HKU (SPACE): Managing public services in the transitional nature of Bangladesh

I was a guest lecturer at the University of Hong Kong in their School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPACE) in 2019: "Managing public services in the transitional nature of Bangladesh: Institutional integrity, sustainable development, and advanced technology applications." The programme had two intake groups (Feb 18-Mar 1, and Mar 18-29). The below are the titles of my lectures as part of their executive education course. AI and inequality: How smart machines exacerbate demographic bias and inequality Policy workshop on advanced technology applications: Innovations and policy initiatives Policy workshop on advanced technology applications: Policy cycles, implementation gaps, and case studies Bangladesh’s competitiveness landscape: Competitiveness and positioning of Bangladesh in global performance indices in the 21st century

Oliver Wyman: The risks and rewards of changing careers & geographies: The life of an ex-OW global expatriate

I spoke at the Montreal office of Oliver Wyman, sharing my experience of life after consulting and as a global expat. The presentation can be found here.

AGI: AI and inequality: How smart machines exacerbate demographic bias and inequality

AI AND INEQUALITY: HOW SMART MACHINES EXACERBATE DEMOGRAPHIC BIAS AND INEQUALITY Date: Friday, January 11 2019, 1230 – 1400 Venue: Asia Global Institute, MB 328, 3/F Main Building, HKU How does AI generate riches, redistribute wealth and distort the labour market in multicultural societies? How will AI distort off-shoring and upend the traditional development model? As AI displaces humans from their jobs, economic value will be transferred from labour to capitalists, particularly the ‘super-elites’. In an era where capital is mobile while labour is less so, AI will exacerbate already-high levels of inequality if left unmanaged. The slides can be found here. https://youtu.be/EBvrc-NPhaM

U of Aruba: Home languages and higher education

I spoke at the University of Aruba at their "Home Languages & Higher Education" symposium (19-20 Sep 2018). My talk was on the Power Language Index and an assessment of the language dynamics in Aruba, where the island operates seamlessly in four languages (Dutch, English, Papiamento and Spanish). Papiamento is the majority language and along with Dutch is an official language of the island. However, only Dutch has status in official/government interactions and schooling is almost universally in Dutch. Given its geography, Spanish is also widely known/spoken. English is the dominant language for tourism and is globally powerful. Applying a modified version of the Power Language Index to the language scene in Aruba we arrive at a language hierarchy with English at the top, even though it has no status on the island. The presentation can be found: here.

LangFest: The Power Language Index

The below is my presentation at LangFest 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfNaP_ySFrE There are over 6,000 languages spoken in the world today, but some 2,000 of them count fewer than a thousand speakers. Moreover, just 15 of them account for half of the languages spoken in the world. Which are the world’s most influential languages? The Power Language Index (PLI) is a measure of a language’s efficacy by measuring its influence in 5 domains (“opportunities”): (1) geography, (2) economy, (3) communication, (4) knowledge & media, and (5) diplomacy. Altogether the PLI uses 20 (cardinal) indicators to arrive at an assessment of the power of over 100 languages. Dr Kai L. Chan is a Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD. Previously he was a special adviser to the UAE federal government on competitiveness and statistics, where he focused on that country's positioning on global performance indices. Prior to his stint in the UAE, Dr Chan served as an associate and the in-house economist for a consumer finance merchant banking firm in Manhattan. Before that, he worked in the Singapore office of a global management consulting firm. Chan’s expertise/research cover education, income distribution, migration, government & policy, and performance measurement. He is the creator of the Power…

OLF: Séminaire méthodologique sur les classements des langues

I spoke about the state of the French language, as described by its positioning in the Power Language  Index, at a meeting of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie in La Chapelle en Serval (near Paris). This was my first professional talk done in a language other than English (French). The slides can be found here.  

KU Leuven: Internationalisation of universities and the national language

I spoke at KU Leuven at their symposium on "Internationalisation of Universities and the National Language" (4 May 2018). My talk was on the Power Language Index as it pertains to the dominance of English in the sphere of scholarly research (and thus the challenge of universities from the non-anglophone world that must work in English to be relevant and competitive on the global stage). The organisers compiled the presentations and published a book on the topics presented: "Internationalisation of Universities and the National Language: Language Policy Interventions and Case Studies"

Intelligence Capital Index

Intelligence Capital Index The key qualities of a nation that will spur innovation and propel the knowledge economy are smarts and creativity. Underpinning these is the “intelligence capital” of a country, a measure of its knowledge capability, i.e. its stock of intellectual know-how along with its ability to develop and attract talent. The Intelligence Capital Index (ICI) is a way to measure the ability of countries to capitalise on the knowledge economy by assessing their environments for education, creativity and talent attraction. It is based on five aspects of knowledge acquisition/production: (1) Quantity of education; (2) Quality of education; (3) Average educational skills; (4) Elite educational skills; (5) Creativity and complexity; and (5) Attractiveness and openness to talent. Underlying these are 24 indicators that span the life cycle of talent -- from childhood through tertiary education and then in the marketplace. Below are the ten countries with the best knowledge capital outcomes: USA (74.883) UK (64.192) Germany (64.179) Australia (63.960) Singapore (63.599) Sweden (61.582) Switzerland (61.574) Canada (61.149) Finland (60.445) Denmark (60.252) A synopsis of the ICI can found below: Full results (128 countries are assessed) including methodology and indicators can be found here.

naseba: 12th annual human capital forum MENA

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INSEAD: Gender Progress Index (International Women’s Day)

I spoke at the Abu Dhabi INSEAD campus's International Women's Day event (8 March 2017). The subject of the talk was the Gender Progress Index. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBMyayWVDL4 Dr. Kai L. Chan, Distinguished Fellow, Innovation and Policy Initiative at INSEAD presented the Gender Progress Index that takes a holistic view towards gender issues. The conference featured several women leaders in the Middle East who have made a significant contribution to the region and society.