Agile Governance
A Global Event
On April 26, the GW Regulatory Studies Center co-hosted senior international government officials, thought leaders in academia and civil society, and business leaders from across sectors for a public event at the Kennedy Center's REACH Pavilion to discuss the ideas behind "agile governance."
On April 27, a smaller group of international academics and practitioners gathered for a workshop on the George Washington University campus to exchange ideas on implementing agile regulation for the benefit of all.
Our co-hosts for this dynamic discussion were the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development, Google, Business at OECD, World Economic Forum, and U.S. Council on International Business.
Day One - Public Symposium
The event began with remarks from Center director Susan Dudley.
"Our objective today is to support high impact dialogue on these important topics."
Susan E. Dudley
Director, GW Regulatory Studies Center
Distinguished Professor of Practice, GW Trachtenberg
After setting the stage, Susan welcomed the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development's Jeffrey Schlagenhauf to virtually introduce the audience to the OECD's recommendations for agile governance.
"The OECD's work in recent years is transforming the way governments make and enforce rules."
Jeffrey Schlagenhauf
Deputy Secretary General, OECD
Building on the ideas Susan and Jeffrey introduced, Harvard University's Cass Sunstein discussed the importance of experimenting and testing, as well as cost-benefit analysis in regulatory policy.
"An agile government needs less sludge, an effective notice and comment process, continuous analysis, and robust testing."
Cass R. Sunstein
Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard
Following Professor Sunstein's insightful remarks, Google's President of Global Affairs Kent Walker took the stage to share his own insights and answer questions from Axios' tech reporter Ashley Gold.
"Digital innovation requires us to go beyond the era of incremental interaction between the regulated and the regulator...If we don't, we risk being out of step, with regulations that actually aren't fit for purpose in the long run."
Kent Walker
President of Global Affairs, Google
After the fireside chat, Business at OECD Chair Rick Johnston elaborated on the importance of agile governance.
"Agile governance allows for greater experiment and testing to stimulate innovation under regulatory supervision."
Rick Johnston
Managing Director, Citi Group
Next an international panel of senior policymakers took the stage and the screen to share reforms from around the world.
- Former FTC Commissioner & Acting Chair, Maureen Ohlhausen chaired the panel with Dominic Mancini (OIRA Deputy Administrator) and Susana Cordeiro Guerra (Inter-American Development Bank Manager) on the stage, and Tina Green (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Assistant Secretary) and Katrine Winding (Danish Business Authority Director General) joining remotely.
"We need to understand our knowledge limits as regulators, and to focus on substantial harms."
Maureen Ohlhausen
Section Chair, Antitrust & Competition Law
Baker Botts
Michael Mandel, VP & Chief Economist of the Progressive Policy Institute, then offered reflections on the day's discussions from a civil society perspective.
"Regulatory humility is essential, and agile regulators must be prepared for the goals of regulation to shift suddenly."
Michael A. Mandel
VP & Chief Economist,
Progressive Policy Institute
Susan Dudley closed the conference by summarizing three themes she had heard from speakers:
- The importance of considering tradeoffs and committing to measurement and rigorous learning
- The value of dialogue to engage expertise and insights from a variety of perspectives
- A sense of optimism, both about the promise of private sector innovation and the ability of regulators to be more agile.
The conversation between participants and audience members continued over refreshments at the Kennedy Center REACH Pavilion.
Center co-director Steve Balla and operations manager Lissette Vaquerano join the conversation.
Center research assistant Layvon Washington visits with guests.
Center research professor Brian Mannix reflects on the event.
Day Two - Private Workshop
To put into practice the ideas shared by our speakers on the first day, we hosted an all-day workshop on the GW campus where policy experts from around the world shared their experiences and insights.
