AboutOur WorkBlogContactSupport Us
AboutOur WorkBlogContactSupport Us

Blog

61 posts
  • All
  • Events
  • Strategy
  • Publications
  • AI
  • Multilateralism
How Formal Should It Be? Outcome Formats for the Global Dialogue on AI Governance featured image

How Formal Should It Be? Outcome Formats for the Global Dialogue on AI Governance

April 23, 2025
Member States at the United Nations are currently negotiating the modalities of the Global Dialogue on AI Governance. The outcome document…
Response to the G77 proposal on the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI featured image

Response to the G77 proposal on the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI

April 09, 2025
Member States and other stakeholders have been invited to submit their responses to the Zero Draft for the modalities of the Independent…
Response to the Zero Draft of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance featured image

Response to the Zero Draft of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance

March 21, 2025
The co-facilitators from Spain and Costa Rica have published the Zero Draft for the modalities of the Independent International Scientific…
Recommendations for the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance featured image

Recommendations for the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance

February 26, 2025
In September 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted the Global Digital Compact (GDC), which mandated the creation of the Independent…
Three considerations for the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI featured image

Three considerations for the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI

February 18, 2025
Today, all stakeholders are invited to informally share their views on the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global…
Distinguishing between Internet Governance and AI Governance featured image

Distinguishing between Internet Governance and AI Governance

January 30, 2025
The UN General Assembly has mandated a Global Dialogue on AI Governance involving governments and all relevant stakeholders on the margins…
Advancing Multilateral AI Governance: Recommendations for the 2025 Paris AI Action Summit featured image

Advancing Multilateral AI Governance: Recommendations for the 2025 Paris AI Action Summit

January 21, 2025
As multilateral AI governance stands at a crossroads, the 2025 AI Action Summit in Paris presents an opportunity to accelerate and harmonize…
Developing the Modalities of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI & the Global Dialogue on AI Governance - A Workshop Series featured image

Developing the Modalities of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI & the Global Dialogue on AI Governance - A Workshop Series

January 17, 2025
In September 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted the Global Digital Compact (GDC), mandating the establishment of two new institutional…
Crosspost: The case for a Cosmic Endowment Fund featured image

Crosspost: The case for a Cosmic Endowment Fund

January 15, 2025
This is a crosspost from the blog Machinocene - written by our Senior Tech Policy Specialist, Kevin Kohler, who writes a weekly deep dive on…
Blueprints: Design Options for the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance featured image

Blueprints: Design Options for the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance

December 09, 2024
In September 2024 the UN General Assembly adopted the Global Digital Compact, mandating the establishment of an Independent International…
SI’s Post Summit of the Future Plans featured image

SI’s Post Summit of the Future Plans

October 07, 2024
In 2021, the UN Secretary General published Our Common Agenda (OCA), a report outlining plans to revitalize the multilateral system and spotlight neglected issues ...
The Windfall Trust Workshop: Exploring Potential Pathways for Benefit Sharing & Redistributing AI Profits  featured image

The Windfall Trust Workshop: Exploring Potential Pathways for Benefit Sharing & Redistributing AI Profits

July 31, 2024
In the coming years, AI developments are expected to reap enormous economic gains by displacing human labor. These gains will very likely be…
Briefing: AI Governance and The Role of Compute Providers  featured image

Briefing: AI Governance and The Role of Compute Providers

June 19, 2024
As AI regulation continues to gain attention, policymakers are increasingly looking towards physical computational resources, such as data…
2023 Annual Report featured image

2023 Annual Report

June 01, 2024
2023 was a formative year for the Simon Institute for Longterm Governance (SI). We published two major UN reports on rapid technological progress and its risks; ran briefings and retreats across New York, Geneva, and Paris ...
Analysis of the First Revision of the Global Digital Compact: Implications for AI Governance featured image

Analysis of the First Revision of the Global Digital Compact: Implications for AI Governance

May 27, 2024
Following the release of the Zero Draft of the Global Digital Compact (GDC) on April 1, 2024, the co-facilitators of the process released a…
Atelier sur la Gouvernance de l'IA pour les Diplomates Francophones à New York featured image

