Podcasts about informed futures

Sir Peter Gluckman served as the chief science advisor to three Prime Ministers, from 2009 to 2018. He is the managing trustee of thinktank Koi Tū the Centre for Informed Futures, which has just been made an independent charitable trust.

In a year, under 16's in Australia will no longer be allowed to access social media. The Australian Senate has passed laws banning them from accessing the platforms. The ban will come into force at the end of next year -- social media companies will face fines if they fail to take reasonable steps to keep children off. Senior researcher at Koi Tu Centre for Informed Futures Dr Felicia Low, told Kerre Woodham parents need to be able to have a say in what their children are doing. She says it can be easier if there's a top-down approach where a law is in place, so children can't argue against it. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are concerns over young New Zealanders' ability to handle adversity.  New figures show more than 21% of 15 to 24 year olds face psychological struggles.  It's prompted calls for more to be done to build resilience in children, starting at early childhood centres through to high schools.  Dr Felicia Low is behind the report and told Mike Hosking the numbers are deeply troubling.  She says we know young people aren't doing well, and we have to act on it.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In tackling child obesity, it seems you are not just what you eat, but when and how you eat too. Nearly a third of children in Aotearoa between the ages of two to fourteen are obese, and the number is much higher for Māori and Pacific tamariki. New research from Auckland University's Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, shows significant links between early feeding patterns and parents' weight, with obesity and health problems in adulthood. Lead researcher Dr Felicia Low spoke to Corin Dann.

An Auckland University think-tank study's highlighted the significant degree to which weight problems can be triggered both before birth and in early childhood. The Knowledge Hub for Maternal and Child Health at the Centre for Informed Futures found links between caregiver feeding practices, what age infants are introduced solid foods, and the weight of parents at conception. Lead researcher Dr Felicia Low joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaking to the recently published Addressing the Challenges to Social Cohesion, Sir Peter Gluckman (former Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister and Director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures) sits down with Jonathan Ayling to discuss what's happening to fraying public discourse, and what we can do to address it.  Support the show

Professor Sir Peter Gluckman is an internationally recognized biomedical scientist, and currently heads Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland. From 2009-2018 he was the inaugural Chief Science Advisor to Prime Ministers Sir John Key, Sir Bill English, and Dame Jacinda Ardern, was Science Envoy for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and is currently the President of the International Science Council He has received the highest scientific and civilian honours in New Zealand and numerous international scientific awards as well as authoring several books and over 700 scientific papers. Sir Peter Gluckman joined Simon Barnett and James Daniels for Six and a Song. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are warnings New Zealand's social cohesion is straining at the seams. According to a report by Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, rising polarisation stems from a wider breakdown of trust, as demonstrated by the 2022 Parliament occupation. Former Chief Science Advisor and report co-author Sir Peter Gluckman says society can't work without some form of cohesion. "What happens is we find fractured societies and that fracturing leads to tension, leads to crime, leads to disruption, leads to people not feeling safe, leads to society not making good decisions." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Ben Thomas from Ben Thomas PR and Former Labour Chief of Staff and Director at Mike Munro Communications, Mike Munroe joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! 2degrees founder Tex Edwards says police are too busy to deal with his stolen Lexus and he's put out a $5000 reward for the return of the car- does that point to a wider problem that our police are too under-resourced to focus on community policing? 500 gang members are expected in Ōpōtiki for a tangi tomorrow. Police have boosted frontline staff and a number of schools have closed down out of safety fears. How real is the threat of gang retaliation? Is this town being held for ransom? Sir Peter Gluckman and Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures warn social cohesion is under threat from rising polarisation caused by political, economic and environmental stresses and misinformation. Are these valid concerns? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alarm bells are ringing over the pressures New Zealand's social cohesion is facing. Auckland University think tank, Koi Tu: The Centre for Informed Futures, has released a discussion document highlighting strains within New Zealand society. It says factors such as political, economic and environmental issues alongside increased misinformation are having a negative impact. Co-author of the report, Paul Spoonley told Mike Hosking they've seen some big changes since they first started looking into the issue. He says since 2020, there's been a decline in trust relating to core institutions such as the Government and the media. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Researchers say Aotearoa needs a national risk assessment authority to better prepare the country for high-impact risks and disasters. Auckland University's Koi Tū: Centre for Informed Futures has long argued there are dangerous gaps in New Zealand's risk management and have called for greater political transparency. In the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, they say the need is greater than ever. Koi Tū co-director Anne Bardsley spoke to Kim Hill.  

