2nd French-Australian Forum on Policy Analytics

Where: Australian National University Centre for European Studies

When: 6 June 2019 9.30am-5pm

Complex global challenges in uncertain times demand innovative approaches and methods for supporting public policy. Traditional technocratic and evidence-based ideals of policy making are being superseded due to rapid changes in technologies, societal values and a globally connected environment where information can be sourced almost instantaneously often with minimal quality control by individuals and groups seeking to influence decision-making processes.

In such times, termed by some as the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, higher-order research skills including creativity and analytic capacities to manage multiple types of knowledge, values, qualities of data, and new technological constellations including artificial intelligence, are needed to improve public policy and ensure sustainable development for all. This is the purpose of “policy analytics” and the multiple roles researchers and other practitioners can play in supporting more effective public policy processes, including innovative personalised or community-focussed policy designs that result in greater positive outcomes for societies and the environment.

“Business analytics” has been thriving as a research topic and profession for many years to support improved competition, customer service and profit for businesses. However, the use of “policy analytics” to support public decision-making processes has remained underdeveloped, despite the recent explosion of data science teams and roles in public service agencies. Policy analytics has recently emerged as a new paradigm and topic for research for considering and fostering new research-policy-society relations. Specifically, the growth in the topic has been supported through a European COST Action, which involved substantial international cooperation outside of Europe, and the French CNRS inter-disciplinary research network (GDR) program on Policy Analytics. This French-Australian forum, also supported by a EU Jean Monnet-funded policy lab project, seeks to further internationalise this work and thinking.

Although all areas of public policy can benefit from the development of targeted policy analytics, global changes such as climate change, technological transformations, population growth and movement, mean that issues of sustainable development, conflict over resources and security are at the forefront of public policy work that could have substantial impact on the world, and will receive targeted treatment in this forum.

This two-day forum is intended to showcase and extend recent thinking around and applications of policy analytics, as well as to develop discussion, interaction and international collaboration opportunities which will be deepened through subsequent joint research work and projects.