Contributions - Page 2 of 7

A special Franco-Swedish relationship serving European cooperation

In a world that has become tense and uncertain with the weakening of the United States of America (USA) and the rise of the BRICS, France and above all the European Union now have an opportunity to strengthen their geopolitical position. And with the European Parliamentary elections in June 2024, the topic of European cooperation will be central to discussions this year. Lastly, with France and Germany constantly divorcing and never seeming to remarry, it would be strategic for France to diversify its partnerships within the Union, and Sweden appears the ideal candidate.

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[Event] What influence do consulting firms have on public policy?

‘Deep state’ or fantasy? Described as a ‘tentacular phenomenon’ by the Sénat investigation committee, the influence of private consultancies on the elaboration of public policy led France's upper house to adopt a bill aimed at increasing supervision over the Government's use of such firms. Fifteen months then passed before the bill was presented to the National Assembly, where the text was largely reworked. The amended version of the bill was sent back to the Sénat for a second reading, raising fears that the discussions will stall and signalling a potential lack of political will to do without consultants in the public sector. Concomitantly, the French government has announced the creation of an internal public consulting agency. Will this be enough to remedy the problems identified by the investigation committee and prevent further risks of abuse highlighted by journalists and essayists?

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Conférence du 28 mars 2024 au Cercle de l'Union Interalliée sur l'influence des cabinets de conseil. Photo de la salle (de dos) et des intervenants. De gauche à droite : Claude Revel (modératrice), Yves Morieux (conseiller principal du BCG), Caroline Michel-Aguirre (journaliste) et Eliane Assassi (sénatrice honoraire).

Guidelines for the ethical use of AI in business

When a company or an organisation designs or uses artificial intelligence (AI), it has a duty to question how it can develop this technology in a responsible manner, without raising any ethical issues. It falls to both AI designers and the leaders who will use this technology for their company’s activities to establish conscientious practices that follow a series of fundamental guidelines. So, what are those guidelines? An opinion by Diane de Saint-Affrique.

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The world of work in transition for youth worldwide

SKEMA Publika’s EYES report on the thoughts of international youths highlighted a distrust of the corporate world and a series of concerns shared around the world. In light of this, we wanted to go further in our exploration of young people’s relationship to work. This multi-faceted analysis stems from the reflections of a working group, combined with expert interviews and a literature review. The study highlights the fundamental aspirations shared by youths around the world. Its results suggest that young people’s demands are the expression of latent social dissatisfactions shared with the rest of the population, which public and private decision-makers have failed to address. In short, the “social contract of work” is widely perceived as deteriorated. Thankfully, solutions seem to be within reach: greater participation in decision-making processes, decent working conditions, exemplarity, etc. In spite of the ongoing radical societal changes, the main risk for young people aged 15-29 remains job insecurity. Far from reducing the degree of uncertainty faced by younger generations, the emergence of the green economy and the digitalisation and automation of employments may be fostering greater insecurity. What can we do? Anticipate and think long-term.

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Une jeune femme travaille dans une atmosphère détendue.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia: Sport Is Also a Means to Accumulate Power and Build Control

Opinion piece by Simon Chadwick States have long played a role in sport, sometimes in promoting participation and at other times in helping governments to achieve political ends. This role is often perceived as being positive, for instance in the way it is intended to address public health challenges. Though states’ engagement with sport can be for malign reasons, indeed there are many examples of sport being deployed for propaganda purposes. Such is the potential for states to exert their influence over and through sport that, for example, football’s governing body FIFA explicitly prohibits states from intervening in national associations.

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Paris 2024: A Unique Geoeconomic Opportunity for France

Opinion by Jean-Baptiste Guégan | The Paris 2024 Games are about more than mere sporting excitement. They carry with them major economic stakes for more actors than the host city alone. An ideal opportunity to recall the growing importance of the geoeconomy of sport.

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Human Dignity and Neurorights in the Digital Age

by Edgar Gastón Jacobs and Marina de Castro Firmo Some time ago, the expectation of mind invasion or manipulation of people by technological devices was only seen in movies and science fiction books. Examples included erasing people's memories in Men in Black, modifying the behavior of criminals in Clockwork Orange, and arresting people who are about to commit a crime in Minority Report, all of which entertained and invited people to reflect on the future. Today, the massive flow of data and advances in science, particularly in neurotechnologies and artificial intelligence, have made these concepts an emerging field that requires further study and regulation by the legal community. Advanced technologies, such as brain-machine interfaces, wearable and implantable devices, and advanced algorithms, have made neurolaw an increasingly important field.

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[Video] Geopolitics: Accounting Is Also an Arena Where Political Visions Clash

In this video, Raluca Sandu, Associate Dean of Faculty at SKEMA Business School, and Claude Revel, Director of SKEMA PUBLIKA, discuss an intriguing topic: the geopolitics of accounting. What is the geopolitical vision of a 'technical' subject like accounting? Are there games of influence in the construction of national and international accounting standards? Does the way accounting is done carry ideologies? If so, which ones? Accounting is not a neutral, abstract technique; it is a technique situated in space and time. A historical approach is therefore needed to understand the social and geopolitical dimensions of accounting.

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Due Diligence: Actions to Enable NGOs and Companies to Work Together for the Common Good

by Diane de Saint-Affrique Would it be possible for NGOs and companies that are genuinely convinced, and have adopted a continuous improvement approach to achieve the goals of the 2017 French Dury of Vigilance Act, to get together to work for the common good? Wouldn't this pragmatic approach be more effective than waiting for new standards to be imposed that will not necessarily be appropriate for the issues addressed or the scope under consideration, and will thereby maintain an ambiguity that can only be dispelled by a court decision?

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Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms: Ethics and Fair Cooperation between AI and Human Intelligence

by Claude Revel & David Fayon | With the recent buzz surrounding generative artificial intelligence since the launch of ChatGPT, it has been impossible to escape this tsunami which is likely to disrupt a whole range of human activities for blue-collar workers, but also for white-collar workers who had so far been spared from automation and robotics. The questions that arise are whether algorithms are ethical, depending on how they are trained and reinforced, the data sets they use, their possible biases and whether or not they are inclusive. It is also important to question the role of humans. Does big data require the systematic use of AI, or is human processing sufficient and/or preferable?

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