Five weeks on from cyclone Gabrielle, a report from Auckland University researchers calls for a national risk assessment authority. Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures suggests that the recent weather events show that Kiwis' disaster risk understanding is inadequate. Co-author Sir Peter Gluckman says the independent authority would produce a register that openly tells the public what risks to prepare for. He told Mike Hosking that politicians have historically undermined risks presented by experts, which hinders our ability to prepare. He says governments have the right to deny things; they just need to explain why. In recent times politicians haven't been explaining when they choose to override expert opinion. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another pandemic of “overwhelming magnitude” is right on New Zealand's doorstep.  It has been reported in the New Zealand Herald's Great Minds series that our children's mental health services are at crisis point.  There are very real concerns that we aren't prepared or equipped to deal with the increasing numbers of young people seeing help.  Yesterday, paediatrician, former Chief Science Advisor and director of The Centre for Informed Futures, Sir Peter Gluckman spoke to the Weekend Herald about his concerns. Sir Peter Gluckman joined Francesca Rudkin. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fake vaccine passes seem really easy to get your hands on.They're going for $20 online, and you end up with a vaccine pass that flashes green when they scan so it looks legit.The only way to know is if it's fake is if the staff of where you go check your ID.Centre of Informed Futures' Andrew Chen joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVE

Less than two weeks to Christmas and the summer holidays can't come soon enough.New Zealand is tired, exhausted even, of Covid and frustrated at the huge ongoing sacrifices.We are sick of doom, gloom and fear, so much so John Campbell fronted a show about this last night.I only saw the beginning because it was past bedtime, but it featured front line workers talking about some of the things they've had to put up with.The ambulance officer bitten and spat at, nurses copping abuse in emergency rooms, police attacked on the job, supermarket staff enduring racial slurs.Now that show coincides with a new piece of research today, which comes out of an Auckland University offshoot called the Centre for Informed Futures.Just for background, that's headed up by Sir Peter Gluckman, one of our most distinguished scientists and formerly chief science advisor to the Prime Minister.Cutting to the chase, this report looks at relationships in the community, and trust in the State.Sir Peter says we're starting to see exhaustion, fear and anger and a loss of trust in Government, science, and experts.The glue that holds us together is coming unstuck, you'll have seen it, some people's behaviour is rude, nasty, aggressive even.I hope Cabinet takes heed of these signs today, when it looks at the Traffic Light settings.We need some relief, people need to get out, get back to work, get back to a more normal version of New Zealand, and take a break from social media rabbit holes.If Auckland doesn't come out of red for Christmas, Aucklanders won't forgive Labour for being the grinch that stole Christmas.

From this morning, anyone who is fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to request a vaccination pass, dubbed "My Vaccine Pass". Once New Zealand enters the new traffic light system, the pass will be required to enter hospitality venues, and access community, sport and faith-based gatherings. Access to essential services like supermarkets, pharmacies, health services and petrol stations will not require a pass. So what exactly how will it work and where do you get one? Kathryn finds out more about the pass from Dr Andrew Chen, a Research Fellow with Koi Tu: The Centre for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland.

From this morning, anyone who is fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to request a vaccination pass, dubbed "My Vaccine Pass". Once New Zealand enters the new traffic light system, the pass will be required to enter hospitality venues, and access community, sport and faith-based gatherings. Access to essential services like supermarkets, pharmacies, health services and petrol stations will not require a pass. So what exactly how will it work and where do you get one? Kathryn finds out more about the pass from Dr Andrew Chen, a Research Fellow with Koi Tu: The Centre for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland.

A group of experts have declared our mask guidelines inadequate - most notably for those working on the frontline. The Centre for Informed Futures at Auckland University say we're not keeping pace with the latest international studies and it's leaving gaps that can be exploited by Covid-19's Delta variant. A fresh report urges all essential and border workers don proper-fitting N95 masks - and identifies shortcomings in the general public's mask-wearing methods. University of Auckland aerosol scientist Joel Rindelaub spoke to Susie Ferguson.

From next Tuesday everyone over the age of 12 will be required to keep a record of every "busy place or event" they've been to. The move is to combat low levels of scanning or signing in outside of a Covid outbreak and help assist with contact tracing. But with the big increase in information about to be gathered - what are the privacy protections in place? That's something of concern to Dr Andrew Chen, a Research Fellow at Koi Tu: The Centre for Informed Futures, at The University of Auckland. He's written an open letter to Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins asking for legislation to clarify that data collected for contact tracing purposes will ONLY be used for contact tracing purposes.

Sir Peter was Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2009 to 2018, serving three Prime Ministers: John Key, Bill English and Jacinda Ardern. He’s also the Director of Koi Tū — the Centre for Informed Futures — a New Zealand based think tank looking at some of the most pressing issues impacting our world. In this episode we talk about the role of chief science advisors, how science and policymaking work together and the interaction between science and diplomacy — a discussion that takes place within a backdrop of declining public trust, increasing misinformation and the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. For a full transcript of this episode visit The Do One Better! Podcast website at Lidji.org — please click the subscribe button on your favourite podcast app and share widely with others. Thank you!  

New Zealanders planning to pounce when the trans-Tasman travel resumes this month will first need a crash course in how Australia's tracing system works. They'll need to be aware that a Covid-19 tracing app use is mandatory in the hospitality sector across all states and that everyone in Australia is encouraged to use additional bluetooth tracing technology. Dr Andrew Chen from the Centre for Informed Futures at Auckland University spoke to Corin Dann to explain how it works across the ditch.

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, three experts in global health explain why COVID-19 has been a moment of reckoning for the World Health Organization (WHO), and where it goes from here. And to mark one year since the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, we hear from Conversation editors around the world on the situation where they live right now. The WHO had a torrid 2020. Although it declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern in late January, much of the world was slow to react. And it wasn't until March 11, when the WHO's director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described it as a pandemic, that countries began to take the virus seriously and began locking down. In this episode, we talk to three experts about where the WHO goes from here. Peter Gluckman, former scientific advisor to the prime minister of New Zealand and Director of Koi Tū, the Center for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland, says world leaders should use this moment as a catalyst for reform. Ana Amaya, Assistant Professor at Pace University and an Associate Research Fellow at the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration studies, tells us the current global health system is no longer acceptable to many developing countries in the global south. And Andrew Lakoff, Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California, explains what process of inquiry the WHO went through after the H1N1 and Ebola epidemics, and why apportioning responsibility for failures is crucial in planning for the future. The Conversation Weekly is hosted by Gemma Ware and Dan Merino. The show is co-produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Visit The Conversation for full credits. If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here.Further readingYou can read a series of articles on The Conversation marking the one-year anniversary of WHO declaring COVID-19 a pandemic here. Meanwhile, here are some of the articles we've mentioned in this episode, plus a few more:WHO reform: a call for an early-warning protocol for infectious diseases, by Peter Gluckman, University of Auckland and Andrew Gillespie, University of WaikatoWhy the WHO, often under fire, has a tough balance to strike in its efforts to address health emergencies, by Andrew Lakoff, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesA year of COVID-19 lockdown is putting kids at risk of allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases, by Byram W. Bridle, University of GuelphCOVID-19 treatments: what are the most promising leads, by Dominique Costagliola, Inserm (in French)After a year of pain, here's how the COVID-19 pandemic could play out in 2021 and beyond, by Michael Toole, Burnet InstituteCoronavirus one year on: two countries that got it right, and three that got it wrong, by Darren Lilleker, Bournemouth UniversityOne year of the pandemic and we continue to look for answers, by Ildefonso Hernández Aguado and Blanca Lumbreras Lacarra, Universidad Miguel Hernández (in Spanish) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has asked officials for advice on potential law changes that could address lingering privacy worries with the NZ Covid Tracer app.It comes after a leading data expert and Privacy Commissioner John Edwards suggested legal tweaks that would ensure agencies couldn't use tracer data for spying or criminal investigations.New Zealand's app remains a critical tool for helping tracers quickly track down close contacts of people infected with Covid-19 - but at the same time, collects large amounts of personal information from users.The Government has moved to allay surveillance worries by making the app "decentralised", leaving location data - like that loaded via QR codes - and interaction information, fed via Bluetooth tracing, on peoples' phones until it's needed for contact tracing.While that approach, widely used by other countries, helped protect users' privacy, there was still little legislative protection against the data being used for other purposes by the Government.Dr Andrew Chen, a researcher at University of Auckland-based Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, said one concern was that police or intelligence agencies could seek a warrant for a phone and then take tracer data from it.Singapore's government recently sparked an outcry when it passed laws allowing its police to access data from its TraceTogether app for serious crimes like murder, rape and drug trafficking.In New Zealand, Chen noted that a recent police review of emergent technologies showed police have the tools and capability to search phones for data.This month, he wrote to Hipkins and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, suggesting New Zealand could take a similar step to Australia, which introduced an amendment clarifying who and who wasn't allowed to use tracer app data, and for what purposes.That effectively meant that intelligence agencies who incidentally collected tracer data from phones had to delete that data and could not use it.But Chen told the Herald there were still concerns around two scenarios."One is law enforcement agencies getting access, as happened in Singapore, which is the main worry," he said."The other is that, just because the NZ Covid Tracer app is designed well, it doesn't mean that other digital contact tracing tools are well designed too."For example, he said, there had been some 30 different providers for digital contact tracing QR codes in the past."We know that, last year, there were companies that collected personal information from contact tracing and then used it for marketing purposes."So it would actually be good to have some rules in place that specifically state data that is collected for the purposes of the Covid-19 pandemic should only be used to respond to it."Chen has previously suggested the Government could amend the Public Health Response Act, but now believed the reform would be more suitable elsewhere in own current laws.In a written response to Chen last week, Hipkins noted that location and Bluetooth contact data was recorded centrally only when given to tracers - and even then, people could still decide if they wanted to release it."With New Zealand's relatively small number of cases, there are relatively few people whose data is held centrally," Hipkins said."This data is well secured in the ministry's systems and the ministry has undertaken only to use it for contact tracing purposes."Further, he said, the app had existing protections that limited the time period that data was retained for.Scanned and manually recorded locations were kept on a user's phone for 60 days and then automatically deleted, while Bluetooth interaction keys were kept on a user's phone for 14 days and then wiped.Although data from the app uploaded to ministry systems was kept for longer as some of it became part of a person's health record, the ministry had committed to deleting it "in certain categories" at the end of the pandemic - including a...