Atelier sur la Gouvernance de l'IA pour les Diplomates Francophones à New York

May 06, 2024
Le 25 avril 2024, le Simon Institute for Longterm Governance (SI) a facilité un atelier sur la gouvernance de l’intelligence artificielle…
Briefing Series on Frontier AI Research & Development for UN Missions in New York featured image

Briefing Series on Frontier AI Research & Development for UN Missions in New York

May 02, 2024
On April 22nd 2024, the Simon Institute for Longterm Governance (SI) hosted a set of briefings for UN diplomats in New York entitled, “Where…
Response to the Zero Draft of the Global Digital Compact: What it Means for AI Governance featured image

Response to the Zero Draft of the Global Digital Compact: What it Means for AI Governance

April 05, 2024
In September 2024, Member States of the United Nations are set to adopt the Global Digital Compact, an internationally negotiated text seeking to...
The Relevance of WSIS & IGF for International AI Governance featured image

The Relevance of WSIS & IGF for International AI Governance

March 26, 2024
As multilateral processes and bodies such as the Global Digital Compact (GDC) and High-Level Body on Artificial Intelligence (AI) begin…
Training Course on AI Governance for UN Missions in New York featured image

Training Course on AI Governance for UN Missions in New York

February 15, 2024
On February 6th and 7th 2024, the Simon Institute for Longterm Governance (SI) organized two full-day training courses on AI governance for…
Response to the Interim Report of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence featured image

Response to the Interim Report of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence

January 02, 2024
On 26 October 2023, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched a High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence (HLAB on AI…
AI Governance Briefing Series for Permanent Missions to the UN in Geneva featured image

AI Governance Briefing Series for Permanent Missions to the UN in Geneva

December 14, 2023
From November 7th to December 8th 2023, the Simon Institute for Longterm Governance (SI) organized a briefing series on AI governance for…
Our Plans Until 2025 featured image

Our Plans Until 2025

October 23, 2023
Until the end of 2025, SI will focus on improving the multilateral system’s capacity for the governance of rapid technological change, with a specific focus on AI...
Our Updated Theory of Change featured image

Our Updated Theory of Change

October 22, 2023
Our strategy and theory of change act as our organization’s guiding star. The contents of them act as the foundation upon which we build our…
Foresight Workshop on Frontier Technologies featured image

Foresight Workshop on Frontier Technologies

September 18, 2023
On September 11th 2023, the Simon Institute co-hosted a workshop on frontier technologies as part of a series of foresight activities led by…
Hazards with Escalation Potential - Governing the Drivers of Global and Existential Catastrophes  featured image

Hazards with Escalation Potential - Governing the Drivers of Global and Existential Catastrophes

September 01, 2023
The international community increasingly seeks to understand the large-scale risks we face, and the role institutions...
Safe and Beneficial Artificial Intelligence for Small-Island Developing States featured image

Safe and Beneficial Artificial Intelligence for Small-Island Developing States

July 25, 2023
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to revolutionize our world. As noted by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his remarks to the…
Response to Our Common Agenda Policy Brief 5: A Global Digital Compact — an Open, Free and Secure Digital Future for All featured image

Response to Our Common Agenda Policy Brief 5: A Global Digital Compact — an Open, Free and Secure Digital Future for All

July 24, 2023
The Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) of the United Nations is publishing a series of policy briefs to inform the Our Common…
How to Reduce AI Harms and Future Risks at Once featured image

How to Reduce AI Harms and Future Risks at Once

July 06, 2023
Concerns about AI ethics — the harms AI causes due to imperfect development and training — are sometimes pegged against concerns about AI…
Agile Multilateral AI Governance Starts with Foundation Models featured image

Agile Multilateral AI Governance Starts with Foundation Models

July 05, 2023
The need to act yet remain agile  Artificial intelligence (AI) is on everyone’s mind – most sectors will be transformed and policymakers…
2-Year Review: Concluding SI's Inception featured image

2-Year Review: Concluding SI's Inception

July 01, 2023
Overview In April 2021, we launched the Simon Institute for Longterm Governance (SI). In this post, we provide a review of SI’s work since…
Advancing Sendai: Bringing Risks from Rapid Technological Change into Disaster Risk Reduction featured image

Advancing Sendai: Bringing Risks from Rapid Technological Change into Disaster Risk Reduction

June 30, 2023
Throughout 2022 and early 2023, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction underwent a period of review. During this time…
Biotechnology: a Brief on Risks and Opportunities featured image

Biotechnology: a Brief on Risks and Opportunities

May 30, 2023
The last few years have witnessed exciting developments in the field of biotechnology, driven in part by the machine learning revolution…
Artificial Intelligence: a Brief on Risks and Opportunities featured image

Artificial Intelligence: a Brief on Risks and Opportunities

May 30, 2023
The last few years have witnessed striking progress in artificial intelligence, driven by the machine learning revolution. However, as…
Submission to the Global Digital Compact on the Interpretability of AI Foundation Models featured image

Submission to the Global Digital Compact on the Interpretability of AI Foundation Models

April 26, 2023
As part of the UN’s Our Common Agenda, an intergovernmental process on digital governance has been put in place to produce the ‘Global…
The FAIR Framework - A Future-Proofing Methodology featured image

The FAIR Framework - A Future-Proofing Methodology

April 26, 2023
Why future proofing? In the words of António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, “many of today’s multilateral frameworks are…
How Computers Will Continue to Shape the World - Herbert A. Simon (Video & Transcript) featured image

How Computers Will Continue to Shape the World - Herbert A. Simon (Video & Transcript)

March 30, 2023
“…I don’t believe that predicting the future is really what we’re about. After all, we ourselves, or at least the younger ones among us, are…
Response to Our Common Agenda Policy Brief 1: “To Think and Act for Future Generations” featured image

Response to Our Common Agenda Policy Brief 1: “To Think and Act for Future Generations”

March 21, 2023
The Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) of the United Nations is publishing a series of policy briefs to inform the Our Common…
Response to Our Common Agenda Policy Brief 2: “Strengthening the International Response to Complex Global Shocks – An Emergency Platform” featured image

Response to Our Common Agenda Policy Brief 2: “Strengthening the International Response to Complex Global Shocks – An Emergency Platform”

March 21, 2023
The Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) of the United Nations is publishing a series of policy briefs to inform the Our Common…
Existential Risk and Rapid Technological Change - a Thematic Study for UNDRR featured image

Existential Risk and Rapid Technological Change - a Thematic Study for UNDRR

March 13, 2023
On 10th March 2022, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, stated that: “(…) there is renewed pressure to consider whether global…
Workshop Proceedings: Future-proofing the Multilateral System featured image

Workshop Proceedings: Future-proofing the Multilateral System

March 06, 2023
From the 13th-16th January, the Simon Institute hosted 30 actors from across the multilateral system and academia to discuss risks from technological development ...
Elements Paper for the Declaration on Future Generations featured image

Elements Paper for the Declaration on Future Generations

September 13, 2022
Future generations are fundamentally disempowered: they will inherit the planet and society we leave for them, yet they have no say in how…
Input for High-Level Advisory Board Member Poonam Ghimire and the UN Foundation featured image

Input for High-Level Advisory Board Member Poonam Ghimire and the UN Foundation

August 26, 2022
In August 2022, SI was invited to contribute to two consultations held by the United Nations Foundation and High-Level Advisory Board member…
SI's Plans to Support 'Our Common Agenda' featured image

SI's Plans to Support 'Our Common Agenda'

August 17, 2022
This post outlines SI’s strategic thinking around and current plan to engage with Our Common Agenda (OCA). The plan was developed in July…
How Policymakers Approach Information Overload and Deep Uncertainty - an Interview Analysis featured image

How Policymakers Approach Information Overload and Deep Uncertainty - an Interview Analysis

August 15, 2022
What is it like to be a policymaker during the COVID-19 pandemic?  What might it be like during the next pandemic or another global crisis…
SI at the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction featured image

