BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//132.216.98.100//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.20.4// BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20251014T121259EDT-0830AG2FUf@132.216.98.100 DTSTAMP:20251014T161259Z DESCRIPTION:We are excited to invite you to the Social Costs of Innovation conference presented by the 9IÖÆ×÷³§Ãâ·Ñ Centre for Intellectual Property and th e Centre de recherche en droit public de l’Université de Montréal. View th e program with full details [.docx]\n\nLaw and innovation are usually fram ed in technological terms. Discussions focus on the means to incentivize t echnological development and regulate the use of new technologies. The ass umption is that technological change is consubstantial with societal progr ess. As a result\, lawyers and policy makers focus their efforts and criti ques on whether or not law effectively supports or regulates the latest in novations. Overall\, the legal dimension of innovation remains a matter fo r specialists\, confined to the fields of intellectual property and risk r egulation\, those deemed most capable of understanding the needs and ambit ions of scientists\, engineers and managers. Jurists\, it appears\, must r espond to technology-driven social changes with some kind of natural defer ence. \n\nBut the consubstantiality of technological change and societal p rogress is\, at best\, folklore. It is a romantic account of a history spo iled with profound social disruptions provoked by technology\, not to ment ion disasters. The opposite account is no more enticing as a string of wil d\, unjustified public fears of new technologies. In the midst of speculat ion\, controversy\, and anxiety\, lawyers and policy makers are tempted to take refuge in familiar yet problematic assumptions\, such as the link be tween technological change and innovation\, innovation and growth\, growth and welfare. Law\, in this narrative\, remains the functional servant to technology. Never allowed to question the desirability of technological ch ange\, since it would then question innovation\, growth\, and welfare. To appease innovators and avoid criticism\, jurists portray any interference as mere ‘law lag’\, a temporary and soon-to-be-fixed condition.\n\nIs ther e any other path for jurists but self-imposed technological determinism? W e have long known that innovation is a social construct\, that technologic al change is both affecting and affected by social dynamics. Economists an d geographers\, among others\, have shown how different conditions can spu r or discourage different types of innovation. Social perceptions of what constitute successful innovation can differ from one place to another\, an d influence both innovators and policy makers. We are neither in want of s uch evidence\, nor uncompelled to consider the social costs of innovation: will tomorrow's technological unemployment be tantamount to the industria l revolution’s labour abuses?\n\nRegistration is required and limited to 1 00 participants on a first-come\, first-served basis: email to cipp1.law [ at] mcgill.ca to register.\n\nA cocktail will follow.\n\nA request for acc reditation for 4\,25 hours of continuing legal education for jurists has b een made. Fee: $50 (cash or cheque)\n\n \n DTSTART:20161102T173000Z DTEND:20161102T213000Z LOCATION:CA\, QC\, Montreal\, Centre d'entreprises et d'innovation de Montr éal\, 20 Queen Street SUMMARY:The Social Costs of Innovation: Law\, Society\, and the Greater Goo d URL:/law/channels/event/social-costs-innovation-law-so ciety-and-greater-good-263495 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR