ISAIL-GLA Joint Statement on Legal & Policy Research for Intellectual Mobility by Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence & Law

By Global Law Assembly & Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law

A Joint Statement on

Legal & Policy Research for Intellectual Mobility In short: An Explainer on How We Pursue Research in Law & Policy to Pursue Intellectual Mobility by Nurturing Individual Minds for their Enhancement & to Encourage Institutional Research for a Multipolar World.

Joint Statement on Legal & Policy Research for Intellectual Mobility By the Secretariat Members of Global Law Assembly & Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law. September 28, 2021

Executive Summary This is a joint statement by the Secretariat Members of Global Law Assembly & Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law on the role of intellectual mobility in Legal & Policy Research. We are of the view in a joint sense, that despite the uniqueness in our research areas, our challenges are common and since both the research organizations’ focus has been always India-centric to develop international, national, regional as well as global approaches to policy issues through our policy reports, publications, respective podcasts and even conferences/events, the common thread has been to achieve intellectual mobility. This joint statement explains why people should be motivated to contribute as researchers in any of the two organizations, ISAIL or GLA. We request that the joint statement must not be taken otherwise so forth.

What is Intellectual Mobility and Why it is Important to Understand the Same? Intellectual mobility does not define, however makes, and breaks our orientation of seeing things. It can apply to any idea, institution, concept, or question. People can be sometimes context-based and opt incremental ways of mobilizing while some may adopt a reductionist view. Now, both organizations are concerned with the important role intellectual mobility plays because it generally shapes the way we commit to legal and policy research as well. We are concerned that as students and researchers in the field of law, global governance, international affairs, policy, and technology ethics would be exposed to policy realities in a multipolar, neorealist, and disruptive world order (or disorder), intellectual mobility would shape their potential to achieve legal and policy solutions wherever they can. At ISAIL & GLA, we have been commonly committed to encouraging intellectual mobility, by mentoring researchers and interns & even developing their base, so that they become policy conscious.

How Policy Consciousness is to be Understood from an India-Centric Point of View? Policy Consciousness comes from a sense of understanding the connotations of what the policy in general represents. Policy is based on the centrality of the state (and the government) in a country. Every policy revolves around the government(s) involved, as has been traditionally. Even non-state actors such as NGOs, civil society, etc., to some extent, either internationally or domestically, represent “national interests”, because those interests are based on conscious policy undertakings. Now, a policy intervention based on conscious approaches can be linear – which means a destination-focused approach or cyclic – which means a sense of continuity being processed alongside. When we look at India’s history and civilization – as well as its current policy realities, what we see is that you can have an amalgam of both linear and cyclic approaches, giving proportionate share to cyclic approaches, which are adaptive to complex uncertainties. We can range our undertaking from adopting a refugee policy which is conscious of the regional consciousness and the historical realities of India, to developing nuanced ethical approaches to artificial intelligence, which are based on skill and manufacturing considerations specifically tailor-made for Indian MSMEs, developers and even consumers. Risks are a part of the perennial existence of a nation-state, and dealing with those risks certainly defines, how the socalled global approaches can be achieved. Contrary to myths, global governance is not just multilateralism because © Global Law Assembly & Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law, 2021.

plurilateralism completes multilateralism. Without understanding how companies and governments cooperate and co-opt situations within their host state as well as across the globe cannot even lead us to estimate global approaches, since, globalization cannot be top-down, but can be successful when it is bottom-top. Beyond the noise that we hear, despite the COVID pandemic, and the way multilateralism has been adversely affected across the globe, our motive is to transform India-centric policy approaches, which fall under two important connotations – the Indo-Pacific region as a strategic ground, and the IndoEuropean approach, which stems our line of focus of cooperation ranging from Delhi to Brussels as well as to Tokyo and even Bali, Indonesia. We therefore focus on a neorealist, Indic (India-centric and central to Indic value systems and consciousness) and pragmatic approach to legal and policy research, which is the need of the hour not just for India, but also for the Indo-Pacific region & the Indo-European countries across the globe.

Why Does it Matter and What Do We Expect from You? It matters because policy consciousness is a difficult thing to achieve. People think it only helps researchers and professionals. However, policy consciousness often represents how the personal and professional aspects of our own lives interact with and intersect each other. A simple example to give would be to see how our basic needs are affected by policy consciousness, whether it is adapting different approaches to environment protection in different parts of India in the most ad hoc & optimally common ways possible. Culture, economy, and environment are deeply associated, which is something India is known for. Now – we expect from you something simple, if you are interested to join our research teams, either in Global Law Assembly or the Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law. Global Law Assembly focuses on areas related to global governance and corporate innovation with an Indic approach, revolving around 3 important areas of concern – culture, economy, and environment (ecology). Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law focuses on structural research in the realm of artificial intelligence, law, and policy with an India-centric (and Indic) approach, focusing on plurilateralism, disruption economics and mobility in technology governance.

You can join in as a Research Contributor, initially, or you can experience research activities by joining our internship programme. To be recruited, you must contact the Internship Cell/Committee of your institution if you are a student of law or policy. You can refer to the Research Credibility and Administration Directive jointly adopted by us, which has specific rules as well as dispute resolution regulations mentioned on the same. We encourage innovative researchers, and work with them to develop rigorous reports and policy briefs, both of foundational and progressive/procedural nature. Instrumental research can also be developed if needed. The competence expected is high, which depends on how much learnable and policy conscious you wish to be. Policy is not achieved merely by laws or sets of principles. It is achieved by aggregating and even painting better the realities which have been existent. Watching them alongside and coming up with significant work on the same reflects on your policy understanding in general. The researchers in both organizations work pro bono, because our reports do not have any monetary considerations involved (even our books are readable to all, hence any hard copy or online editions bought are considered as donations to support the organizations). We wish to focus on the perseverance needed in our work of research instead of the transactional restrictions which affects academic and research uniqueness (and liberty). We are clear with our research focus, and very specific with approaching the same. However, we are open to reasonable and sane ideas on legal policy, which we will certainly appreciate.

Contact Global Law Assembly at: executive@globallawassembly.org Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law executive@isail.in for: Any internship, research joining queries, etc.