A digital technology expert is backing the Government's moves to make the use of the Covid Tracer app mandatory in certain circumstances.Ministry of Health data shows fewer than one in six of the 2.3 million registered app users are using it daily.Minister for the Covid-19 response Chris Hipkins is looking at whether people should be required to scan in with the app at big events and in places like bars and restaurants, where physical distancing is difficult.University of Auckland Centre for Informed Futures research fellow Andrew Chen said it was likely people had become complacent about app use, either because they believed they were at low risk of getting Covid-19, or they found the app tricky or annoying to use.But he said total daily scans needed to get back up to the 2.5 million mark - levels seen in the midst of the Auckland August outbreak."That shows what is possible and we need to be getting back up to those sorts of levels to have confidence that enough of the population is covered, so if we send out an exposure notification, we have reasonable confidence that the right people will be notified of a potential exposure."Businesses also had a role to play in ensuring their QR codes were easily accessible, Chen said."There have been a lot of reports that businesses have been strictly speaking complying with the requirement of displaying a QR code, but having it in a place that's annoying to get to, or is hidden or is otherwise obscured."The app's key advantage, Chen said, was speed."I believe that the manual contact tracing system is good and that given enough time, we can find all of the contacts that we need to find."But one of the strongest factors that influences the spread of the disease is speed of response and if we can use the app, we might be able to give instructions to people who may have been exposed to Covid-19 more quickly."If they can isolate themselves more quickly, then they can reduce the spread of the disease and potentially save lives."However, Chen said the Government needed to be mindful of people who were not able to use the app."I do think that we have to be careful in terms of understanding that not everybody can use the app and that there has to be other provisions in place for people who cannot or have very legitimate reasons for choosing not to use the app."Hipkins has said he would be getting more advice in the next few days about how to strengthen the contact tracing system.Text by Sarah Robson of RNZ

What has COVID-19 taught us about science advice? How have different countries responded to evolving evidence during the pandemic? Have some science advice models performed better than others in terms of public health outcomes? Can science advice really help much when evidence is partial or controversial, and decisions are needed at high speed? Sir Peter Gluckman discusses these questions with Toby Wardman of SAPEA. We also discuss where to draw the line between evidence and democratic decision-making; whether scientists should air their disagreements in public or keep them behind closed doors; scientific hubris vs humility; and the emerging phenomenon of the celebrity science advisor. Sir Peter is president of the International Network for Government Science Advice, president-elect of the International Science Council, director of Koi Tū: the Centre for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland, and the former Chief Scientific Advisor to the government of New Zealand. As always, the opinions expressed in this episode are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of SAPEA or the European Commission. Resources discussed in this episode INGSA's evidence-to-policy tracker: https://www.ingsa.org/covid/policymaking-tracker-landing/ Peter Gluckman's essay on the impact of science advice on COVID-19 response: https://informedfutures.org/reflections-on-the-evidentiary-politics-interface/

Dr Andrew Chen is a software engineer and Research Fellow at of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures - an independent and apolitical think tank and research centre based at the University of Auckland.

Professor Sir Peter Gluckman ONZ KNZM FRSNZ FRS is the Director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures - an independent and apolitical think tank and research centre based at the University of Auckland. He served as the inaugural Chief Science Advisor to the New Zealand Prime Minister.

Sir Peter Gluckman was the first person to hold the job of Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister.  Founder and distinguished professor of the Liggins Institute at Auckland University, he's been New Zealander of the Year, he's a member of the Order of New Zealand and Rutherford Medal recipient.For his latest project, Sir Peter has collaborated with Mark Hanson from the University of Southhampton on a new book – Ingenious: The Unintended Consequences of Human Innovation.The book looks at the rapid change of technology and innovations that have modified our environment and the affect that has had on our behaviour, biology and society, and asks how do we function in the world we've created?Sir Peter, who has also just opened The Centre for Informed Futures at Auckland University, joined Andrew Dickens to discuss what the centre will work towards, how new technologies have unintended consequences, and how the coronavirus outbreak may be a consequence as well.