Author: Margarita Rayzberg

University of São Paulo Journal explores Brazilian and US pandemic response

The USP Journal described the CompCoRe Interim Report in an article titled “Tensões políticas levaram Brasil a fracassar no combate à covid-19, aponta relatório”(“Political tensions have led Brazil to fail to combat covid-19, report says,”). The article discussed the similarities between the Brazilian and US responses to the pandemic, quoting Marko Monteiro (Brazil team) on how political polarization has been detrimental to the effective containment of the virus. Full article in Portuguese here and English translation here.

Eisenberger gives talk on legal aspects of statistical modeling

Iris Eisenberger spoke about “Human Rights Requirements and Statistical Modelling” as part of a conference on “Digital Governance in the Times of Covid-19” organized by Bar Ilan University. She presented findings from her study on legal issues related to modeling.

Eisenberger and team present first findings from REASON

Iris Eisenberger and Nikolaus Pöchhacker (Austria team) shared early findings from their project on “REASON – Legal requirements for statistical modelling” at the University of Graz. By analyzing the Austrian government’s press conferences on the coronavirus,  they show that referencing “science” helped resolve the tension between rational decision-making and epistemic uncertainty. However, these appeals to “science” remained vague and did not cite specific research organizations, scientists, or publications.

Tanaka cites CompCoRe results at SciREX Open Forum

Risk communication scholar and CompCoRe member Mikihito Tanaka (Japan team) addressed CompCoRe findings in a talk on “New Development of Risk Communication: Insights from the Pandemic.Tanaka spoke at  SciREX, a government program on Science for RE-designing Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, a program funded by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

Jasanoff and Hilgartner participate in international ANSES symposium

Sheila Jasanoff and Stephen Hilgartner each gave plenary talks at “Credibility of Scientific Expertise and Decision-Making,” organized by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES). Jasanoff discussed a political theory of trust in expertise (English, French translation), and Hilgartner presented the CompCoRe Interim Report (video in English or French translation).

CompCoRe findings presented to Schmidt Futures Forum on Preparedness

Following a keynote speech by the WHO Director-General, Sheila Jasanoff and Stephen Hilgartner led off the event with a presentation of the CompCoRe Interim Report to key policy makers, leading academics and thought leaders, and thousands who tuned in. The talk framed the conversation for the Forum’s first day. A distinguished interdisciplinary panel reacted enthusiastically to their presentation.

CompCoRe Interim Report published

The 114-page report was published and presented at the Schmidt Futures Forum on Preparedness. The report highlights CompCoRe’s findings and includes an appendix with summaries of all 16 country cases. Full text here. 

New York Times covers the findings of the CompCoRe Interim Report

The New York Times summarized the findings of the CompCoRe Interim Report in an article titled “Pre-existing weaknesses’ hindered the U.S. pandemic response, researchers find.” The piece highlighted the main finding of the report that a country’s success or failure in managing the pandemic depends on the ability of the state to build solidarity among the citizenry.
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