ITeG Ring Lecture "Digital Society - A Design Challenge

Digitization is already deeply rooted in our society. Making people aware of the underlying processes and looking at the associated opportunities and risks - that is the aim of the annual ITeG Ring Lecture. In their lectures, renowned scientists from various disciplines present their research and findings with an explicitly sociotechnical focus. This year, the lecture series is part of the celebrations for the anniversary "50 years of the University of Kassel" and, with its perspective on sustainability, social and ethical implications, takes up a major concern of our university.

The lectures are hosted online and in English throughout. They are open to the public and external online participation is very welcome.

The lecture series will be opened on October 27, 2021 by Professor Dr. Irene Bertschek from ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany. She is head of the ZEW research area "Digital Economics" and will give an overview of the characteristics of digital technologies, their diffusion stage and the changes they trigger in the economy. The title of her presentation is"Digitalization - A Vaccine for the Economy."

Professor Mark Coeckelbergh is a professor of media and technology philosophy at the University of Vienna. He is concerned with the ethical issues raised by artificial intelligence. In his lecture on November 24, 2021, titled "AI Ethics: Responsibility in Digital Times," he will specifically address the issue of responsibility in automation.

Dr. Juliane Jarke is a research associate at the Institute for Information Management (ifib) at the University of Bremen and researches the increasing importance of digital data for society. On December 15, 2021, she will present "Cui bono, Data Science?" she will discuss issues of social justice and biases in AI-based systems and make suggestions for community-led design practices and sociotechnical innovation.

Professor Dr. Christoph Becker is director of the Digital Curation Institute at the University of Toronto. He conducts research at the intersection of sustainability, information technology, digital curation, and systems design. As co-founder of the Karlskrona Initiative for Sustainability Design, he advocates an interdisciplinary approach to software systems design. The title of his talk on January 19, 2022 is "The Design of Just Sustainability: IT and The Sustainable Development Goals."
This lecture is organized in cooperation with the project group "Sustainable Intelligence - Intelligent Sustainability" of the Hessian Center for Responsible Digitalization (ZEVEDI) coordinated at ITeG.

Prof. Dr. Antonio de la Oliva Delgado will conclude the series on February 9, 2022 with his talk on "Use Cases for 6G Wireless Communications - The Case of AI and Digital Twins". He is an Associate Professor at the Telematics Engineering Department of the University Carlos III of Madrid, and with his research on 6th generation wireless communications, he is closely involved in the development of a key technology of future digital systems. In his lecture, he will discuss possible new applications and the associated challenges for the socially desirable design of the digital society.

For more information on the lecture series and participation in the online meetings, please visit our website: www.uni-kassel.de/go/iteg-lectures