This invitation-only Europa Policy Lab was supported by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. It took place on 6 June and was followed by day two of the French-Australian Forum on 7 June.

ANU academics and Australian policymakers joined forces with a number of leading French institutions – CNRS, PSL Research University and IRSTEA – to explore the current state and future potential of policy analytics. With the rise of automation, artificial intelligence and challenges in democratic decision making, there are significant opportunities for developing novel means of supporting public policy, from agenda setting, through innovative policy design—including personalisation and dynamic policy settings based on latest sensing systems, data and algorithms—and monitoring and review of implementation. This Europa Policy Lab, with a focus on the security/peace studies and environmental policy domains, showcased and extended recent thinking in both France and Australia around applications of policy analytics, while also developing discussion, interaction and international collaboration opportunities.

Plenary speakers and panel discussions focused on: 

• an introduction to policy analytics and the rise of challenges for supporting public decision making;
• human interfaces with autonomous systems; 
• community-focused analytics for conflict identification and management; 
• scaling up decision support through data and knowledge integration; and 
• developing effective and reflexive practitioners of policy analytics

See the event flyer and program for more information. 

A video recording of this event is coming soon.