All Previous Events

John Major`s underpants. Brown as Stalin. Obama as Osama. These images, as much as anything, show how a politician`s career can be made, or broken, on the back of public perception. With the US elections almost upon us, there is unprecedented opportunity for the art of satire to shape public opinion.

Kevin `KAL` Kallaugher (celebrating 30 years as The Economist`s political cartoonist) and Henry Naylor (creator of TV`s `Headcases` and `Spitting Image` head writer) will discuss cartooning, campaigning and chicanery and explore how art can be used to interest, excite and intrigue any audience.

Politics will never look the same again.

The evening will start with a 45-minute discussion on political cartooning, including time for audience questions. This will be followed by a hands-on, interactive cartooning conducted by KAL, where members of the audience will see first hand the process of political cartooning.

This discussion will be chaired by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Channel 4 News.

• Setting the stage: Evidence-based policy in IPRs – can policy meet practice? – Dr Meir P. Pugatch, Senior Lecturer, University of Haifa, and Director of Research, Stockholm Network

• Recent lessons from the statistical analysis of IPRs on innovation and economic growth at the macro and micro economic levels – Dr Dominique Guellec, Principal Administrator, Economic Analysis and Statistics Division, Directorate of Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI), OECD

• Globalisation, intellectual property and value creation - new frontiers for research – Douglas Lippoldt, Head of Division (acting), Development Division, Trade and Agriculture Directorate, OECD

• Using IPRs for voluntary, market-driven collaborations in the biotechnology field – theory and practice – Dr Christina Sampogna, Administrator, Biotechnology Division, DSTI, OECD

Moderator: Dr Iain Gillespie, Head, Biotechnology Division, OECD

Speakers include:

Mario Cervantes, Principal Administrator, Innovation and Technology Policy, OECD

Denis Dambois, Administrator, Public Procurement and Intellectual Property Unit, DG Trade, European Commission

Dr Yoav Shechter, External Affairs Director, MSD Israel

* Please note: this workshop is taking place under Chatham House rules

Introduced by Helen Disney, CEO, Stockholm Network

Paul Domjan, Energy Fellow, Stockholm Network
Mark Lynas, author of Six Degrees and environmental campaigner;
Hardin Tibbs, Associate Fellow at the Saïd Business School, Oxford University;
Dr James Keirstead, Research Associate with the BP Urban Energy Systems Project, Centre for Energy Policy and Technology, Imperial College;
Dr Swenja Surminski, Policy Advisor, Association of British Insurers;
Oliver Tickell, Kyoto 2.

Debate on climate change has now shifted decisively from science to policy and this has generated a new set of questions and challenges. The Stockholm Network’s Carbon Scenarios present some answers.

In its three alternative futures, based on different post-2012 policies, the Stockholm Network presents clear, synthesised data on the climatic, economic, technological, political and social consequences of different policy options within a post-2012 framework.

Europe`s interactions with the United States are at a crossroads. As the world watches and waits for the outcome of the 2008 Presidential Election, Europe looks to the future with many questions in mind. What are the potential impacts of each candidate’s approach to key areas such as trade, healthcare, security and energy? Would a Democratic President usher in a new era of pro-American feeling in Europe and elsewhere? And how will the US react to increased EU expansion and integration?

President Sarkozy, head of state in a country where America`s approval rating has dropped from 78% to only 37%, recently said he wanted to, "reconquer the heart of America in a lasting fashion". Meanwhile, in Britain, PM Gordon Brown has been quoted as saying, “I am absolutely confident that the special relationship between our two countries (UK and US) is strong and secure”. Will this enthusiasm bring about an unprecedented opportunity for better collaboration, co-operation and economic partnership?

The aim of the Sponsor Retreat is for us to build stronger relationships with our supporters and for them to get to know one another. The event will introduce new sponsors to the Network`s achievements to date and its plans for the future, as well as linking supporters with leading members of some of our think tanks and journalists from across Europe. It is also a chance for us to learn from you about how we can serve you better and which ideas you would like to receive a wider airing on the European stage.

We plan to inform and entertain you for the weekend in an atmosphere which combines intellectual stimulation and debate with relaxation and informal networking.

The mandate of the WHO Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property was `to prepare a global strategy and plan of action on essential health research to address conditions affecting developing countries disproportionately`. The resulting global plan of action will be presented to the World Health Assembly mid-2008.

The IGWG process and its outcomes are likely to have considerable implications on the extent to which the issues of public health, innovation and IPRs are being dealt with, both at the multilateral arena and domestically. The current discussions and debates over the IGWG process touch upon a multitude of issues, such as global governance, trade relations, industrial and innovation policies, evidence-based practices and access to medicines, as well as moral and ideological issues.

