The EPFL International Risk Governance Center (IRGC) is an interdisciplinary unit dedicated to extending knowledge about the increasingly complex, uncertain and ambiguous risks that affect society. We develop risk governance strategies that focus on involving all key stakeholder groups, including citizens, governments, businesses and academia.
Our work is rooted in the IRGC Risk Governance Framework, as well as subsequent frameworks that we developed to apply more specifically to the governance of emerging and systemic risks. We assess how these frameworks can be applied to a wide range of specific risk domains, and in recent years we have focused increasingly on risks associated with emerging technologies.
The following are among the areas we are currently working on:
- Digital technology and governance (TRIGGER H2020)
- Deepfakes
- Precision medicine
- Synthetic biology
- Gene editing
- Nanotechnology (NANORIGO H2020)
- Resilience
News and current activities
Risk governance for deepfakes
Following an expert workshop on deepfakes earlier this year, we are finalizing a report setting out the key deepfake risks and the most promising governance responses.
Digital technology risk governance
Building on our work on the risks of rapidly evolving new technologies, we are involved in a major EU project—TRIGGER—on the future global governance landscape.
New Academic Director appointed
We are delighted to announce that Professor James Larus, Dean of the EPFL School of Computer and Communication Sciences, is the new IRGC Academic Director.
Key links
Concepts and frameworks
At the core of IRGC’s work is a series of governance frameworks, which provide guidance in areas such as risk assessment, emerging and systemic risks, and resilience-building.
Specific risk domains
With a view to filling risk-governance deficits in important sectors, IRGC regularly convenes interdisciplinary expert groups to identify key risks and possible responses.
Publications
IRGC produces a wide range of publications, covering both our overarching governance frameworks as well as the outcomes of our work in specific risk domains.