(1:1s are available with the speaker, please email nicholas.lane@cs.ox.ac.uk or vivek.kothari@stcatz.ox.ac.uk to book a slot)

Abstract: Many mobile and wearable devices interact with their environment, with other devices, and with human users – and yet most of their communications occur invisibly via wireless networks. How can users express their intent about which devices should communicate – especially in situations when those devices have never encountered each other before? These devices are physically small, with limited computational resources and user interfaces, leading us to explore novel combinations of physical proximity and user interaction to ensure user intent in establishing and securing device interactions. In this talk we describe several recent research results, and their relevance to applications in medicine, healthcare, and the Internet of Things.

Bio: David Kotz is the Champion International Professor in the Department of Computer Science and, presently, Visiting Professor in the Center for Digital Health Interventions at ETH Zurich. He previously served as Interim Provost, as Associate Dean of the Faculty for the Sciences, as the Executive Director of the Institute for Security Technology Studies, and on the US Healthcare IT Policy Committee. His research interests include security and privacy, pervasive computing for healthcare, and wireless networks. He has published over 200 refereed papers, obtained over $67m in grant funding, and mentored nearly 100 research students. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Distinguished Member of the ACM, a 2008 Fulbright Fellow to India, and an elected member of Phi Beta Kappa.
After receiving his A.B. in Computer Science and Physics from Dartmouth in 1986, he completed his Ph.D in Computer Science from Duke University in 1991 and returned to Dartmouth to join the faculty. For more information see http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~dfk/.

The event is invitation-only: if you'd like to attend please write david.hobbs@cs.ox.ac.uk

https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/events/ai-english-law-workshop-nikolaos-alertras-university-sheffield

Recent advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) provide us with the tools to build predictive models that can be used to unveil patterns correlating to judicial decisions. This can be useful, for both lawyers and judges, as an assisting tool to rapidly identify cases and extract patterns which lead to certain decisions. In this talk, I will present my work on data-driven legal judgement prediction using NLP and ML techniques focusing on the European Court of Human Rights. More specifically, I will present traditional feature-based models and more sophisticated neural networks for violation and case importance prediction. Finally, I will present an analysis on whether predictive models are biased towards demographic information via data anonymization.

This workshop is part of the project workshop series for the Unlocking the Potential of AI in English Law project. Limited resfreshments will be provided.

A sandwich lunch will be served at 12.45. All Welcome!

The Changing Grammar of War: Countering Hybrid and Grey Zone Coercion at the Strategic Level

Dr Rob Johnson, CCW, Oxford

Dr Johnson examines the function of strategy against the phenomenon of hybrid confrontation and coercion, that is, situations where there is aggression and military threat but where hostilities have not been declared. Specifically, it analyses the execution of hybrid strategy and it counter-strategies. First, it evaluates the etymology of the term, the anxieties that it has caused in the West, and its failures or limitations. Second, it examines the value of hybrid strategy, and lays out the counter-strategy, mapping these against the utility of force. Third, it examines some approaches to the use of hybrid warfare strategy by states and non-state actors. It concludes with a balance sheet of the advantages, risks, and costs of hybrid strategy, and how states are likely to utilise the approach in the near future. The paper will appeal to those seeking clarity on how to manage the 'grey zone', understanding of coercive diplomacy, and the strategic options open to those facing confrontation.

Dr Rob Johnson is the Director of the Changing Character of War (CCW) Research Centre at the University of Oxford. His primary research interests are in the history of strategy and war, and their contemporary applications, and he is prominent within professional military education across NATO. He is author True to Their Salt (2017) on partnering, The Great War and the Middle East (2016), and co-editor of At the End of Military Intervention (2015) and Before Military Intervention (2018), as well as several other works on strategy and armed conflicts in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. His leadership of CCW emphasizes the value of blending ideas, theory, and practice in current strategic and security policy. The new initiatives he leads this year include Artificial Intelligence in Forecasting, and Strategic Decision-Making, and Strategic Policy Simulation based on the traditions of Kriegspiel. He now leads the new CCW initiative on professional education in defence and security in London and in Washington DC.

Tuesday 15 October, 8.30pm
Information Wars: The Internet Battle Field
Ben Nimmo (Graphika)
Oxford University Strategic Studies Group (OUSSG) Seminar
Venue: All Souls
£2 on the door

Booking required: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/trading-with-adversaries-policy-solutions-for-supply-chain-security-tickets-74443884663
Wednesday 16 October, 12.30pmTrading with Adversaries: Policy Solutions for Supply Chain Security Mikolaj Barczentewicz (University of Surrey)
Technology and Global Affairs Seminar Series

The legal context for the protection of electronically stored data and data systems from unlawful interference is a fascinating and developing area that bridges different sources and principles, including common law doctrines and statutory and regulatory standards.