Speakers included (in alphabetical order):
Prof. Michael Blakeney, Director, Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute;
Helen Davison, Senior Researcher, Stockholm Network;
Dr Lee Feldman, Chair & Chief Scientific Officer, Scian, The Institute for Scientific Policy Analysis;
Prof. Anselm Kamperman Sanders, Director Masters Intellectual Property Law and Knowledge Management, Maastricht University Faculty of Law;
Douglas Lippoldt, Groupe d`economie mondiale, Sciences Po and Senior Trade Policy Analyst, Trade Directorate, OECD;
Prof. Gerald Mols, Rector, Maastricht University;
Dr Meir Perez Pugatch, Director of Research, Stockholm Network & Senior Lecturer, University of Haifa;
Christoph Spennemann, Legal Expert Intellectual Property Team Policy Implementation Section, Division on Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development, UNCTAD.
Bart Wijnberg, Senior Adviser, Department of Pharmaceutical Affairs & Medical Technology, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.

For more information please contact Dr Cristina Palomares, Chief Operating Officer, Stockholm Network on T: +44 20 7354 8888, F: +44 20 7359 8888 or via email: cristina@stockholm-network.org

Available presentations from the event can be downloaded below:

Reforms often face resistance. Politicians thus often feel that it is politically more convenient not to act, despite apparent problems and challenges facing their societies. But at least a dozen industrialised countries have reformed substantially. They managed to get past the political obstacles, and their substantial free-market reforms have produced great economic and social results. What did they do? How did they do it? What can we learn from this for today and tomorrow?

These are issues of crucial importance for the future of Europe. Every European government faces this challenge. An issue of particular importance is whether the European Union is helping or stifling the prospects of further reform. Johnny Munkhammar’s book The Guide to Reform was published this winter and has received substantial attention and praise. He will tell the story of reform and share the main conclusions of the book at this event.

The Stockholm Network has also been assessing the state of market-oriented reforms across the EU in the latest issue of its State of the Union compilation, which tracks the progress of economic and social reform across all 27 EU countries, with each chapter written by a member of our think-tank network. Alongside Johnny Munkhammar’s findings we will present some of its conclusions and ask what Europe still needs to do to make reform possible.

The event will also include a showing of a new 10 minute DVD, produced by the Stockholm Network, entitled `Saving the Health of the Nation: An Introduction to Health Savings Accounts`.

The panel will consist of:
Nick Timmins (Chair), Public Policy Editor, Financial Times
Geraint Day, Head of Devolved Government and Health Policy, Institute of Directors
Stephen Pollard, President, Centre for the New Europe
Liz Kendall, Social Policy Consultant and former special adviser to Patricia Hewitt MP

Health expenditure in Germany is experiencing dramatic growth. Health Technology Assessment (HTA), the systematic appraisal of the costs and benefits of a medical treatment, is presented as an objective and scientific way to address this dilemma.

Independent professional institutions like IQWiG, so its proponents argue, can systematically and objectively assess which medicines should be financed by the public purse, and which can be rejected on the basis of high costs and low benefits to the patients.

However, the adoption of HTA throughout the developed world raises some important but often overlooked questions. To what extent are HTA systems an objective and scientific tool, and to what extent just another political construct aimed at the systematic rationing of medicines? Why has the phenomenon escaped vigorous public attention? Is HTA compatible with the goals of patient choice and therapeutic autonomy? And finally how does its use affect the future development of new and innovative healthcare technologies?

All these questions and more will be discussed in this event

We very much hope you can join us.

If you would like to RSVP for this event, please register online below or alternatively email kristian@stockholm-network.org.

Please note that this event will be simultaneously translated.

Die deutschen Gesundheitsausgaben steigen dramatisch an. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird Gesundheitstechnologiebewertung (auch Health Technology Assessment oder HTA), also die systematische Bewertung von Kosten und Nutzen einer medizinischen Leistung, als eine objektive und wissenschaftliche Antwort auf dieses Dilemma dargestellt. Unabhängige Institutionen wie das IQWiG, so behaupten Befürworter, könnten objektiv bewerten, welche Medikamente aus öffentlichen Mitteln finanziert werden sollen, und welche aufgrund hoher Kosten und geringem Nutzen für den Patienten abgelehnt werden können.

Die zunehmende Verwendung von HTA wirft wichtige, aber selten beachtete Fragen auf. Ist HTA wirklich ein objektives und wissenschaftliches Instrument, oder dient es lediglich der Rationierung von Gesundheitsleistungen? Warum konnte sich dieses Phänomen bislang einer kritischen öffentlichen Debatte entziehen? Ist HTA vereinbar mit Wahlfreiheit für Patienten und therapeutischer Autonomie für Ärzte? Und welche Auswirkungen hat HTA auf den künftigen medizinischen Fortschritt?

Über diese und andere Fragen wird auf unserer Veranstaltung diskutiert werden. Über Ihre Teilnahme würden wir uns freuen.

Anmelden können Sie sich, indem Sie weiter unten das Formular ausfüllen, oder eine formlose Anmeldung an kristian@stockholm-network.org senden. Eine Simultanuebersetzung Englisch-Deutsch wird bereitgestellt.