The Centre for Global Science and Epistemic Justice (GSEJ) was delighted to partner with Universiti Malaya and Universiti Malaysia Sabah at the International Conference on Science, Technology and Society 2026 (iCON-STS 2026), held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, from 22–24 July 2026. Bringing together researchers, policymakers and practitioners from across the region, this year’s conference explored the theme ‘STI for Social Good: Adapting Policy, Society and Industries for Sustainable Development’.
For GSEJ, the conference marked an important milestone in the international development of the ODESSI framework. Following our inaugural workshop at the British Academy’s 10–11 Carlton House Terrace in London last September, discussions at the iGEM Grand Jamboree in Paris last November, and the 11th United Nations Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum) this May, we were honoured that the iCON-STS organisers dedicated three plenary sessions to exploring how ODESSI might contribute to responsible governance in Southeast Asia.
The ODESSI discussion consists of two keynote lectures. Professor Joy Zhang (GSEJ) reflected on the rapidly changing global social and political landscape surrounding emerging life sciences, arguing that governance now requires what she describes as ‘enabling critical social uptake’—where critical refers both to the necessity of social uptake for responsible innovation and to the need for that uptake to be reflexive, questioning and shaping, rather than simply accepting or rejecting, scientific development.
Professor Phil Macnaghten (Wageningen University), one of the pioneers of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), considered how ODESSI both builds upon and extends the RRI tradition. He reflected on how sustained dialogue, institutional learning and relationship-building across scientific, policy and public communities can help counter the hubris that too often characterises science and governance.
A particular highlight was the plenary discussion on operationalising ODESSI in Southeast Asia, chaired by GSEJ’s Dr Oliver Pritchard-Moore. The panel brought together distinguished voices from across the region, including Professor May O. Lwin (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), Professor Noorsaadah Abd Rahman (Secretary-General of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia), Dr Sebastian Soon Hong Kwan, a molecular biologist turned science diplomat, and Dr Kenneth Fung (Universiti Malaya), Chair of iCON-STS 2026.
Drawing on her research into health communication, Professor Lwin reflected on how patterns of sharing scientific and health information changed profoundly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Public communication shifted from being largely aligned with official sources to a far more decentralised and diverse information landscape, creating new opportunities—and new challenges—for meaningful public engagement.
Professor Abd Rahman emphasised that openness must extend beyond open-access publishing. She argued for a broader culture of open science that embraces transparency in both data and scientific practice, including a willingness to discuss uncertainty and learn openly from failure.
Reflecting on his transition from science into science diplomacy, Dr Kwan challenged conventional distinctions between science and society. Rather than viewing public engagement as connecting two separate domains, he suggested that science already exists within society, inviting participants to rethink the relationships that governance seeks to cultivate.
Looking ahead, Dr Fung described ODESSI as offering a potentially transformative approach to public engagement for emerging science and technology. By foregrounding curiosity, dialogue and mutual learning, he argued, the framework creates the conditions for more meaningful and enduring relationships between scientists and diverse publics.
Drawing the discussion together, Dr Pritchard-Moore reflected on the framework’s ongoing application within the UK, including its use in GSEJ’s research on engineering biology. He discussed how ODESSI’s emphasis on mapping relationships across scientific, social, ethical and political domains provides a practical way of understanding how innovation is experienced by different communities and how governance can become more responsive to those relationships.
At its heart, ODESSI is about relationships. It asks not simply who should be engaged, but what relationships matter, how they evolve over time, and how public dialogue can strengthen the social foundations needed for responsible innovation. Bringing these conversations to Southeast Asia was therefore far more than an opportunity to present a new framework. It was an opportunity to listen, to learn, and to begin shaping ODESSI together with colleagues whose perspectives will be essential to its continued global development.
We are deeply grateful to our colleagues at Universiti Malaya and Universiti Malaysia Sabah for their generous partnership and hospitality, and look forward to continuing these conversations across Southeast Asia and beyond.
