Confluence

Latest Episodes:

Tech Policy and the Current Geopolitical Puzzle with Anja Manuel Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

In this week’s episode of Confluence, host Rana Sakar is joined by Anja Manuel, author, advisor and expert on U.S. foreign policy. Anja is a co-founder and partner at the consulting firm Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC and the Executive Director of the Aspen Strategy Group and the Aspen Security Forum. In their discussion, Rana and Anja exchange views on recent geopolitical developments, including strategic realignment towards the Indo-Pacific region, and the implications for the tech sector. Their conversation touches on a wide range of issues from challenges to research and innovation ecosystems to the rise of minilateralism and competition with China.

Links:

Anja Manuel's website - http://anjamanuel.com/

Anja Manuel Twitter - https://twitter.com/AnjaManuel1

This Brave New World - http://anjamanuel.com/thisbravenewworld

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Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology with Chris Miller Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

We’re in a race today to control one of the world’s most critical resources – microchips – with the United States and China increasingly in conflict. This race for control does not entail just the quantity of chips produced, but also includes efforts to stay steps ahead of the latest developments in design and computing power. In this week’s episode of Confluence, host Rana Sakar is joined by Chris Miller, author of Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology, to break down current conflicts in the semiconductor industry and put them into historical context. Chris shares views on policies that support the development of chip fabrication capacity; insights on how semiconductors became the fulcrum of geopolitical and geoeconomic competition; and lessons from this history can be applied today and into the future.

LINKS

Chris Miller website

Chris Miller’s Twitter

Chip War (Book)

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Protecting the Rights of Children Online with Baroness Beeban Kidron Dec 15, 2022

Show notes

In today’s episode of Confluence, host Rana Sarkar and guest Baroness Beeban Kidron discuss her work as a leading global advocate for the rights of children online. They discuss her journey from her time as a photographer and filmmaker to her current position as a policymaker. Baroness Kidron shares lessons from the UK Age Appropriate Design Code, a critical piece of legislation that she has led; discusses the status of similar pieces of legislation around the world; and offers advice for policymakers to learn from each other and safeguard children from the downsides of technology.

LINKS:

5Rights Foundation

UK Parliament: MPs and Lords

September 2021 Profile of Baroness Kidron

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Confluence: Tech’s Role in the Global Transition to Net Zero with Vijay Vaitheeswaran Oct 27, 2022

Show notes

Climate change is one of the most critical challenges of our generation. On this week’s episode of Confluence, host Rana Sarkar discusses with guest Vijay Vaitheeswaran recent policy developments and the role of technology and innovation in supporting the global transition to net zero. Vaitheeswaran is the Global Energy and Climate Innovation Editor at The Economist, covering the energy and utility industries, the clean energy transition, climate innovations and low carbon technologies. In their conversation, Rana and Vijay discuss timelines for clean energy transitions, and the incentives needed to support the generation and use of clean energy and the adoption of new and emerging technologies to reach net zero. They also discuss how different markets are advancing the clean energy transition and the role of Canada in the global energy transition.

LINKS:

Vijay Vaitheeswaran Articles

Vijay Vaitheeswaran LinkedIn

BOOKS:

Need, Speed and Greed: How the New Rules of Innovation Can Transform Businesses, Propel Nations to Greatness, and Tame the World's Most Wicked Problems

Power to the People: How the Coming Energy Revolution Will Transform an Industry, Change Our Lives, and Maybe Even Save the Planet

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Canada’s Digital Policy Landscape with Taylor Owen Sep 22, 2022

Show notes

How do we regulate the Internet when there are so many components and so many ways it can go wrong? That’s what host Rana Sarkar discusses with guest Taylor Owen on this week’s episode. Taylor Owen is the Beaverbrook Chair in Media, Ethics and Communications, and founding director of The Center for Media, Technology and Democracy, and an Associate Professor in the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. In their conversation, Rana and Taylor dive into the challenges of monitoring content online; frameworks for tech regulation; how the information ecosystem has changed in the past decade and tensions that Web 3 may create for future tech regulations. The episode also links back to earlier conversations on Confluence about global tech policy, as Rana and Taylor share updates on Canadian tech policy and discuss the role that Canada can play in global tech regulation.

LINKS:

Taylor Owen Website

Taylor Owen Twitter

Big Tech podcast

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Geopolitics, Tech and the Indo-Pacific with James Crabtree Jun 30, 2022

Show notes

Welcome back for season two of Confluence! On this week’s episode, host Rana Sarkar sits down with James Crabtree, Executive Director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies - Asia office to discuss the current geopolitical and geoeconomic moment. Prior to joining the IISS, James was a Singapore-based author and journalist, and an Associate Professor of Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. His best-selling 2018 book, The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age was shortlisted for the FT / McKinsey book of the year. Prior to academia, James worked for the Financial Times, most recently as Mumbai bureau chief, and has written for a wide range of global publications. He also worked as a senior policy adviser in the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit under Tony Blair. Crabtree recently hosted the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, a conference of heightened importance in this critical time in the Indo-Pacific region. In the weeks prior to the conference, we spoke to Crabtree about the wide range of issues facing the Indo-Pacific region including the impact of climate change on our current geopolitical moment; the rise of minilateralism; the evolving posture of the tech sector in the Indo-Pacific; the role of China and how the United States and Canada are engaging in the region.

