AI, International Trade and Technical Standards
Dates
April 23, 2027
Length of Course
3 hours
Delivery Method
Online
Cost
$425 CAD
Summary
Understand how international trade agreements and trade rules shape the development and adoption of AI and other emerging technologies. Explore how technical standards establish the requirements that influence whether new technologies can enter international markets and compete successfully. Examine how governments and industry participate in developing international standards, and how these processes influence national regulatory autonomy and economic competitiveness. Learn about the role of international standard-setting organizations and how geopolitical competition and strategic interests influence negotiations and decision-making within them. Consider how countries and businesses can engage in standard-setting from the earliest stages of innovation to shape emerging markets, strengthen technological capabilities and expand international commercial opportunities.
Instructor
Prof. Barry Appleton, FCIArb, is one of North America’s leading legal architects of sovereign economic policy, trade law, and investment treaty arbitration. As Managing Partner of Appleton & Associates International Lawyers LP in Toronto and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Center for International Law at New York Law School, he advises governments and strategic sectors on how to navigate and shape the evolving legal terrain of international commerce, digital sovereignty, and geopolitical risk.
A pioneer in cross-border NAFTA dispute resolution, Prof. Appleton has served as lead counsel in groundbreaking investor-state arbitrations, setting legal precedents that help define the field. His counsel has guided Canadian and international decision-makers and clients through high-stakes NAFTA, bilateral investment treaty and WTO cases—establishing him as a trusted voice in the corridors of international law and diplomacy.
Prof. Appleton holds degrees from Cambridge University, Queen’s University, and the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Law Society of Ontario, the New York Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, and is admitted before the U.S. Court of International Trade.
In an era of deglobalization and strategic decoupling, Prof. Appleton is a foremost authority on how countries like Canada can reclaim and reassert sovereign legal and economic agency through bold, informed legal strategy.
Format
A single three-hour live online session. Interactive polls and chat throughout, with a live Q&A; one short break.
Audience
This masterclass is open to anyone — in the public sector, non-profits, or industry — who wants a clear, credible introduction to these topics. No technical background required.