REMIT team members Catherine Lo (Maastricht University) and Jakob Bund (ECCRI) both presented their current research independently at the EISA-PEC conference in France on August 30. Both of these presentations are a part of REMIT’s research, and provided a fruitful opportunity to get input on them from the highest level of the international community.
Catherine describes her experience and research:
“REMIT researchers Dr. Catherine Yuk-ping Lo and Hengyi Yang presented a paper titled “Learning from Crisis: How Multi-Stakeholder Discourse Coalitions Accelerated China’s Legislation on Genome-Editing Governance Post-He Jiankui Incident”. Using the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), the paper investigates the policy-oriented learning processes of the Chinese central government in response to the genome-editing technologies in the aftermath of the “He Jiankui incident” in 2018. To map out the belief systems and engagement of stakeholders in China’s policy subsystem of human genome editing technology, this paper analyses discourses from multiple Chinese stakeholders published in 56 Chinese newspapers between November 27, 2018, and September 27, 2023, with the application of discourse network analysis (DNA).
Through a comparative analysis of discourse networks before and after the 2018 incident, this paper highlights the influence of scientists, journalists, and the public in shaping the Chinese government’s policy core beliefs and secondary beliefs regarding human genome editing technology. The findings shed light on the dynamics of policy-oriented learning within the Chinese government in response to crisis events, enriching our understanding of policy learning processes and ethical governance of technology in China and their implications for China’s role in global ethical governance of human genome editing technology.”
Jakob, who was a part of a different panel, says:
“Addressing scholars and practitioners convened by the European International Studies Association (EISA) at the Université Catholique de Lille, Jakob Bund, Senior Researcher for Virtual Routes, presented first REMIT research findings on the nature of digital technologies.
Introducing a framework jointly developed with Max Smeets, James Shires, Jakob explored how states assess the strategic value of digital technologies and how this value translates into action on the international stage.
Many international initiatives seek to tackle issues relating to digital technologies, from comprehensive approaches from the UN Global Digital Compact to industry-specific bilateral consultations. These initiatives address a broad range of risks and opportunities, from the interoperability of connected devices, to shared standards for next-generation mobile networks, supply chain security for chips, or baselines for the safe development and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI). Yet, international relations literature largely treats such issues within a single bracket of “critical and emerging technologies” (CETs) that is largely policy-driven rather than analytically coherent, with no clear or generalizable logic connecting CETs to state interests and priorities.
The proposed framework therefore aims to establish a common baseline of what shapes states views of digital technologies.
Embedded in a broader panel discussion on “Digital Technologies Between Real Power and Symbolic Value”, the presentation provided a valuable opportunity to collect feedback that informs future research on how the identified technology characteristics influence multilateral engagement.”