LINKS:

James Crabtree Website

James Crabtree Twitter

The 2022 Shangri-La Dialogue

James Crabtree May 26, 2022 Financial Times essay - “Still Top Gun? What Tom Cruise’s new movie tells us about American Power”

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Diversity in the Boardroom Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s episode of Confluence, we tackle the critical issue of diversity in company leadership. Host Rana Sarkar speaks with two experts on the topic: Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Founder and Chair of theBoardlist, and Jennifer Holmstrom, Head of Platform at GGV Capital. Both women have long histories of advocating for both inclusive talent acquisition and hiring practices, as well as diverse boards. In this episode, learn more about why making sure that talent—at the top and bottom—is equitable and representative, and the role that both companies and government policy play in keeping our business and innovation ecosystems fair and representative. What tools do we need to ensure diversity in the boardroom? How can we work together to nurture diverse talent pools with equal opportunities? And why is this good for business?

LINKS:

· Sukhinder Singh Cassidy LinkedIn

· Sukhinder Singh Cassidy Twitter

· theBoardlist

· Forbes: Aim For Impact With Your Choices, Advises Founder Of theBoardlist Sukhinder Singh Cassidy

· Bloomberg: Sukhinder Singh Cassidy on Entrepreneurship

· Jennifer Holmstrom LinkedIn

· Jennifer Holmstrom Twitter

· GGV Capital

· Go Big, Go Vertical: with Dave Vasen (Brightwheel) and Jen Holmstrom (GGV Capital)

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The Cost of Doing Nothing: A Conversation with Janice Stein on Leadership, Geopolitics and Tech Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s episode of Confluence, host Rana Sarkar sits down with Dr. Janice Stein, founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, to discuss how organizations and leaders must adapt to our rapidly changing geopolitical moment. Dr. Stein shares observations and lessons from years of advising with leaders and organizations allocating scarce resources to respond to rapid scale crises. How can leaders prepare to succeed in today’s uncertain environment and what is the cost of doing nothing? What critical skillsets are needed for organizations to adapt? What new frameworks will be needed as the fourth industrial revolution continues to change how we work and live? How can the private sector and government build co-literacy to improve collaboration going forward?

LINKS:

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MOVE: Migratory Tech Futures with Parag Khanna Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

With massive global shifts happening due to forces like the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, people have started to migrate further away from cities. To understand how people, ideas, and innovation are moving around the world, host Rana Sarkar talks to geo-strategist Parag Khanna: Founder and Managing Partner of FutureMap, a data and scenario-based strategic advisory firm.

Khanna recently authored a new monograph MOVE: The Forces Uprooting Us. According to Khanna, economic collapse, the destablization of democracy, and technological disruption is leading us into a new era of mass migration. In this episode, we try to understand how we got here, and follow along with Khanna on a journey to where we’re going. In times of unequal resource distribution, how will people organize themselves in the future? How will governments adapt to changing population demographics? And how can we come to terms with new climate geographies for the future?

LINKS:
Parag Khanna Website

Parag Khanna LinkedIn

Parag Khanna Twitter

FutureMap Website

Move: Mapping Human Talk at Google

McKinsey & Company Author Talks: Parag Khanna on the forces creating a new geography of opportunity

Migration, geography and humanity: Parag Khanna, author of ‘MOVE’ on the Book Club Podcast

Immigration, booming population and global influence: Is this the ‘heroic’ Canadian dream?

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Tech Talent & Diversity: What is Canada’s ‘Secret Sauce’? Dec 23, 2021

Show notes

How does immigration policy impact Canadian tech’s ability to thrive globally? How do flows of both Canadian and foreign talent into and out of the country work? How can the private sector work to actually make companies, and their leadership, more diverse? And what ‘secret sauce’ makes Canada such an amazing place to work?

To help us better answer those questions, you’ll hear from two key players working to make Canada’s technology sector more robust and diverse. Host Rana Sarkar speaks to Marco Mendicino—Canada’s former Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship who recently transitioned to become Minister of Public Safety—on the importance of immigration for opportunity, growth, and innovation. The policies that the government creates to foster inclusion and dynamism in the workforce are crucial to creating the kind of ecosystem that Canada has become known for. We also sit down with Andre Charoo, Toronto-born founder of Maple VC, to discuss the Canadian values that give our tech companies a competitive advantage. We discuss how diverse populations increase economic opportunity, and how true diversity in technology will only happen when the people at the very top are representative of the communities they serve.

LINKS:

Min. Marco Mendicino Profile

Min. Marco Mendicino Website

Min. Marco Mendicino LinkedIn

Min. Marco Mendicino Twitter

Andre Charoo LinkedIn

Andre Charoo Twitter

Maple VC

C100

Andre Charoo on Need to Know Podcast

Andre Charoo on

Rep Matters