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Selasa, 27 Juni 2023 12:51:00

CUHK-SMU Global Forum 2023 - A Whole New World with Computational Social Science (CSS): Transdisciplinary Insight

HONG KONG SAR - 26 June 2023 - Singapore Management University (SMU) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) jointly organised a Global Forum themed "A Whole New World with Computational Social Science (CSS): Transdisciplinary Insights" at CUHK on 23 June 2023, aiming to share insights and experiences in defining societal issues and addressing related challenges in the emerging field of Computational Social Science. Prof. Lily Kong, SMU President, and Prof. Rocky Tuan, President of CUHK, delivered welcoming remarks. Mr. Ong Siew Gay, Consul-General of Singapore in Hong Kong, was the Guest of Honour and delivered the opening address.

CUHK President, Prof. Rocky Tuan first extended a warm welcome to the guests and online audience attending the Forum. In his speech, Prof Tuan pointed out that digital transformation promises to increase efficiency and productivity and inspire products and services, as well as to improve design of sustainable and livable cities. However, it comes with many challenges, generation of information from flawed algorithms and invalid data, known as garbage-in garbage-out. Concerns also arise on job insecurity for many professionals, intellectual property, ownership issues, data, privacy issues and other issues related to professional ethics. Prof Tuan was delighted to have gathered computer scientists, social scientists, and practitioners from Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea to share their work in the emerging field of Computational Social Science and engage in meaningful dialogues about addressing the above issues.

SMU President, Prof Lily Kong, expressed thanks to all the attendees in her welcome remarks. She shared that SMU's vision is dedicated to addressing societal challenges through interdisciplinary and impactful research and SMU seeks collaboration with diverse stakeholders in Singapore and the region. Prof Kong said that the Global Forum provides a high-level dialogue platform for fostering engagement with academia, policy makers and the business community. She also urged the relevant parties to re-consider the traditional paradigms of academic study and research, "Computational Social Science can revolutionise the way we understand human behaviours and interactions. Big data and machine learning, for instance, enable sophisticated detection and analysis of social behaviour and public opinion, providing a launchpad for innovation and change."

Mr. Ong Siew Gay, Consul-General of Singapore in Hong Kong, placed a premium on the invaluable role that the Global Forum plays in promoting the sharing of knowledge, insights and perspectives between Singapore and China over the years. He indicated that, despite the scarcity of natural resources, Singapore and Hong Kong manage to thrive through the width of the industrious people and by adding value and being of relevance to the bigger players around. Both economies are acting as pioneers of globalisation, serving as catalysts of development in respective regions. Covid-19 pandemic has brought up many complex social and global trends and made existing challenges even more evident, including social mobility, income inequality and climate change. Computational Social Science, by providing an interdisciplinary perspective, analysing big data and leveraging technology, has great potential to help provide urban solutions.

The Global Forum then featured two keynote panel discussions. The morning session was titled " Evidence-based CSS: Insights from Academia". The panelists included David Chan, SMU's Lee Kong Chian Professor of Psychology, Director of Behavioural Sciences Initiative; Jeroen van Ameijde, Assistant Professor of School of Architecture, CUHK; Jeong-han Kang, Professor of Sociology, Yonsei University. Chi-Yue Chiu, Choh-Ming Li Professor of Psychology, Dean Faculty of Social Science, CUHK, was the moderator of the morning panel.

Feida Zhu, SMU's Associate Professor of Computer Science and Associate Dean of the School of Computing and Information Systems, moderated the afternoon panel session on the theme of "A New World Enabled by Computational Social Science: Insights from Policymakers and Practitioners." The discussion engaged Dr David Hanson, CEO of Hanson Robotics; Lisa Wan, Associate Professor, School of Hotel and Tourism Management and Department of Marketing, CUHK; William Hui, Director of IT Innovation R&D, Manulife; and Dr Zhen Luo, Founder and CEO of ParityBit.

During the discussion, Dr Zhen Luo was more concerned about data privacy from an industry perspective. He said in the panel discussion that there is a conflict between the increased awareness of data privacy and the purpose of personal data collection, which cannot be avoided. But he also made it clear that personal data privacy protection is very important and the conflict with data collection and analysis can be resolved through technical and regulatory support.

Hashtag: #SMU  #CSS  #ComputationalSocialScience