Policy Fellowship for Benjamin Wannenwetsch

Head of Technology & Capital Investment, British Consulate-General Munich (view profile)

Benjamin Wannenwetsch heads up a team of five commercial diplomats across the British Consulate in Munich and the Embassy in Berlin.

His work focuses on the UK’s technology sector trade & investment strategy as well as the broader digital commercial bilateral relationship between Germany and the UK. He has previously worked in public sector strategy consulting and for an economic research institute.

Ben studied Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE) at Durham University and holds a Masters in Literature from Oxford University.

Objectives

As COVID accelerates the pace of technological advance and new regulatory challenges emerge, tech increasingly becomes a lever of international diplomacy. Drawing on academic researchers’ insight will help me make informed strategic decision that will shape the German-British tech trading relationship. I would seek to:

· Get a deeper understanding of key trends and questions around open data, regulating AI, and promoting tech for good.

· Understand what drives the development of tech ecosystems and how new cross-border ecosystems may contribute to regional prosperity in the UK.

· Gather the necessary tools to develop a new format for commercial and regulatory bilateral relations with Germany.

Questions

  • 1. How can we regulate AI and the use of data without hampering commercial innovation and the UK’s international competitiveness?
  • 2. How can we assess the impact of “tech for good” entrepreneurship and what role can it play for foreign policy?
  • 3. How do we facilitate the creation of cross-border tech ecosystems to promote UK regional prosperity after the transition period?
  • 4. Can global open-data facilitate entrepreneurship and domestic prosperity
  • 5. What tools can best help us anticipate emerging technology trends and which megatrends will be most affected by COVID?