Panels and Sessions 29 Nov 2021

 

Panel: Digital Autonomy

Virtually everyone works with the cloud these days. But that also means that data ends up with large, foreign tech companies. In addition, there are still quite a few things that go wrong with that security of data stored in the cloud. Dutch scientists therefore want to build a secure and autonomous cloud. But what are the key challenges for such a cloud? And how can we make cloud computing simultaneously more sustainable? In this session the discussion will start between prof. Herbert Bos (VU), prof. Marten van Dijk (UvA), Pallas Agterberg (Alliander) and Max Schulze (Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance). 

The panel will be hosted by Bernold Nieuwesteeg, independent cybersecurity expert and also director at CLECS (EUR).

Practical information

29 November 2021 
14.00 - 15.00 hr (CET)
This talk will be in English
To join, please register

 

Panel: Responsible Data Science Dilemmas for a Digital Society

Data and algorithms are nowadays ubiquitous in many aspects of our society and lives. They are playing an increasing role in scenarios that can be received as low-risk - getting recommendations on which movies to watch. But they are also being streamlined at or by various institutions, covering high-stakes domains such as healthcare provision or criminal justice. In this panel, we take a multi-disciplinary view on dilemmas for making the use of data and algorithms a responsible practice. Furthermore, our panel members, Christopher Brewster (TNO & Maastricht University), Seda Gürses (TU Delft), Carlos Martinez Ortiz (eScience Center), Nava Tintarev (Maastricht University) and Emily Sullivan (Eindhoven University of Technology) will provide and discuss actionable practices for building and using data and algorithms in a responsible manner.

The panel will be hosted by Oana Inel (TU Delft), on behalf of the Responsible Data Science track of the Digital Society research program. 

Practical information

29 November 2021
14.00 – 15.00 hr (CET)
This panel will be in English
To join, please register
 

Panel: Digital Society – The Informed Citizen

Digitalisation is both a societal and scientific challenge. In today's society there is a quantity and quality of available data which underlines an unparalleled complexity that requires the development of new digital methods and techniques. At the same time, we need to ensure that everyone in society is and continues to remain involved in the digitalisation, while being aware of the cultural and social context. Current research within this context and future vistas are central in this panel conversation.

This panel is organized by NWO. For a resilient digital society NWO connects science and society.

The panel

Moderator: 
Prof. Dr. Marcel Broersma
Marcel Broersma is full professor and director of the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen . He is one of the coordinators of the national VSNU Digital Society research program and director the Dutch Research School for Media Studies (RMeS).

Panel members

• Prof. Dr. Emiel Krahmer – Tilburg University (project ‘Better informing citizens about current debates: Moderating and Summarizing Online Discussions’)
• Dr. Dong Nguyen – Utrecht University (project ‘The Power of Words: The Role of Mediators’ Language in Increasing Intergenerational Empathy in Online Discussions’)
• Prof. Dr. ir. Maarten van Steen – University of Twente (project ‘Measuring pedestrian dynamics: doing it the right way’)
• Kevin Willemsen MA – EMMA (social partner project ‘The Power of Words’)

Practical information

29 November 2021 
14.00 - 15.00 hr (CET)
This talk will be in Dutch
To join, please register
 

Interview: Big Technalized: are our public services in jeorpardy?

Interview with Distinguished University Professors José van Dijck and Bart Jacobs

The digital world is mostly built on market principles rather than on public values, such as privacy, safety and democratic control. What we consider to be ‘public spaces’ in our physical world, such as village squares, schools or hospitals, are mostly corporate spaces in the digital world—spaces owned and operated by just a couple of big technology companies. What are the implications for the public sector now that our lives are increasingly datafied, platformized and commercialized? What happens to public services such as health care, education and the media when they turn into digitized proprietary assets? And how can we create alternative public spaces online, platforms and services that are built on public values and governed by noncorporate, nonprofit entities? Professors José van Dijck and Bart Jacobs discuss and reflect on alternative public resources that are based on our public values.

Short bio José van Dijck
Distinguished University Professor in Media and Digital Society José van Dijck studied Literature at the Utrecht University in a time the ‘world wide web’ was yet to be invented. Throughout the years she witnessed the internet grow and her academic research on media transformed along with globally changing technologies. Joining with computer scientists, lawyers, economists and behavioral scientists, Van Dijck and her team collaborate in the Utrecht University program called ‘Governing the Digital Society’ where they study the impact of online platforms on social institutions. NWO recently awarded José van Dijck the Spinoza Prize 2021.

