Event Summary
In July, the Harvard Information Infrastructure Project (HIIP) hosted eighty parliamentarians and expert advisors from Germany, Britain and the United States at the third annual Oxford Forum. The conference, this year about science and technology in the 21st century, was held at the request of the United States Congress and was organized jointly by Harvard and MIT.
The Oxford Forum was established in 1996 by Prime Minister John Major and Chancellor Helmut Kohl to create a mechanism for consultation among parliamentarians from the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States on issues of common interest. The first annual meeting was held in the United Kingdom on the subject of the aging society. The Bundestag sponsored the second meeting in Berlin, on immigration. This year''s conference focused on three themes: information policy, biotechnology and ethics, and climate change. The topics were chosen for their global implications for economics, environment, health and security; the rapid advance of the research and development; and the profound capability of the technologies to affect the future of mankind.
Dr. John (Jack) Gibbons, who served as chair and moderator of the conference, formerly held the positions of Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In his opening remarks, Dr. Gibbons stated that, "the challenge to governance is to foster innovation and discovery and protect justice, equity, privacy, environment, and future generations."
Each of the delegations included parliamentarians and experts from government, academia, and business. After a plenary session, the delegates separated into three issue-related working groups led by leading researchers and policymakers from the United States. The format enabled parliamentarians from the German Bundestag, the British House of Commons and House of Lords, and the U.S. Congress to have an intensive and full exchange of ideas on issues of importance to citizens in all three countries.
"I never heard so many compliments from a group like this. One of the main highlights for them was the high caliber of the experts assembled by Harvard," said Bob Van Wicklin, an aide to Representative Amo Houghton, head of the U.S. delegation.
Members of the BCSIA community participating included Professors Lewis Branscomb, William Clark, John Holdren, and Robert Stavins, HIIP Director Deborah Hurley, and Dr. YT Chien.