With this context in mind, the presentation will assess recent legal developments to attempt to predict legal trends in the field of cyber-security. The foundation of the current approach is a fast-developing statutory and regulatory framework, most relevantly the important changes implemented under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) framework, which has applied in the UK from 25 May 2018, and similar regimes introduced in other regions and internationally. By assessing the implementation of regulatory norms, Laura will predict how the regulation against cyber-crime, including controls of crypto-assets, may proceed, particularly in light of the recent FCA Guidance.

Relatedly, there will be an assessment of recent judicial authorities and legal commentary on rights over crypto-assets. The developments include the observations as part of the UKJT consultation, the extra-judicial speech by the Lord Chancellor, the landmark Singapore Supreme Court decision (holding that bitcoin can be the subject of a trust in B2C2 Ltd v Quoine Ltd SGHV), and the English High Court judgment that held that buyers of bitcoin may benefit from protections afforded to consumers (Ang v Reliantco Investments Ltd [2019] EWCH 879 (Comm)).

The final part of the presentation will explore recent cases in privacy rights in data, and use this analysis to explore potential future judicial developments. Most relevantly, the issues arising from the Court of Appeal decision of WM Morrison Supermarkets Plc v Various Claimants [2018] EWCA Civ 2339 and the subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court, and the expected appeal from Lloyd v Google LLC [2018] EWHC 2599 (QB). To conclude, the presentation will predict developments arising from the case-law and risk mitigation measures that can be implemented to address expected movements in the sector.

Laura’s recent blog on the Court of Appeal’s decision can be found here: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/business-law-blog/blog/2019/10/english-court-appeal-hands-down-eagerly-awaited-judgment-clarifying

BIO: Laura is a Visiting Professor at King’s College and Lecturer in Private Law at the University of Oxford. At King’s College, Laura primarily teaches the Trusts Law course, covering all aspects of the syllabus, ranging from discretionary trusts and powers to equitable remedies and trusts in the modern world. She has developed expertise on issues related to equitable rights in the context of insolvency, regulatory frameworks and securitisation. Laura has advised professional trustees on complicated matters in the commercial environment, including pension schemes, investment trusts, and the duties of bond trustees.

At the University of Oxford, Laura teaches Contract Law and the foundations of other Private Law topics (Property, Restitution, Tort and Trusts). From her practical experience, she has extensive expertise in relation to the changing in the judicial approach to contractual interpretation. Laura has also handled cases addressing construction of terms following BREXIT (including versions of the ISDA Master Agreement), exclusion or altering of liability in the context of alleged mis-selling claims (mainly in the field of complex financial instruments such as derivatives and swaps), claims on the grounds of contract and restitution for payments induced by fraud, and oral variations to Loan Market Association finance agreements and related defences on the grounds of estoppel.

Alongside academic commitments, Laura is a Senior Associate (Barrister) at Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP and advises on contentious issues facing a wide range of clients, including domestic and international banks, Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) companies, high-net-worth individuals/families, insolvency practitioners, investment funds and vehicles, professional trustees, and sovereign states. She has acted in high profile, international, complex disputes, and has broad experience of diverse sectors, including banking and finance, civil fraud and corporate crime, construction, contentious trust, energy, insolvency, insurance, mergers and acquisitions, professional negligence, and property development.

The International Chamber of Commerce UK (ICC) identified Laura as a rising star within the finance sector, and she sits on the ICC UK Banking Committee and is the Coordinator/Chair of the ICC Young Finance Forum. The Panel of Recognised International Market Experts in Finance (P.R.I.M.E Finance) appointed Laura as a Special Rapporteur and Laura is a member of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s (ISDA) Arbitration and Financial Law Reform and the Commercial Court and Financial List User Committees. She is widely published in established legal texts, including acting as an editor of the commentary to the Civil Procedural Rules (i.e. the White Book) and publishing several articles in Butterworth’s Journal of International Banking and Financial Law and Thomson Reuter’s Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice.

Laura received a BA Honours in Jurisprudence from the University of Oxford and was presented with several awards and prizes during the course of her academic studies. The Middle Temple Inn awarded Laura the Astbury Scholarship to complete the BVC, and subsequently the Fox Scholarship to complete a LLM specialising in Commercial Law at the University of Toronto, in turn receiving a distinction and Fellowship from the University.