Interactive digital tech sessions to be held at IIC

NITI Aayog, India International Centre (IIC), and Centre for Policy Research (CPR) are jointly launching a series of nine interactions, tilted Metamorphoses– Talking Technology, covering different dimensions of the digital revolution, which is transforming our lives.

The objective of Metamorphoses, which seeks to assemble some of the acknowledged thought leaders both from India and abroad, is to inform and educate society about both the power of new technologies to change our lives for the better but also to alert ourselves to the risks that attach to them – risks that must be confronted and overcome as the future continues to unfold before our eyes relentlessly.

While the inaugural session, on May 2 at IIC, looked at the big picture, the nature of technological change and its interplay with individual and social attitudes, subsequent sessions will attempt to demystify the unique jargon through which the new technology is projected on our lives.

The Keynote Address was delivered by Professor Yochai Benkler – Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School and Faculty Co-Director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

The programme took place at the C. D. Deshmukh Auditorium of IIC. Later, the opening remarks were given by N. N. Vohra, President, IIC, followed by Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog, Ambassador Shyam Saran, Life Trustee, IIC, and Yamini Aiyar, President and Chief Executive, CPR.

Additional sessions of the interaction will delve into issues relating to data privacy and cyber security and the emerging legal regime to regulate this critical domain. The series will also examine the implications of digital technologies on the human psyche and on societies – exploring ways in which some of the negative elements may be mitigated. There will be a peep into the future, of what machine learning and artificial intelligence may bring to human experience and the moral and ethical dilemma, which they will pose. The format of the interactions would entail panel discussions comprising leading area experts from India and abroad.