Balsillie Papers

James W. Hinton and Fabrice Blais-Savoie
This paper will attempt to show a portrait of the world’s AI patent landscape and explain what happened to Canada’s apparent lead in the field, identify current trends in cross-border AI patenting ownership flows, then evaluate the adequacy of current Canadian policy and chart a path forward.

Jatin Nathwani and Artie Ng
This paper identifies options of industrial development that are transformative and stand as unique contributors with high-potential for fostering sustainable economic growth, reduced carbon emissions, and stable levels of employment opportunities.

Valdrin Dragusha and Andrea M. Brown
This paper reviews the potential of emerging technologies, in particular artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite crop mapping, for increasing agricultural production and addressing food insecurity in Africa.

Ana Brandusescu
Whether in self-regulation or government regulation, Big Tech influences the direction of governance of AI, which increasingly is evolving to governance by AI and the automation of jobs.

Barry Appleton
This paper argues that any exploratory discussions between Canada and the European Union on a digital trade agreement must be paused until Canada legislates a domestic digital sovereignty framework and builds the governance capacity to implement it.

Matt Malone
Canada’s proposed cyber security for critical infrastructure bill, Bill C-8, could push Canada to the brink of a disruption in the framework governing cross-border data flows, creating tremendous uncertainty for actors in the digital economy who routinely process Europeans’ personal data.

Obasesam Okoi
As AI infrastructures expand rapidly across the globe, they bring into sharper focus the often-overlooked costs of digital innovation, particularly their entanglement with extractive economies and conflict dynamics.

Fred Cheung
Semiconductors constitute the backbone of the modern economy, but Canada relies heavily on imported chips. This context highlights the urgency for Ottawa to strengthen its domestic semiconductor ecosystem.

Warren Parker and Alan Whiteside
In the initial months of the second Trump administration, abrupt policy shifts placed the lives of millions of people living with HIV at risk and significantly weakened global HIV prevention efforts.

Fatmanur Delioglu
This paper examines the integration of advanced surveillance technologies in the European Union, the multiple uses of technologies, and their impact on migrants and migration management.