Prestigious appointments for MSC professors

Mikkel Flyverbom appointed to Dataetisk Råd

Professor MSO Mikkel Flyverbom has been appointed a member of Dataetisk Råd (the Data Ethics Council). The members were appointed in early April by the Danish government, who decided to establish the Data Ethics Council in connection with the government initiative ‘Digital Service i Verdensklasse’ (World class digital service) last year.

The Data Ethics Council
The Data Ethics Council, which will be an independent body, consists of a chairman and 11 members. The purpose of the Council is to participate in the public debate about data ethics,

assist companies and the public sector in their responsible employment of data, and advice the government, Folketinget, and public authorities on data ethical issues. Read more about the Data Ethics Council in the Minstry of Finance press release (in Danish).

Making wise decisions
Concerning his role in the Council, Mikkel Flyverbom explains: ‘How data is used and abused is one of the key challenges we face in a digital and datafied society. As member of the Data Ethics Council, I will focus on the importance of developing responsible approaches in this area, and do what I can to remind our government, ministers and public institutions of the urgency and scope of these questions. Our ways of working with data will have far-reaching consequences for our society and we need to make wise decisions.’ For further information, please contact Mikkel Flyverbom, mf.msc@cbs.dk.

Mikkel Flyverbom, who is Academic Director of the Digital Transformations Platform, was also appointed a member of Djøf’s ‘TechDK’ commission in January (read more).

Karin Buhmann re-appointed to the NCP for Responsible Business Conduct

In March, Professor MSO Karin Buhmann was re-appointed as a member of Denmark’s National Contact Point (NCP) for Responsible Business Conduct (Mæglings- og Klageinstitutionen for Ansvarlig Virksomhedsadfærd).

NCPs are national institutions set up under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, a comprehensive guidance instrument for responsible business conduct in regard to i.a. human rights, labour, the environment, anti-corruption and taxation.

Several re-appointments

Prof. Buhmann holds a ‘civil society seat’ upon nomination. She was first appointed when the Danish NCP was re-launched 2012 with a strengthened multi-stakeholder structure and has been reappointed in 2015 and 2019. Read more about Karin Buhmann's appointment and the work of the NCP here.

For further information, please contact Karin Buhmann, kbu.msc@cbs.dk. 

NEPSUS: Project team members visit MSC

The NEPSUS project team has gathered at MSC during March for an extended period of project collaboration.

The NEPSUS project
Based in Tanzania, the NEPSUS project (New Partner-

ships for Sustainability) seeks to explain the formation of complex partnerships in natural resource management and establish whether and how they lead to better and more equitable sustainability outcomes in comparison to simpler forms of partnerships. Three natural resource sectors in Tanzania - wildlife, coastal resources and forestry - are studied by a multidisciplinary team with the purpose of making structured comparisons of the forms of complexity involved.

Research collaboration
During their research stay at MSC, team members (many of whom come from the University of Dar es Salaam, while others come from the University of Sheffield, Roskilde University and MSC) have analysed the data from the past two years of fieldwork and written up the results for each of the three sectors covered by the project (wildlife, forestry and coastal resources).

Dr Christine Noe, Senior Lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam and co-coordinator of the project, explains that one of the truly unique aspects of the project is the capacity building inherent in close collaboration. The team has been working together throughout the process - from design and planning through joint fieldwork to testing and debating methodologies, key concepts, and findings - and in the process has uncovered and enhanced new strengths in the team as a whole as well as in the individual members. It will be one of the great inspirational takeaways from this project, Dr Noe concludes.

The NEPSUS team at work

Further information
The NEPSUS project is funded by the Danish Foreign Ministry, the Consultative Research Committee for Development Research (FFU), and is jointly coordinated by Professor Stefano Ponte, who is director of the Centre for Business and Development Studies at MSC, and Dr Christine Noe. Later this year, the team will meet again, this time in Tanzania, to continue the collaborative process. The project ends in 2020.

Read more about the project and the team at www.nepsus.info . For further information, please contact Stefano Ponte, sp.msc@cbs.dk, or Christine Noe, cnpallangyo@gmail.com.

The Department of Management, Society and Communication

The department came into existence on 1 January 2017 as a result of the merger of the Department of Intercultural Communication and Management and the Department of International Business Communication. Read about MSC's research profile here.

MSC moved into its new premises in Dalgas Have in August 2017. As one of CBS' largest department, it occupies most of the second floor of the building.