Short bio Bart Jacobs
Bart Jacobs is a professor of computer security, privacy and identity at Radboud University Nijmegen in The Netherlands. His work covers both theoretical computer science and more practical, multidisciplinary work, especially in computer security and privacy. Jacobs is a member of the Academia Europaea and of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), and a recipient of an ERC Advanced Grant. He is an active participant in societal debates about security and privacy, in the media and in various advice roles e.g. for government and parliament. He chairs a non-profit spin-off on attribute-based identity management (see irma.app) and is co-founder of Nijmegen's interdisciplinary hub on security, privacy and data governance (ru.nl/ihub). In 2021 he received the Stevin prize.

Practical information
29 November 2021
15.15 – 16.00 hr (CET)
This interview will be in English
To join, please register

 

Panels and Sessions 30 Nov 2021

 

 

Panel: Digital inclusion: Beyond policies of individual responsibility?  

This panel brings together researchers and findings from two VSNU Digital Society Team Science projects. Both deal(t),  in different ways, with aspects and dimensions of digital inclusion. The aim of the panel is to use the observations and experiences of the two research teams to open up a broader discussion about how research into digital inclusion sits and fits with broader (national) policy frameworks for digital inclusion. Policy frameworks for digital inclusion often, and increasingly, focus on (stimulating) individual responsibility and agency (for example, among digitally less able citizens, among library staff members wanting to help people in the digital society, or among women wanting to work in tech). However, our two projects highlight the need to understand and interrogate much better the social contexts, power relations and embedded practices that digital inclusion initiatives or campaigns are “written into”. How can policy expectations can become better attuned to this? And what does that hold for our role and responsibility as researchers or partners in research consortia? We are especially looking forward to hearing how policy makers, professionals, NGOs and academics in the audience reflect on and experience this challenge. That is why active participation of the online audience is very welcome and digitally facilitated.

Practical information

30 November 2021
14.00 – 15.00 hr (CET)
This panel will be in English
To join, please register

 

Panel: Responsible Innovation. Designing for Public Values in a Digital World

Digital technologies like artificial intelligence or blockchain can help us to solve problems and realise common values and ideas. However, it has also become clear that digital technologies can also be used to undermine democratic processes, attack public services, or have undesirable side-effects, e.g. algorithms that discriminate. During this panel, both researchers and public parties discuss how we can ensure that public values are anchored in the design of such technologies.

This panel is organized by NWO. For a resilient digital society NWO connects science and society.

The panel

Moderator: 
Prof. Dr. Marcel Broersma
Marcel Broersma is full professor and director of the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen . He is one of the coordinators of the national VSNU Digital Society research program and director the Dutch Research School for Media Studies (RMeS).

Panel members: 

• Dr. Gert Meyers – Tilburg University (Project: The Role and Responsibilities of Public Actors in Distributed Networks Transparency, Trust and Legitimacy by Design)
• Drs. Geert Kuiper – Ministry of Defence

Practical information
30 November 2021
14.00 – 15.00 hr (CET)
This panel will be in Dutch
To join, please register

 

 

Research for a FAIR digital society
Interview and Team Science call

The Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) has brought together 30 leading professors from all fourteen universities to address the many pressing questions raised by the emergence of a digital society. The professors work together in the Digital Society programme and support the Netherlands to develop technologies and applications that serve societal goals and interests.

Emile Aarts is one of the founding fathers of the Digital Society programme. In this interview, he talks about the development of the programme and how this eventually led to the successful ELSA labs (Ethical Legal and Social Aspects of AI) that he pioneered. Connecting science and society to work together in an interdisciplinary way for a better society is what connects the ELSA Labs and the Digital Society programme. At the closing of the Digital Society Conference, a new funding call will be launched for scientists and their partners to contribute to a better digital society. Prof. dr. Sally Wyatt (University of Maastricht) and Mieke van den Berg (COMMIT) will tell you more about this. 

Practical information
30 November 2021
15.15 – 16.00 hr (CET)
This talk will be in English
To join, please register