Two events in the lecture series on Digital Humanism. Stefan Woltran writes:

We would like to remind you of next week’s talk in our Lecture Series:

Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. (17:00) Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

Topic: “Regulating the Digital Space – Challenges in a Changing World Order”
(scroll down for abstract and CV)

Panelists: Hans Akkermans (w4ra.org, the Netherlands), George Metakides (Digital Enlightenment Forum), Marc Rotenberg (Center for AI and Digital Policy, USA) 
Moderator: Christiane Wendehorst (University of Vienna, Austria)

To participate in the talks via Zoom go to: https://tuwien.zoom.us/j/96389928143?pwd=UU5YRkNuRmdoWHV4MFBwMWRCcUErdz09
(Password: 0dzqxqiy)

The talk will be live streamed and recorded on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/digitalhumanism

And we are pleased to announce already the following event in our Lecture Series:

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. (17:00) Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

Topic: “Decolonizing the Future – Computer Science Is not Just Science/Engineering Anymore As It Used to Be in the Old Days”
(scroll down for abstract and CV)

Speaker: Hans Akkermans (w4ra.org, the Netherlands)

If you are in Vienna we cordially invite you to come by, we will have a small reception afterwards:
TU Wien, Faculty of Informatics, FAV Hörsaal 3 Zemanek 1040 Vienna, Favoritenstraße 9-11

This talk will be live streamed via https://live.video.tuwien.ac.at/room/hheg01/player.html
In case you missed the last lecture by Simon Parsons you can watch the recording of “AI for Sustainable Agriculture”.

Here are the abstracts:

ABSTRACT “Regulating the Digital Space – Challenges in a Changing World Order”:

As digital technology reshapes the way our societies function, challenges our democracies, and shifts global power structures, governments and lawmakers around the world are grappling with how to regulate the digital space. This panel will explore the evolving landscape of digital governance and regulation, from AI and data protection to anti-trust, cybersecurity, and digital platform accountability. Leading experts will discuss the challenges of promoting innovation as well as regulation aimed to safeguard the values for which digital humanism stands, and strategically positioning our liberal democracies in a world of geopolitical tensions and a changing global order.

Short Bio of Hans Akkermans:

Hans Akkermans is professor of Business Informatics (emeritus) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is the Founding Director of the interdisciplinary Network Institute at Amsterdam that studies the interaction between digital technology and society, in which researchers from the faculties of social sciences, humanities, law, economics, and informatics participate. He has worked for many years in knowledge engineering & management, information systems and innovative e-business modelling, with for example applications and innovations in smart electricity distribution networks and the sustainable energy transition that have been internationally field-deployed and are now in industrial and commercial use. His current research interests focus on the interdisciplinary research, education and community service program W4RA (Web alliance for Regreening in Africa). He is co-chair of DigHum’s Curriculum Working Group. He holds a cum laude PhD in theoretical physics in the field of nuclear reactions from the University of Groningen. 

Short Bio of George Metakides:

George Metakides is visiting professor at the University of Southampton, Adjunct Professor at the European University of Cyprus, President of the Digital Enlightenment Forum, and Advisor to several international organizations. He is involved in the analysis of the economic, political and social impact of digitization, related cybersecurity, data protection and regulatory issues and the promotion of international cooperation towards a digital ecosystem respecting shared human values. With a Ph.D. in Mathematical Logic earned from Cornell University in 1971, he pursued an academic career at MIT, Cornell and Rochester University before returning to Greece as Chair of Logic at the University of Patras. Since 1984 he has held senior positions with responsibility for Research & Development policy, funding and international co-operation in European institutions including the Directorship of the ESPRIT program He has contributed to the establishment of international institutions (including the launch of the World Wide Web consortium in 1993), has received a number of awards and honorary degrees and is a corresponding member of several National Academies.

Short Bio of Marc Rotenberg:

Marc Rotenberg is President and Founder of the Center for AI and Digital Policy. He is a leading expert in data protection, open government, and AI policy. He has served on many international advisory panels for digital policy, including the OECD AI Group of Experts. Marc helped draft the Universal Guidelines for AI, a widely endorsed human rights framework for the regulation of Artificial Intelligence. Marc is the author of several textbooks including the 2020 AI Policy Sourcebook and Privacy and Society (West Academic 2016). He teaches privacy law and the GDPR at Georgetown Law. Marc has spoken frequently before the US Congress, the European Parliament, the OECD, UNESCO, judicial conferences, and international organizations. Marc has directed international comparative law studies on Privacy and Human Rights, Cryptography and Liberty, and Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Values. Marc is a graduate of Harvard College, Stanford Law School, and Georgetown Law. 

Short Bio of Christiane Wendehorst:

Christiane Wendehorst has been Professor of Civil Law at the University of Vienna since 2008. Amongst other functions, she is founding member and President of the European Law Institute (ELI), Chair of the Academy Council of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), Co-Head of the Department of Innovation and Digitalisation in Law, and member of the Managing Board of the Austrian Jurists’ Association (ÖJT), as well as the Bioethics Committee at the Austrian Federal Chancellery. She is an elected member of the Academia Europea (AE), the International Academy for Comparative Law (IACL), and the American Law Institute (ALI). From 2018-2019 she co-chaired the Data Ethics Commission of the German Federal Government. Currently she is European leader of the transatlantic project “Principles for a Data Economy” and EU delegate to the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI). Prior to moving to Vienna, she was a professor in Göttingen (1999-2008) and Greifswald (1998-99) and Managing Director of the Sino-German Institute of Legal Studies (2000-2008). 

ABSTRACT “Decolonizing the Future – Computer Science Is not Just Science/Engineering Anymore As It Used to Be in the Old Days”:

Scanning through the history of Computer Science (incl. personal experiences and anecdotes), we observe that there have been and are many different images of what Computer Science (CS) is. Once it was a “New Kid on the Block” in the STEM scientific hierarchy of the “exact” sciences (“practically very useful, but not really scientific”). Now it is hailed as the geopolitical key to a global Digital Transformation that is proclaimed to revolutionize every sector of society and economy (not to forget War and Peace). CS, however, has had major difficulty in acknowledging and coming to terms with its own social and societal nature; but with an outdated self-image it is not ready for the future. CS is becoming an instrument for major powers to colonize the digital world and from there the “real” world, in ways reminiscent of what the 19th century colonial powers did during the Industrial Revolution. The (also scientific) task at hand is then to Decolonize the Future. In line with such a reverse perspective, the talk will end, not with Q&A, but with an A&Q session.