Professor of Eurasian Humanities Institute Maxat Kassen participated as a speaker in the annual symposium of the International Political Science Association in Hannover (Germany)

On December 4-6, 2017, Professor of the Eurasian Humanities Institute Maxat Kassen took part in the annual symposium as one of the speakers in the International Political Science Association in Hannover, Lower Saxony (Germany). The conference was attended by globally prominent scientists who are researching the application of various digital political technologies, in particular from such well-known universities as Oxford, London School of Economics, Berlin, Washington, Munich, California, Helsinki and many other famous universities (official program could be downloaded here).

The name of the conference was Political Science in the Digital Age. The official organizer of the event was the International Political Science Association. This global scientific symposium was devoted to the study of the latest digital technologies in public policy, in particular in various e-government ecosystems, digital modernization, use of artificial intelligence in political analytics, etc. This year the congress was held in Germany since this country is widely regarded as one of the world leaders in promoting digital politics.

At the opening day of the congress on December 4, 2017, Maxat Kassen acted as speaker and expert on the development of digital political science and introduced Kazakhstan in the Asia-Pacific region. The theme of his speech was “Political Science in Kazakhstan: understanding the situation of research and teaching”.

In addition, on December 6, 2017, on the day of the official conclusion of this global scientific symposium, he delivered a speech in front of the forum participants on the topic “Civic engagement in the digital era: searching for the most effective e-participation platforms”.

The annual congress of the International Political Sciences Association is a global political platform to discuss promising ideas in the development of political technologies in various fields. The political science association itself was founded in 1949 under the auspices of UNESCO and with the direct participation of the United Nations as the most effective interactive academic platform for political scientists from all over the world. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, this authoritative organization has its own constitution, a general secretariat and has the status of an independent expert body in various structures of the United Nations and other international organizations.

As part of the work of the association, an international scientific symposium is held annually prior to the winter session in early December, which gathers prominent scientists from all regions of the world to discuss various issues in the development of political science. This year, this global scientific forum was devoted to the study of digital politics in all its manifestations. This topic is considered by many scientists as the most important on a global scale.

In October 2017, Professor of the Eurasian Humanities Institute Maxat Kassen received an invitation from the organizers of the conference to participate in this representative political and scientific forum and to act as one of its speakers and experts in the field of digital politics. He was the only scientist from all post-soviet countries who took part in this world scientific forum as a speaker.

Such internationally known political scientists as Professor Ilter Turan from the University of Istanbul (current president of the International Political Science Association), Professor Helen Milner from Princeton University (USA), Professor Marian Kneuer from the University of Hildesheim (Germany), Professor Karen Mossberger from Arizona State University (USA), Professor Mark Manger from University of Toronto (Canada), Professor Wilhelm Krull (Director General of the Volkswagen Foundation) and many other prominent scientists participated in the conference.

The event, which was sponsored by the scientific foundation of the German automobile concern Volkswagen (Volkswagen Stiftung), took place in the palace of Herrenhausen. This palace, which for centuries has been known as the place of official coronation of local German kings, is today one of the symbols of the German nation and often acts as an interactive platform to discuss global political issues at the highest level. In particular, in 2016 the official meeting of the German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama was held on the territory of the palace complex.