change at the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and a member of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which was awarded Nobel peace prize in 2007, delivered a lecture on Reformulating Economics to Serve Sustainable Development.

Science, technology and innovation policy is a field that requires special skills and knowledge. The MA programme in Governance of Science, Technology and Innovation trains professionals for management and policy making in this area of work. On June 28, the first cohort graduated from the programme. Before the ceremony, Rae Kwon Chung, Principal Advisor on Climate Change at the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and a member of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which was awarded Nobel peace prize in 2007, delivered a lecture on Reformulating Economics to Serve Sustainable Development.

On the third day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, 18 June, 2016 at the Global Energy Prize stand, a Foresight session “Science, Technology, and Innovation: Impact on Interconnection of Energy, Environment, and Economy”. The session was moderated by Ozcan Saritas, Leading Research Fellow at the HSE ISSEK Foresight Centre.

Policymakers are increasingly turning to foresight techniques for guidance when addressing the wide array of problems and challenges arising in their work. A new book co-edited by Leonid Gokhberg, Dirk Meissner, and Alexander Sokolov from the HSE ISSEK, attempts to add another dimension — namely, opportunities — that can come from proper application of foresight techniques.

Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), the partner of HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge in various projects, organized Global TechMining Conference and Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy. Ozcan Saritas, Nadezhda Mikova and Pavel Bakhtin, researchers of  HSE ISSEK International Foresight Centre, took part in conferences with the presentation of their own research.

From June 15 to 19, 2015, the HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge (ISSEK) held a joint summer school with Brazil’s Center for Strategic Studies and Management in Science, Technology and Innovation (CGEE). The aim of the summer school was to explore areas for collaboration  for both countries and institutions in the field of Foresight and STI policy following an earlier memorandum of understanding signed between CGEE and HSE.

On May 20, 2013, as part of Innovation Media Day, a discussion panel ‘Technologies of the Future: A View from Innovation Leaders, Development Institutions, and Media’ took place. The panel was organized by the HSE, RIA Novosti, and Russian Venture Company.