Real-Time Data for Better Global Intelligence
Dates
March 28, 2025
Length of Course
3 hours
Delivery Method
Online
Cost
Bespoke - closed group
Summary
Imagine if we could reveal in real-time exactly how Russia circumvents sanctions by applying artificial intelligence tools to data from ship sensors. Or if governments could target marine litter cleanup in remote locations based on satellite images.
These are not hypotheticals. They are real examples of how policymakers and analysts can use the massive amounts of digital data that we create every day, combined with new advances in artificial intelligence, to dramatically improve our understanding of the world — from inflation to the spread of disease to poverty to climate change.
Traditional data are our information anchors but have downsides. They can arrive months after the fact. They tell us only part of the picture. And in some parts of the world, they don't even exist. Worse, some governments can manipulate or withhold official data.
But online transactions, online news reports, images, videos posted online – they all add up to a vast repository of information that can help us build on this traditional information, fill in the blanks and detect real-time patterns and insights that were previously invisible or too complex to analyze.
Welcome to Real-Time Data for Better Global Intelligence: A three-hour non-technical masterclass on the use of digital data and recent AI advances to understand and address global challenges. We will explore a range of recent cases around the world where these new data types are or could be used. Join this class to explore the opportunities–and the risks–of the next generation of global affairs intelligence.
Instructor
Danielle Goldfarb is an adviser and expert on the digital economy, real-time data, and public policy. Her TEDx talk, “The Smartest Way to Predict the Future,” is about leveraging new technologies to address data bias, improving prediction. Danielle is a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, a distinguished fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, and an adviser on public policy to Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute.
Danielle is the author of the April 2024 paper Real Time: Leveraging the Data Explosion for Better Policy. Her current research is on the potential of the data and artificial intelligence explosion to improve public interest outcomes, while also confronting the risks it presents. She hosts the popular "New Tools of the Economists' Trade" series for the Canadian Association of Business and Economics and teaches about the digital data explosion at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. Danielle has led innovative research programs on the digital economy, trade, and public policy at the C.D. Howe Institute, the Conference Board of Canada, and tech company Real-Time Interactive Worldwide Intelligence.
Danielle holds a master of philosophy in international relations from the University of Cambridge and a bachelor of commerce in honours economics from McGill University.
Format
The masterclass format is a concise summary of 4-5 sessions - featuring a mix of introductory remarks, case studies and discussion - delivered over a 3-hour period. Upon completion of the masterclass learning objectives, participants will receive a BEI certificate.
Target Audience
This masterclass is designed for anyone who would like to explore the use of digital data and recent AI advances to understand and address global challenges.
It is not necessary to have a background in data analytics as this is a non-technical masterclass.