Data Diplomacy: Big Data for Foreign Policy

09 October 2017 -

Helsinki, Finland

This event, organised with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland in the framework of Diplo’s data diplomacy research project, addresses the potential of big data’s contribution to diplomacy. The event will create an interactive environment for dialogue among different professional communities to generate much-needed insights into the potential, limitations, and challenges related to big data for foreign policy.

New: Read the summary report

Data Diplomacy: Big Data for Foreign Policy

09:00-13:30, Press Hall, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland (Kanavakatu 3B, Helsinki)

Data science and big data are often-heard concepts, yet very little is known about how and to what extent diplomacy can adjust to the emerging data-driven era. DiploFoundation’s research project on Data Diplomacy, commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, provides an overall analysis of the impact of big data on diplomacy and international affairs. The project includes the organisation of two events, the first of which took place in April in Geneva (see the event description and summary report).

This second event will create an interactive environment for dialogue among different professional communities to generate much-needed insights into the realistic potential of big data’s contribution to diplomacy.

Each presenter will share insights and experiences for 10 to 20 minutes, after which the floor will open for questions and comments from the audience. The event will be interactive and the interaction between audience and presenters will form an important aspect of the knowledge production.

09:00-09:15	Welcoming remarks: Ms Sini Paukkunen, Head of Policy Planning and Research, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland
09:15-10:00	Introduction to data diplomacy: Ms Barbara Rosen Jacobson and Dr Katharina E. Höne, DiploFoundation Overview of data diplomacy and big data Presentation of the outcomes of the Geneva Data Diplomacy roundtable Brainstorming exercise: the functions of diplomacy and big data potential
10:00-10:45	The role of (big) data in the MFA: The UK experience: Mr Graham Nelson, Head of the Open Source Unit, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK In what areas have data and big data become relevant? What potential has big data shown for supporting the work of the MFA? What are the limits of drawing on big data in the work of the MFA? What are the organisational challenges for creating a data-driven MFA?
10:45-11:00	Networking break
11:00-11:30	Big data and improved policy analysis: Mr Timo Koskimäki, Deputy Director General, Statistics Production, Statistics Finland What role do statistics and big data play in foreign policy analysis? To what extent can big data predict the future? What are the biases that can confound big data analysis for diplomacy and how can they be mitigated? How can a complementary interplay between different forms and sources of data be achieved?
11:30-12:00	Big data and knowledge creation for diplomacy: Mr Rafael Prince, Second Secretary, Head of Political and Cooperation Affairs, Embassy of Brazil in Helsinki; Dr Katharina E. Höne, Research Associate in Diplomacy and Global Governance, DiploFoundation What kind of knowledge can be built based on big data and what are the implications for utilising big data in the MFA? Specifically, how diplomacy benefit from text-mining approaches (including sentiment analysis)? What role does big data play in facilitating prediction in foreign policy? What are the limits of big data knowledge and hence the limits of big data in/for diplomacy?
12:00-12:15	Wrap up and conclusion: Towards better research and capacity building: Ms Barbara Rosen Jacobson and Dr Katharina E. Höne, DiploFoundation
12:15	Buffet lunch