SI at the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction

June 14, 2022
From May 23-28, SI’s CEO Maxime Stauffer attended the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) to speak on how the disaster risk…
Year One - Review, Plans & Funding featured image

Year One - Review, Plans & Funding

April 07, 2022
SI has proven its value through knowledge synthesis, workshop facilitation and high-level events. This combination of activities has granted SI mandates to directly work on...
Facilitation Handbook - a Tabletop Exercise on Resilience to Global Catastrophic Risks featured image

Facilitation Handbook - a Tabletop Exercise on Resilience to Global Catastrophic Risks

March 28, 2022
Strengthening science-policy capacity to mitigate Global Catastrophic Risks (GCRs) is difficult. As GCRs have not happened in the recent…
Our Plans for 2022 featured image

Our Plans for 2022

January 28, 2022
After demonstrating the potential for substantial impact in its first nine months of existence, SI enters the final stage of its startup…
Preparedness Exercises @ BWC Meeting of States Parties featured image

Preparedness Exercises @ BWC Meeting of States Parties

November 25, 2021
The Geneva Science-Policy Interface (GSPI) and the Simon Institute for Longterm Governance (SI) are pleased to invite you to explore the in-person table-top exercise...
Side Event - BWC Meeting of Experts featured image

Side Event - BWC Meeting of Experts

September 06, 2021
This event already took place. You can read a recap of it on the blog of the Geneva Science-Policy Interface. Complementing the BWC Meeting…
SI Update - September 2021 featured image

SI Update - September 2021

September 02, 2021
As summer is coming to an end, we wanted to share an update with you. Recent highlights from our blog: Building the field of long-term…
2021 UN High-Level Political Forum featured image

2021 UN High-Level Political Forum

July 07, 2021
Together with the Geneva Science-Policy Interface, SI contributes “Behavioral Solutions for Evidence-based Decision-making” to the UN High…
United Nations for the Future - a Collection of Key Texts for Long-term Governance featured image

United Nations for the Future - a Collection of Key Texts for Long-term Governance

July 01, 2021
Future generations are front and center of many foundational international governance texts. Yet, consideration of their interests regularly falls into oblivion...
Setting Expectations for Global Catastrophic Risk Mitigation Through Policy Change featured image

Setting Expectations for Global Catastrophic Risk Mitigation Through Policy Change

June 21, 2021
As the world temporarily ground to a halt in 2020, it became clear that the world is not prepared for shocks worse than COVID-19. To prepare, we need policy change...
Building the Field of Long-term Governance - SI’s Approach featured image

Building the Field of Long-term Governance - SI’s Approach

June 21, 2021
Part of our work at SI is to conduct research on how to integrate the interests of future generations into policymaking processes. We call this field long-term governance...
An Overview of Fields to Improve Decision-making in Policy Systems featured image

An Overview of Fields to Improve Decision-making in Policy Systems

June 21, 2021
At SI, we support international policy actors in dealing with uncertainty, complexity, time-pressure and global catastrophic risks. Below is a compilation of fields and resources...
Our Theory of Change featured image

Our Theory of Change

April 23, 2021
Our theory of change illustrates how we intend to contribute to the long-term flourishing of civilization. In this post, we outline our overarching strategic thinking...
Navigating Complexity and Information Overload in Decision-making featured image

Navigating Complexity and Information Overload in Decision-making

March 31, 2021
On April 1st, we co-hosted the event "Towards 2030: Navigating complexity and information overload in decision-making" as part of UNRISD's "From Science to Practice" series...
SI’s Strategy for the First Two Years featured image

SI’s Strategy for the First Two Years

March 13, 2021
The Simon Institute for Longterm Governance (SI) aims to increase the long-term impact of policymaking processes. In its first 24 months SI’s core objectives are to...
How We Will Evaluate Our Impact featured image

How We Will Evaluate Our Impact

March 12, 2021
Given the difficulty of measuring effects on policy networks, we anchor our strategy in a detailed theory of change. While organizational long-term adaptability...
DonateSubscribeContact
© 2025 SILegal